RE: power to the internet

[Don Gould <don () bowenvale co nz>]

This is a very short term problem. The market is going to fill with battery storage sooner rather than later. Solar is 
just exploding. Your car will "house tie".6G will solve your data problem. D-- Don Gould5 Cargill 
PlaceRichmondChristchurch, New ZealandMobile/Telegram: + 64 21 114 0699www.bowenvale.co.nz
-------- Original message --------From: Michael Thomas <mike () mtcc com> Date: 26/12/19  2:33 PM  (GMT+12:00) To: 
nanog () nanog org Subject: power to the internet 
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/25/california-power-shutoffs-089678This article details some of the issues with 
California's "new reality" of planned blackouts. One of the big things that came to light with these blackouts is that 
our network infrastructure's resilience is pretty lacking. While I was (surprisingly to me) ok with my DSL connection 
out in the boonies, lots and lots of people with cable weren't so lucky. And I'm not sure how bad the situation is with 
cellular infrastructure, but I assume it's not much better than cable. And I wouldn't doubt that other DSL deployments 
go dark when power is down. I have no clue with fiber.So I guess what I'm wondering is what can we do about this? What 
should we do about this? These days IP access is not just convenience, it's the way we go about our lives, just like 
electricity itself. At base, it seems to me that network operators should be required to keep the lights on in 
blackouts just like POTS operators do now. If I have power to light my modem or charge in my phone, I should be able to 
get onto the net. That seems like table stakes.One of the things we learned also is that the blackouts seem to last 
between 2-3 days apiece. I happen to have a generator since I'm out in the boonies and our power gets cut regularly 
because of snow, but not everyone has that luxury. I kind of want to think that my router+modem use about 20 watts, so 
powering it up would take about 1.5kwh for 3 days. a quick google look shows that I'd probably need to shell out $500 
or so for a battery of that capacity, and that's doesn't include your phones, laptops, tv's, etc power needs. What does 
that mean? That is a major expense for a lot of people.On the bright side, I hear that power generator companies stocks 
have gone through the roof.On the dark side, this is probably coming to a lot more states and countries due to climate 
change. Australia. Sigh.Mike