Editorial policy

PowerLockdown is a research-only publication. Here is how we decide what to publish.

Sources

• Every risk claim cites a named, dated public source, such as NERC reliability assessments, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), NOAA, Ready.gov (FEMA), the CDC, the Department of Energy and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
• We link to the source and give its publication date on the page where we use it.
• If we cannot verify a fact, we leave it out.
• Our Grid Risk Outlook is a static summary of published NERC reports. It is not a forecast that an outage will happen.
• Live conditions (space weather scales, the planetary K-index and the count of active weather alerts) load in your browser straight from NOAA and the National Weather Service, with a timestamp and a link to the source. If a feed is down, we say so instead of showing an old number.
• The readiness score's assumptions are listed, with sources, on its method page.

Product picks

• Picks are research-based, based on manufacturer specs and published data. We do not test products and never claim to have done so.
• Specs come from the manufacturer's own product page, which we link from each pick along with the date we checked it.
• We include honest tradeoffs for every pick.
• We do not publish prices, because they change often. Follow the link to check the current price.
• We do not publish star ratings, invented reviews or user counts.

Safety

Guidance on generators, heaters and electrical work follows CDC, CPSC and Ready.gov. Generators run outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the home, with CO alarms inside. Transfer switches and any connection to home wiring are installed by a licensed electrician. This site offers general information, not professional safety, medical or electrical advice.

Tone

Long outages are a real, growing risk, and preparing is worth doing. Urgency on this site has to be earned by a sourced fact. We do not claim that authorities will impose "energy lockdowns". We write about the real drivers of outages: extreme weather, wildfire shutoffs, geomagnetic storms, grid strain and rising demand.

Updates and corrections

Each page shows when it was last updated. We review the Grid Risk Outlook when NERC publishes a new assessment. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.

Money

We earn commissions from some links. That never changes what a source says or which risks we report. See our affiliate disclosure.