I went to a New Year's party, held by an old friend of my wife, and who happened to marry into some great wealth.

I heard quite a few people who had nice recreational properties discussing their off grid plans - collectors, low poe water pumps, windmills. Of course, they are having them professionally built, which means when stuff breaks down, they won't have a clue how to fix them.

I think the best profession for the future will be a handy man out in the sticks.

I can just see the signs on their pickups now:

"Gold, gas, or grass. Sorry, we don't take cash"

These guys can't catch a break. If they DON'T live off grid they will be labelled hypocrites. If they DO, then they are just screwing over everyone else who don't have the money to follow suit.

Think of it this way. If you go off grid you are effectively letting the traditional infrastructure last a little longer. If enough people did that, then it would prevent utility costs from soaring as much for those who can't.

We're working on getting pnm employee Tommy Sanders to show us natural gas depletion plots he says he has. This may be giving the pnm folks some grey hair.

http://www.prosefights.org/pnmgas/pnmgas.htm

Wow. That's weird. I feel kind of violated.

I can't believe that saying Texas has the most stable grid in the country is controversial. I'm not saying it's not going to fail, I'm just saying that other parts of the country will likely fail first.

Maybe they think that calling myself BigTex means I am one of those redneck pickup pilots with the steer horns on the hood.

These guys can't catch a break. If they DON'T live off grid they will be labelled hypocrites. If they DO, then they are just screwing over everyone else who don't have the money to follow suit.

Its' just sour grapes.

Anyone with even two brain cells to rub together can see things are breaking down. If I had the millions I'd be off grid too, and so would 90% of us on here.

Yes. You are missing the fact that California's energy woes are the result of socialism.

But, I could be wrong.

Perhaps Hollywood's elite don't support leftist collectivism a.k.a. socialism.

Perhaps Gray Davis did not force price controls.

Perhaps 'Democrat' and 'Republican' are meaningful labels.

Perhaps corporations don't have any influence in government.

Perhaps California does have an unmediated free market in energy.

If you suckers think it takes millions to be off the grid, you wouldn't be millionaires for long!

If you got rid of that second car, skippped a few vacations, and stopped paying for cable and a cell phone you would probabaly be able to afford it now.

Water is the only thing requiring much effort, just a hole in the ground with some concrete rings (or bricks) fashioning a protective shell for a fibreglass water tank, a bit of insulation, inclined drainpipe (open-topped, but with a grille) feeding into it, and feeding into that, an inclined sheet of waterproof material (tent fabric would do nicely) which is stretched off a roller onto which it can be wound to fully retract. A few accessories like a footpump to pump it out of the tank and you'd be sorted - a rainwater collection system with a month's capacity for almost nothing and a bit of labour on your part. There could be problems to overcome with water tables and checking for buried services, and you will need to boil or treat, but aside from that... And it's all people have to do in many parts of the world with a suitable climate.

Electricity is over-rated, get a wind-up radio, when the time comes you will find there is nothing else worthwhile which needs it to function. Not even the internet.

Gas, whatever, get a four-season sleeping bag and collect firewood. An iron stove shouldn't cost that much either considering it will last longer than you.

Food is more tricky, but then you are already doing essential work, aren't you?

Oh, and don't be a loner, they are easy pickings, do the whole community thing.

A million pounds would actually be handy to buy a house outright and do all of the above, but the crash should unfold over the next few years just in time, and I will be waiting.

That's really all you have to do to put yourself ahead of at least nine out of ten people. The professionally-manufactured PV, wind, pumps and so on, that's for those who can't bear to give up their home gym and plasma screen. Have you actually got that crap, and if so, will you find it so hard to give up?

All you have to do is be able to survive a Katrina or a Gloucester (had that substation flooded) every now and then. That can happen in a world of plentiful energy, the three days' food and water stuff is bollocks. So yeah, chill. Let the rich have their islands, you should be learning and changing your life a little bit every day within your individual circumstances.

Last I checked it was due to capitalism and socialism, but not the same socialism that was in place before. In our representative republic, we went from regulated power generation where each grid had to be able to generate everything it needs, to deregulation. So, from socialism for most, to socialism for a select few...

I live in California so I got front row seats to see all the action!

As a youth I remembered that whenever a black out would hit, many people actually got excited. The reason is because it was such a rare event (like watching a solar eclipse or a comet that only comes once every 3 years) I personally saw it as a time of excitement not an inconvenience.

Fast forward to the present. Without looking at any stats but just going by "feel"....it seems like I'm getting smacked with a blackout 3 times a year! That's a 9 fold increase from the "good old days" of my youth. I no longer think black outs are "cool" it's getting annoying.

The one thing that liberals and conservatives have in common is they BOTH like to blame each other. Each side has no shortage of studies and statistics to back their claim. Personally I think both parties are impotent. I see the instability of the grid as just another example of a civilization in decline that can no longer afford to upkeep it's infrastructure.

my 2 kW

That's becaue you don't understand what the problem is, its not a materials or resources issue that limits generation, its a political and economic issue.

The grid is only stressed for a few hours each day. Turn your air conditioners down a notch or two and stop claiming the end is near.

The problem is a infrastructure issue. If the infrastructure was right, California wouldn't be in this situation. Saying "turn down your air conditioners a notch" is like saying "put on a sweater" to somebody who lives in a cold house. If the house and the heating system were built correctly, the house can be kept quite warm even in the Scandinavian winter.

Now, the only question left is if the infrastructure issue is due only to politics and economics (as the media claim) or there is a resource issue as well.

This sounds like a great plan...

SO the lights go out in LA, and the grid is down for a week or two, and at 3am there's this one house with power. Yeah. I'd want to be in that house, and so would a lot of other people. I commend the effort in theory, but it's ultimately pretty foolish. Self sufficiency is all or nothing.

A few thousand dollars will still buy a couple of PV panels, a controller, a battery, and a small inverter which will enable you to have lights, radio, and maybe even run your refridgerator or freezer (depending on how efficient the appliance is, and how many you consider a "few thousand dollars" to be). I haven't bought a brand new car since 1971, but do have enough PVs and wind generation capacity to run our place totally off grid if needed--it happens for a few days every year or so--and we have spent maybe $20,000 on the entire system. Of course we don't have central air or a dozen bathrooms in the house, or huge TVs, but we certainly don't look like we are suffering in any way.

The price of a new car would get most homes well on their way to producing most of their power from the sun.

LOL. It's like when Bart Simpson kept putting his finger on the hot stove, and each time was surprised when it didn't turn out well.

The only difference is whether the "select few" are politburo members, or corporate CEO's.