The grid leaves us powerless Dan Zak, The Washington Post Feb. 18, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail A restaurant was left without power in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday. Outside, roads were still covered in snow and ice.Photo for The Washington Post by Sergio Flores The grid is great until you notice it. It's omnipresent, but an afterthought - until it flickers, shorts, stutters, goes out. That's when you think about the grid: when the refrigerator grumbles to silence, when the HVAC thumps goodbye, when the WiFi evaporates. To notice the grid is to be powerless. To try to understand it is to be completely in the dark.