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WW3 fears explode as US military prepares for '90 days without power'

The Pentagon is preparing a "doomsday plan" called FORTRESS to keep US military bases operational for at least 90 days without civilian power, water or fuel

By Tannur Anders, Simon Green
04:11 ET, Mon, Oct 26, 2026 Updated: 10:31 ET, Mon, Oct 26, 2026

The Pentagon is preparing for the US military to have 90 days without power (Image: Milan_Jovic via Getty Images)

The Pentagon is reportedly developing a "doomsday plan" designed to maintain US military base operations independently of other nations. This initiative emerges as the US grapples with managing two significant conflicts.

According to FOX News, the plan would enable US military installations to function for a minimum of 90 days without external assistance in the event of a major war that could devastate power grids, interrupt supply chains and endanger vital infrastructure across US territory.

This strategy is part of FORTRESS, a broader military program aimed at ensuring US forces can continue operations even when civilian systems they depend on are disrupted. It comes after a terrified general's brutal 1-word comment to Trump after he tried to access the nuclear codes.

"We don't want to rely on standard civilian municipal infrastructure to run our national defence. We just simply can't. It's an intolerable risk," Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital.

The Pentagon is also establishing frameworks for civilian manufacturing facilities to transition to defense production during emergencies, reports the Express.

The plan is to prepare for the possibility of a global conflict (Image: Svetlosila via Getty Images)

What if America Went Completely Dark?

The power grid relies on thousands of aging, hand-built transformers. If enough fail, the blackout could last years.
Photo illustration by Justin Metz

By Christopher Cox

Christopher Cox traveled to California and Nevada and interviewed more than two dozen experts in grid technologies and grid reliability.

Aug. 18, 2026Updated 9:20 a.m. ET

The snipers had been shooting for nearly 10 minutes before someone called 911. A man driving down the highway told the police he thought he heard fireworks as he passed Pacific Gas and Electric’s Metcalf electrical substation, 15 miles southeast of San Jose. An engineer at a nearby power plant said he thought it was gunfire. Maybe more calls would have come in, but the communication link between the substation and PG&E, along with several phone and internet cables, had been severed. It was April 16, 2013.

The shooters — two, maybe more — took up positions 30 to 40 yards outside the substation fence, in the dry scrubland near Coyote Creek. At 1:31 a.m., after a security camera recorded what looked like a signal from a flashlight, they began firing high-powered rifles into the facility. Sparks flew into the air whenever the bullets grazed the chain-link fence, but most of the shots hit their apparent targets: a row of truck-size power transformers, which step down high-voltage electricity to lower voltages so it can be sent to local homes and businesses. Because this was Silicon Valley, those customers included some of the largest tech companies in the world.

After some 120 shots, 17 of Metcalf’s transformers had been disabled. The attackers knew to aim for the units’ cooling systems, oil-filled fins similar to those on a radiator, which draw heat away from the electrified core. That allowed the oil, 52,000 gallons of it, to drain out slowly so that the transformers wouldn’t fail right away, which would have triggered an alarm. The gunmen could take their time.

At 1:50 a.m., there was another flicker from a flashlight, and the shooting stopped. One minute later, the police arrived at the substation, but by then, the shooters were gone. The police looked around and, finding nothing suspicious, left as well. It wasn’t until a utility worker arrived at 3:15 a.m. that the extent of the damage was clear.

Extended Power Outage? You're Not Ready - What To Do

U.S. says Cuba is prohibited from taking Russian oil as two tankers head to island

Key Points

• The U.S. Treasury Department has made clear that Cuba is not allowed to take delivery of Russian crude.
• The warning comes at a time when two tankers carrying Russian oil and gas are thought to be on their way to Havana.
• The fuel-starved Caribbean island is facing its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union under a U.S. oil blockade.

An old Soviet-era Lada car drives past a truck belonging to a private Cuban company (mipyme) parked in front of a gas station with an IsoTank of imported fuel in Havana on March 19, 2026.

Adalberto Roque | Afp | Getty Images

Published Fri, Mar 20 202

64:54 AM EDT

Sam Meredith@in/samuelmeredith@smeredith19WATCH LIVE

The U.S. Treasury Department has said Cuba won’t be allowed to take delivery of Russian crude, even as the fuel-starved island appears poised to receive two tankers carrying oil and gas.

In a general license published Thursday, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Cuba to a list of countries that would be blocked from transactions involving the sale, delivery or offloading of crude or petroleum products that originate from Russia.

The U.S. had temporarily authorized the purchase of Russian oil stranded at sea last week, as part of an effort to stabilize energy markets during the U.S. and Israeli-led war on Iran. The short-term measure suspended sanctions that were first imposed on Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The update comes as maritime intelligence providers have been tracking two tankers carrying Russian oil and gas heading toward Cuba.

Beset by blackouts and a worsening economic crisis under a U.S. oil blockade, the communist-run Caribbean island is currently facing its biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier in the week that he thinks he’ll have the “honor” of taking Havana in some form.

Russia, which has been allied to Cuba for decades, has sharply criticized the Trump administration’s fuel blockade and pledged to provide the country with “necessary support, including financial aid.”

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Electric Cars: Inconvenient Facts, Part 2

Electric cars being charged at night making America’s power grids unstable, study warns

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

ENVIRONMENT

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

STANFORD, Calif. — Leaving your electric car charging overnight to have it ready in the morning seems like a good idea in theory. But in reality, research suggests doing so does more harm in the long run. Stanford scientists say that it’s more costly to charge your electric car at night and it could stress out your local electric grid.

