Power off for days...
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-power-outages-ice-storms-20131228,0,7676935.story#axzz2ooVpuGrJ
@Grumpy
Hmm I imagine all of them had read about the prior ice storms in that region such as the one in Quebec but nobody thought to prepare for one ... very strange.
Me I'm just a dumb farmboy living on the prairies but I still have a CHP unit I built that can be run on natural gas, gasoline, diesel or even waste oil if need be for weeks on end. Hope for the best but plan for the worst comes to mind and a person has to wonder what in the hell these people were thinking.
It kind of reminds me of that Darwin Awards website, everyone looks so normal and competent and responsible until something goes wrong and then .... well you know the rest.
AC
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brighammccown/2013/12/30/germanys-energy-goes-kaput-threatening-economic-stability/