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What do they know that they are not telling us about a down electrical grid? When you see articles like this, you have to ask yourself that question.  Many of these big businesses now some of the planned future events and get an edge on it.  Are you doing anything to prepare for a large scale electric outage?

We have all gotten so used to the high-tech life that to experience it without electric would be a serious challenge.  In 2004, hurricane Charley ripped through Southwest Florida leaving us without electric for several weeks.  Cooking, cleaning and drinking was a challenge.  However with the basic skills learned in the Boy Scouts, this was not a large challenge.  However, many neighbors had serious issues.

maybe it would be good for everyone to have a practice weekend without electric.  Can you go for a full weekend?

Walmart And Other Big Businesses Prepare For Downed Power Grid With Alternative Energies

Written by: Daniel Jennings Alternative Energy September 2, 2013

 

Many of America’s largest corporations now believe the electric grid is unreliable and are quietly developing the capability to operate without it.
Companies in a wide variety of industries are scrambling to produce their own energy. Retailers, technology companies, and banks now recognize the need for alternative sources of electricity.

The Bloom Box

Walmart, Google, eBay, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, FedEx, Safeway, Verizon, AT&T, Adobe, Honda, and Kaiser Permanente are among the corporate giants that have invested in the Bloom Box energy cell technology. A Bloom Box is literally a power plant in a box that uses next generation fuel cell technology to generate electricity.

Bloom Boxes don’t come cheap; each one costs around $800,000, but these companies are willing to invest in them. The companies claim they are going green or reducing pollution by purchasing such technology. What they’re also doing is ensuring that they can stay open when the electric grid goes down.

The interest in the Bloom Box indicates that these companies’ executives think that the electric grid is not dependable. Wal-Mart and Safeway want to keep their refrigerators and their cash registers running. Google wants to keep providing Internet even if the lights go out.

Companies Embracing Solar, Too

The Bloom Box is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corporate efforts to have dependable power. IKEA has purchased 500,000 solar panels as part of an effort to produce 70 percent of its own electricity.
Harness the power of the sun when the power goes out
Walmart plans to put solar panels on 75 percent of its stores in California, a state with a notoriously unreliable electric grid. The company has made a deal with Elon Musk’s company Solar City to buy the panels.
Walmart claims it is motivated by concern for the environment, but we all know that the real “green” Walmart is interested in is money. The businesspeople that run Walmart wouldn’t be making a major investment in “alternative energy” if they didn’t think they might need it.

Grid Is No Longer Reliable

It is easy to see why corporations are looking into alternatives.
The Washington Post reported that the electric grid is pricier and less reliable. The number of power outages that affected more than 500,000 people in the United States more than doubled between 2004 and 2009, The Post’s Wonkblog noted.
The length of blackouts has also increased by around 20 percent in the last decade, Off The Grid News previously reported. Large companies simply can no longer afford to depend on the grid, so they are investing in the resources needed to generate their own power.
In August, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded America’s power grid a D+, Off The Grid News reported. The rating means the energy infrastructure is in “poor to fair condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life.” It further means a “large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration” with a “strong risk of failure.

Here is the link to the full article:

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/09/02/walmart-and-other-big-businesses-prepare-for-downed-power-grid-with-alternative-energies/

What is your opinion about these businesses preparing for a downed grid?  Leave us a comment so we can share.