[Steven]

Hello Seashore. It is a topic I am well aware of. I work since many years for Hydro-Quebec. We have a very large network from production-transport and distribution of electrical power. We have lived in 1989 a EMP of a high magnitude that caused electrical power off for several hours, at some place for several days. Because when you loose your automatic protection, the lines opens by default.

What happened is that the electronic protection of the lines have been affected by the high frequencies and magnitude of the EMP. Since electronic components are made of low DC tension, low DC current, they are fragile when high frequency noise of high magnitude hits them.

EMP from the sun regularly hits the Earth, but in 1989 it was of a singular magnitude. Now, I heard some people (scientists) saying that transformers can heat and burn. It is highly improbable, since transformers are used to work with AC and have very large coils, there capacity for transport and distribution are in MegaVoltAmpere, MVA. If an EMP is able to fry these transformers, we human will have nothing more to worry about because we as well will be toast.

So the danger for a blackout comes from the fragility of the DC electronics protection and measurement. Today, Hydro-Quebec have shielded all electronics for their automatism for protection and measurment of power lines and network.

If a country is not up-to-date to sheild its own electronic protection, than a blackout may occur, but nevertheless, the repairs are not impossible to accomplish in a matters of days.

The type of protection for electronic components are faraday cage like solution. EMP tend to be reflected (bounce) on metals, when they tends to be absorbed (makes molecular structure to vibrate) by non-metal components.

I wouldn't worry too much if you live in a country where the electrical power network is up-to-date with his electronic protection.

If you have more question, feel free to pm me.

Namaste, Steven