I know there is a grid down wargame confrerence coming in July...

Energy Secretary Warns of Enemy's Capability to Shut Down US Power Grid Get Ready For Lights Out

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday warned in stark terms that the US power grid is vulnerable to attacks.

Asked By CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” whether the nation’s adversaries have the capability of shutting it down, Granholm said: “Yeah, they do.”

“There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally,” she said, adding, “It’s happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together.”-

2:22

I watched a docuмentary made in 2004 in the UK about a fictional scenario of a gas pipeline explosion in Russia where at that time Britain got a substantial amount of it's natural gas via a Baltic pipeline.

I was surprised to learn that in the event of a shortage of natural gas in the UK the first people to lose the gas supply (have it cut off) is industry and not the 20m domestic customer.  This includes gas powered electricity power stations.

So people in their homes would have natural gas and the shortages would affect power-stations (most of the coal ones have been closed down and the nuclear ones cannot increase capacity for demand).  So for a period of weeks or months the likely scenario would be rolling electric blackouts but natural gas available in homes.

This is due to a completely practical reason that domestic appliances don't have the safety equipment to stop air (oxygen) backflowing into the natural gas pipes and in the event of cutting off the domestic customer people would open their gas cooker dials and backwash the system creating the potential for gas explosions.

My friend who is a gas engineer confirmed this.  It is probably therefore true in most countries with natural gas that this will be the last energy service in your home to shut down.

Tempted to get an old natural gas heater and gas pipe which could be jerry-rigged in such a scenario.  They are very cheap on the second hand market.  As cheap as $50.  Practically given away as many people don't want them any longer.