I bought these to handle upcoming Oregon blackouts

By Jason Williams
By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

An Oregonian article warned “If data center electricity use hits the forecast’s upper range, the region could experience power shortages as soon as 2029 … Cities might turn off streetlights. Government offices might go dark”. This week both Spain and Portugal suffered a mass power-outage because their environmental push for more wind/solar has made their grid widely unstable. Oregon is taking the same path as Spain, as Oregon closes coal plants and demolishes hydro-dams and then heavily subsidizes electric vehicles/data centers with our tax dollars which drain electricity demand.

To prepare for any future blackouts, I began buying large capacity batteries like the BioLite battery back-ups.   These 1,200 watt models, shown above, can power your fridge for 3-4 days while also recharging your phone, laptop or powering up your computer briefly to access documents.  I can plug my router into it and maintain internet access when I wish.   The key is that you charge the battery when you have power, and you use it when you don’t have power.

It is like a big battery.   It is not a generator.  Gas generators require that you store gas in your garage for months or years.   Gas over 6-months begins to decline in quality and can actually ruin your generator.  This is why people who have gas generators should use them annually to keep both the gas and the generator working properly.  Both gasoline and natural gas generators must be operated outdoors which is problematic.  Whereas, these new battery storage backups can be operated inside your home with no noise.

They are also portable.  When power went out in Warrenton last March, I put my portable BioLite battery in my car and drove to my friends’ house and dropped it off so they could keep their fridge powered.  It worked seamlessly.   When his power came back on, he simply plugged it in and recharged it and then returned it.  It is very empowering to be able to help people by delivering them power without having to involve gasoline or natural gas.

Oregonians need to be prepared.   Our politicians are decommissioning traditional energy sources (coal, hydro) while driving up electricity demand by subsidizing electric vehicles and energy-consuming data centers.

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