Stress related power failures, like the one that knocked out power in the northeastern United States and southeastern and central Canada in August 2003, are more likely to occur in the summer because of the additional air conditioning load. Storm related power failures in this part of the world are perhaps more likely in the winter because of cold weather and ice storms. In the south-east Atlantic states and the Gulf States – from North Carolina to Texas, weather related power failures are likely to follow hurricanes, and thus are more likely during late summer and autumn. Power failures caused by human action, whether accidental or willfull, i.e. terrorist, can occur any time. The only predictor is Murphy’s famous observation, “whatever can go wrong will, usually at the worst possible moment.”

There are some simple steps we can take to strengthen the grid, to minimize the probability and impact of weather related, accidental, and human triggered power failures, and to save the taxpayers and ratepayers money.

The easiest, fastest strategy is to identify buildings that can and will be used as emergency shelters in the event of emergencies, and retrofit them with geothermal and passive solar heating and cooling and with photo-voltaic solar electric and solar hot water systems.

Obviously, these systems are useful during times of non-emergency, as well as emergency. Based on the current price of electricity and the local Solar Renewable Energy, SREC, market, solar electric systems in New Jersey can reasonably be expected to pay for themselves in 6 to 8 years. And they can reasonably be expected to generate power with minimal maintenance expense for 25 to 40 years.

Think about it: If there’s a roof, and it gets sunlight, there ought to be solar panels collecting the energy and transforming the light into heat, hot water, and electricity.  And if it sits on the ground, and the basement’s nice and cool, it’s a geothermal system waiting to be engineered and built. And the technology exists.

Since we know what and how,  the questions are where and when.

The answers are every school, every public building and parking lot, and as Hillel once asked, “If not now when?”

I would like to start retrofitting every elementary school in New Jersey and New York immediately. Actually, I would have liked to start in 2006.

What better emergency power system is one that works when there is not an emergency?