Instead, researchers suggest drivers should switch to charging their vehicle at work or in public charging stations. Another added benefit to charging in the daytime at a public station is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

With the effects of climate change more apparent than ever—frequent forest fires, widespread flooding, and stronger hurricanes—car companies are expecting people to start investing in electric-powered cars in the future. For example, California residents are expected to buy more electric cars as the state is planning to ban sales of gasoline-powered cars and light trucks in 2035.

“We encourage policymakers to consider utility rates that encourage day charging and incentivize investment in charging infrastructure to shift drivers from home to work for charging,” says study’s co-senior author, Ram Rajagopal, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, in a statement..

So far, electric cars make up one million or 6% of automobile sales in California. The state’s goal is to increase that number to five million electric vehicles by 2030. However, the study authors say that the change from gas to electric will cause a strain in the electric grid when there’s 30% to 40% of cars on the road.

“We were able to show that with less home charging and more daytime charging, the Western U.S. would need less generating capacity and storage, and it would not waste as much solar and wind power,” explains Siobhan Powell, a doctor of mechanical engineering and lead study author. “And it’s not just California and Western states. All states may need to rethink electricity pricing structures as their EV charging needs increase and their grid changes.”

If half of vehicles in the western United States are electric, the team estimates it would take over 5.4 gigawatts of energy storage—equivalent to five large nuclear power reactors—to charge the cars. However, if people charged their electric cars at work instead of home, the electric demand is expected to go down to 4.2 gigawatts.

California currently uses time-of-use rates to encourage people to use electricity at night such as running the dishwasher and charging cars. However, the authors argue that with growing demand of electric cars, this strategy is outdated and will soon incur high demand with low supply. More specifically, the teams says if a third of homes were to charge their electric cars at 11 PM or whenever electricity rates go down, the local grid would become unstable.

“The findings from this paper have two profound implications: the first is that the price signals are not aligned with what would be best for the grid – and for ratepayers. The second is that it calls for considering investments in a charging infrastructure for where people work,” says Ines Azevedo, associate professor of energy science and engineering and co-senior author.

“We need to move quickly toward decarbonizing the transportation sector, which accounts for the bulk of emissions in California,” Azevedo adds. “This work provides insight on how to get there. Let’s ensure that we pursue policies and investment strategies that allow us to do so in a way that is sustainable.”

The study is published in Nature Energy.

Source

Mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours

Vatican promotes the use of electric cars

Short on electricity, food and water, Venezuelans return to religion

Arelis R. Hernández and Mariana Zuñiga, The Washington Post

Published 10:01 am CDT, Saturday, April 13, 2019

El Guayanés prays to José Gregorio Hernández. The Venezuelan physician, who died in 1919, is a folk hero across Latin America. 

Photo: Photo For The Washington Post By Andrea Hernandez

Mary Mendoza holds the New Testament as she waits for a service at an evangelical Christian church in the Caracas slum of Petare. 

Photo: Photo For The Washington Post By Andrea Hernandez 

 

CARACAS, Venezuela - The lights in Petare had gone dark. Again.

The people of Venezuela's largest slum were used to the blackouts that halt the flow of water, exhaust their supplies of expensive candles and fray their already thin patience.

But this would not be like any other lightless night in the hillside barrio. Amid the darkened alleyways, a strange, joyful sound emerged between the zinc-roofed homes. Tambourines jingled, maracas rattled, drums throbbed. Voices called all who could hear to salvation.

"Cristo sana y salva . . ." 10 members of the Restoring Hearts church sang against the darkness. "Christ heals and saves. . . ."

Buffeted by political and humanitarian crises, one of Latin America's least religious countries is turning to faith. As the political stalemate between President Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó grinds into another month, and shortages of electricity, food and water reduce life to a daily struggle to survive, leaders across religious traditions are reporting a flood of worshippers, lapsed and new, searching for comfort and answers.

"All my masses are full, which has never happened before," said the Rev. Jesús Godoy, a Catholic priest at the Good Shepherd parish in the Chacao district of Caracas. He says he's seeing more than 2,000 people each weekend.

"They beg for help," Godoy said. "They want God to give them the tools to live in crisis."

In this deeply polarized country, analysts are watching for signs that this growing faithful could emerge as a political force.

It’s Official. All New California Homes Must Incorporate Solar

“There are 100,000 customers annually that will see the acquisition of solar as a normal part of their home transaction.”

Julia Pyper

May 09, 2018

Julia Pyper

Senior Editor
Greentech Media

Julia Pyper is a Senior Editor at Greentech Media covering clean energy policy, the solar industry, grid edge technologies and electric mobility. She previously reported for E&E Publishing, and has covered clean energy and climate change issues across the U.S. and abroad, including in Haiti, Israel and the Maldives. Julia holds degrees from McGill and Columbia Universities. Find her on Twitter @JMPyper.

It's an historic moment for clean energy.


Starting in 2020, virtually all new homes in California will be required to incorporate advanced efficiency measures and rooftop solar — in a historic development for clean energy in the state.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) voted to adopt the policy today as part of the state’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards, following more than two years of work with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the technical requirements.

Updates to the Title 24 standards are projected to reduce home energy use by 53 percent compared to the current code, saving Californians $1.7 billion in energy costs over the next 30 years. This calculation, conducted by the CEC, does not take into account increased energy demands or a reductions in technology costs, which could result in even greater savings over time.

The new rules apply specifically to all new residences and major home renovations on buildings under three stories, starting on January 1, 2020. In the event a building isn’t suitable for a rooftop array, the standards require homes have access to community solar or offset energy usage through additional efficiency gains.

Around 15,000 new homes are built each year that include solar panels, according to the CEC. When the new standards take effect, that number is expected to jump to around 100,000 new solar homes per year.

“This is an undeniably historic decision for the state,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.