The Sun Just Fired Its Biggest Shot in 22 Years. Is Your Grid Ready?

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Lightning hit a transformer near my house years ago. The surge came through the wall before the breaker tripped. My microwave died. My neighbor lost a TV and a router. Total damage on our street: probably $2,000 worth of electronics. All preventable with $30 worth of surge protection. That's when I started taking electrical protection seriously.

Here's what I've got this morning.

EMP, Surges, and Protecting Your Electronics

Let's separate the real from the imagined. The internet treats EMP (electromagnetic pulse) as an apocalyptic event that bricks every electronic device simultaneously. The reality is more nuanced, and the practical protections are simpler than the fear suggests.

There are three levels of electromagnetic threat. Power surges (from lightning, grid switching, or equipment failure) are the most common. They happen thousands of times a year across the US. Solar storms (coronal mass ejections) are rarer but real. The 1989 Carrington-level event knocked out Quebec's grid for nine hours. A full-scale EMP from a nuclear detonation is the least likely but most severe scenario.

For power surges, the protection is straightforward. Quality surge protectors on your valuable electronics. Not the $5 power strip from the dollar store. A real surge protector rated at 2,000+ joules with indicator lights that show it's still protecting. Replace them every few years, as the protection degrades after absorbing surges. A whole-house surge protector installed at your breaker panel ($50 to $100, professional installation recommended) provides the first layer.

For solar storms, the main risk is to the power grid itself, not your individual devices. A severe solar storm could cause extended outages by damaging large transformers that take months to replace. Your preparation for this is the same as any extended outage: the kit and plans from Issue 21.

For EMP concerns, a Faraday bag or container blocks electromagnetic energy from reaching the devices inside. A Faraday bag is essentially a metallic-lined pouch that creates an electromagnetic shield. You can buy commercial ones or make your own from a metal garbage can lined with cardboard (the devices shouldn't touch the metal directly).

What to put in a Faraday container: a backup radio, a spare phone or tablet loaded with offline references (Issue 50), a solar charger, a USB drive with important documents, and spare batteries for critical devices. You're protecting backup devices, not your daily electronics.

Here's the honest assessment: a full-scale EMP is an extremely low-probability event. Surge protection is high-probability, low-cost, and should be done regardless. Solar storm preparedness overlaps completely with extended outage preparedness, which you should already have. The Faraday bag is cheap insurance for the extreme scenario.

Check the surge protectors on your most valuable electronics.

Look for the "protected" indicator light. If it's off (or there isn't one), the protector may be spent. Replace any surge protector older than 3 to 5 years or any that's absorbed a known surge. A $20 replacement protects hundreds of dollars in electronics.

70% of U.S. Transmission Lines Are 25 or More Years Old — and Power Demand Is Projected to Double by 2040

The American Society of Civil Engineers gives U.S. energy infrastructure a C- on its most recent report card. More than 70% of the nation’s transmission lines and large power transformers are a quarter-century old or older. At the same time, AI data centers drove half of all new U.S. electricity demand growth in 2025, and the IEA projects that trend continuing to 2030. PJM — the grid serving 65 million people across 13 states — cleared its latest capacity auction at $329 per megawatt-day, more than ten times the price from two years prior. An aging grid under rising demand is a grid increasingly vulnerable to voltage events, cascade failures, and the kind of surge damage that wipes out unprotected electronics.

Sources: IEA Electricity 2026, Fortune, Utility Dive

Jonathan Hollerman wrote extensively about grid-down scenarios in Survival Theory II, including a detailed analysis of EMP and solar storm effects. His perspective is informed by both his SERE instructor background and years of grid-down consulting and sub-commitee reports for Congress. His first and second book cite regrettably how and why the grids are still vulnerable, along with what to do about it.

Hollerman's practical advice cuts through the noise: don't prepare specifically for EMP. Prepare for extended power outages, which covers EMP plus a dozen more likely scenarios. The only EMP-specific step worth taking is storing backup communication and navigation electronics in a Faraday container. Everything else, food, water, medical, security, is the same preparation you'd make for any prolonged grid failure.

Survival Theory II

The Strongest Solar Radiation Storm in 22 Years Hit Earth in January 2026 — and the Sun Isn’t Done

On January 19, 2026, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued an S4 (Severe) Solar Radiation Storm alert — the strongest since the Halloween storms of 2003. Sunspot region AR3947 unleashed an X-class flare that sent a coronal mass ejection toward Earth, triggering G3 geomagnetic storm conditions across the northern hemisphere. Auroras were visible as far south as Alabama. Satellite operators reported high-frequency radio blackouts and GPS degradation. No major grid failures occurred, but NERC placed grid operators on alert. The current solar cycle is approaching its maximum, with M-class flares now rated “very likely” on any given day through 2026. The last time solar activity reached this level — the 1989 Quebec storm — it knocked out the grid for nine hours and cost $2 billion in damage.

Sources: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, CNN, The Hill

Mission Darkness Faraday Bag (Window)

This is a commercially made Faraday bag large enough for a tablet, phone, radio, and accessories. It has a transparent window so you can see the contents without opening it, and a roll-top closure that creates the electromagnetic seal.

I tested it with a phone inside. Called the phone from another line. No signal. Tested GPS tracking. Nothing. The shielding works. When you open the bag, the phone reconnects within seconds.

I keep a spare AM/FM radio, a solar charger, a loaded Kindle, and a USB drive with documents inside this bag, stored in my go-bag. If I never need it for an EMP, that's great. If I do, I have communication, reference material, and power generation ready immediately. About $50 for the phone/tablet-size version.

Budget alternative: A galvanized metal trash can ($20) lined with cardboard. Place devices inside (not touching the metal), close the lid, and seal with metallic tape. Same principle, less elegant, equally effective.

Mission Darkness Window Faraday Bag

Overrated: EMP-specific preparedness as a category. The internet has created an entire industry around EMP fear. The actual preparation is simply extended outage planning plus a $20 to $60 Faraday container for backup electronics. Don't let the fear industry sell you a $5,000 solution to a problem that costs $60 to address.

Underrated: Whole-house surge protectors. For $50 to $100 plus installation, you protect every electronic device in your home from the most common electrical threat you'll actually face. This should be standard in every house.

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center — Real-time solar storm monitoring and geomagnetic alerts.

EIA.gov: Grid Reliability — Government data on grid stability and outage trends.

ThePrepared.com: EMP Preparedness — Balanced guide separating fact from fiction on EMP threats.

Grokipedia: Electromagnetic Pulse — Background on EMP science and historical events.

Lights Out by Ted Koppel — Well-researched book on grid vulnerability. Recommended reading.

Radio beyond ham. GMRS, FRS, and CB radios: what they do, which one you need, and how to use them without a license exam.

PS: The total cost of my surge and EMP protection: about $180 (whole-house protector, strip protectors for major electronics, one Faraday bag). That protects roughly $5,000 worth of devices. The math is hard to argue with.

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