Community preparedness

Some time ago I became aware that a community of 3000 that is near me had taken measures in the 1980s to go off grid if need be.   It made the decision to maintain its own water system in reserve …even though it is connected to a regional system.  And, it purchased two railroad locomotives with the capacity to produce electricity for the community in case of a crisis.  Of course, it maintains a fuel reserve as well.

I am curious if there are other communities out there that keep grid independence as an option.

Interested in hearing other responses to this. I can't think of anything town sized and up, but certainly at small village or neighborhood scale. I wish that the concept of "micro-grids" was more widely familiar and implemented; would/will make a lot of sense in many places!

Hi Ben,

To be clear, these systems are back-up systems.  They are real. I verified with the son of the 1980s mayor as well as the current mayor.

Given the escalating nuclear tensions of the 1980s (including some very close calls) lots of people saw value in providing their own essentials. Big grid systems are quite vulnerable and easy to disrupt, then and now. Small local systems are much more resilient. It's wise to have options.

I would be interested in knowing what town that was that planned for off grid, and if their efforts are documented.  I live in a <3000 pop. rural VT town with a sad "everyone for himself" attitude towards emergencies.  Our so-called volunteer Fire Dept. is run by self-interested scam artists.  I have real fears for the many elderly (and not so elderly) on back roads or in flood plains because there is no one to help if they get into a pickle.  It would be useful to present our small-imagination selectboard with an example of action by a town our size (with the cajones to plan in advance ).  Does the town have a website?