FEMA and its emergency management partners released Kate Konschnik’s PrepTalk “Left in the Dark: Power Outages in an Interconnected World.” In her PrepTalk, Konschnik dives into the fundamentals of how electricity is generated in the U.S. She explains how our aging electrical infrastructure increases the chances of catastrophic failures and offers considerations for emergency managers to prepare their communities for extended power outages.
Konschnik directs the Climate & Energy Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University and is a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law School. Her research focuses on policy options for public electric utility regulation and electricity market reforms to accommodate new technologies, electrification of other sectors, and air quality and decarbonization goals.
Her PrepTalk video, an accompanying American Sign Language video, and additional resources are available at www.fema.gov/preptalks. Konschnik is the fifth presentation to be released on video from the 5th PrepTalks Symposium, held September 19th in Washington, DC.
PrepTalks are a partnership between FEMA, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association, the National Homeland Security Consortium, and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
