The New York Times magazine published a major story in August headlined “What if America Went Completely Dark?” It starts by recounting how two shooters with high-powered rifles fired about 120 rounds into the cooling fins of 17 transformers at an unmanned electrical substation near San Jose, Calif., in 2013. The 19-minute attack knocked the transformers offline for 27 days.

A federal study has surmised that knocking out just nine critical substations among the three national grids could cause the entire country to lose power. The study warned that such a blackout could last 18 months or more.

The components of substations are custom-sized and hand-built and can take from two to five years to manufacture. U.S. companies can produce about 20 percent of our current need, with the rest being manufactured in Mexico, South Korea, China and a handful of other countries, according to the New York Times.

While the nationwide energy grid is a soft target for terrorists, I do not think a nationwide blackout is likely. Possible? Probably. But not likely.

However, more local and regional outages are almost certainly going to happen.

The grid is relying on old, outdated equipment that in many cases has seen upgrades deferred by power companies more worried about their bottom line. Severe weather is increasing, which causes havoc.

And terrorists can still create problems in local areas. In 2022, a shooter disabled multiple transformers at two substations in Moore County, N.C. An estimated 45,000 people lost power for as much as five days.

This may not be your most urgent problem, but it needs to be on your radar.

Solar and other alternative sources of energy can provide a cushion when the grid goes down.

Battery energy storage systems can provider a short-term solution for critical systems. The use of storage batteries is said to be significantly increasing and prices are coming down. There are 25 new battery manufacturing facilities already operating or under construction in the U.S.

A microgrid might be a good solution for your plant. They are already more common than you might think.

Here are two more suggestions:

First, talk to state lawmakers about their responsibility to hold electric providers accountable for providing dependable service. Those lawmakers grant monopolies for electric companies to operate, so they have oversight responsibility.

Finally, read Bruce Geiselman’s interview with Robin Kent, then look around your own plant. I have known Kent for 35 years and he has conducted energy audits in hundreds of plastics processing facilities. I feel safe in saying he is the world’s foremost expert on using energy efficiently in making plastic parts.

Efficiency is not a solution when the grid goes completely down. But in the case of reduced power availability, such as in brownouts or power company mandated rolling blackouts, using every kilowatt you can get as efficiently as possible will be critical to weathering the storm. Taking the steps now that Kent recommends might pay off later.