My staff and I have been working overtime on the challenges posed to your family by expanding dysfunction in the nation’s power grid and how to protect your interests. Because rolling blackouts are going to become the “new normal” if nothing is done. We are on the cusp of a government-created energy mess that has the potential to rival the gas lines of the 1970s. I will get to that shortly.

Now, back to the embarrassing, but telling, incident at the Super Bowl on Sunday night…

With tens of millions in ad revenue on the line, the NFL, CBS, and the City of New Orleans were literally powerless to correct a stunning Super Bowl power outage. Reporters scrambled to fill the time, explain the power failure, and keep viewers (whom advertisers had paid millions of dollars to attract) from leaving.

As of this writing, the cause hasn’t been found. The local utility, Entergy, released a statement that all transmission to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome was working as normal. Suggesting that the problem lies somewhere inside the Superdome itself. One possible explanation is that the demand for power inside the Superdome exceeded the supply, triggering the same kind of deliberate outage that happens in rolling blackouts (something I’ve been warning readers about for several months).

These are somewhat affordable, but you can’t recharge them until the power comes back on. As a short-term, affordable solution, they work well and are worth considering.

#2) You can’t go wrong with the tried-and-true gas generator. And if you don’t like the loud noise, you can find “quiet” models that run under 60 decibels (about the volume of an average conversation).

Gas generators will run as long as you have fuel to feed it. And there’s no need to wait for it to recharge like a back-up battery. Feed it fuel, turn it on, and it works. Quieter models tend to cost more than the regular ones, but if you don’t want to wake up the neighbors, this is a good option. And if keeping your backup generator stealthy is important, you can build an enclosure to help muffle more of the excess sound.

#3) The last option is a solar–powered generator. Technically, these don’t “generate” power. Instead, what they do is collect solar energy through their solar panels and turn it into electricity, which charges backup batteries. Similar to the solo back-up batteries above, this set up comes with special inverters allowing you to plug in all kinds of household appliances and equipment (even a power drill!).

As long as the sun is out, these systems are working and recharging the batteries. They’re also scalable. Meaning you can have a simple system to run a few essentials, or build a system that can literally run your entire house night and day (a set-up which would cost much more). However, you can build it and add to it piece-by-piece.

You’ll spend somewhere between $1500 and $2500 or more on a small, prebuilt version. You may be able to run your fridge for a few hours, but then you’ll drain the battery and need to give it a rest while you recharge.

I will have a major announcement for my readers in just a few weeks about an emergency power back up system I’ve designed for my own use — and to make available to a very limited number of readers. The magic of this backup power supply is that it comes with multiple charging options for true flexibility and security when your lights go out.

My backup power system is now in its final stages of testing and design, and it will be ready to be unveiled very soon – as soon as the next 60 days, so please watch for the announcement. To put yourself at the head of the list for this announcement, simply respond to this email with the code-word “Dorothy” in the subject line.

When it comes to reliable, long-term, no-fuss power systems, it’s hard to beat solar power. In the long run, your solar panels will pay for themselves by reducing or even completely offsetting your monthly power bill.

And if we ever experience a long-term power grid interruption, your solar panels will be the best investment you ever made.