The Power Keeps Going Out — Maybe It’s Time We Start Building Something Better

We’ve all been there. You’re halfway through your day — maybe working, maybe just relaxing — and the power goes out. Everything stops. No internet. No lights. No phone signal. Suddenly you realize how much of your life runs on invisible wires you never think about… until they don’t work.

Now imagine that happening to an entire country. Not just for minutes — but hours, or even days.

That’s exactly what happened recently in Spain, Portugal, and France. Blackouts hit entire regions. Lights out, internet gone, total disconnect. And honestly? It’s not that surprising anymore. We’ve seen it in South Africa, in Pakistan, in Texas. When big systems fail, they fail hard — and regular people are left in the dark, literally.

So here’s the uncomfortable truth: our infrastructure is fragile. And pretending otherwise is just wishful thinking.

Our systems weren’t built for this

Most of the stuff we rely on — power grids, internet connections, mobile networks — was built decades ago. It wasn’t designed for streaming everything 24/7, charging EVs, or handling the massive energy needs of data centers and AI.

It also wasn’t built for climate change. And it shows.

Every time there’s a storm, a heatwave, or a spike in demand, something breaks. And when it breaks, everything grinds to a halt. That’s what happens when you rely on one centralized system to keep everything running.

There’s another way: DePIN

That’s where this thing called DePIN comes in. It stands for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks — which sounds kind of intense, but really, it’s just about one thing: sharing the responsibility.

Instead of depending on one giant grid or company, DePIN lets regular people — yes, people like you and me — be part of the solution.

Got a Wi-Fi router? You could help power a local network. Got solar panels on your roof? You could send energy to your neighbor when the grid fails. Got some extra storage on your computer? You could help keep a backup version of the internet alive when the cloud goes down.

This isn’t some far-off idea. It’s already happening.

Projects like Helium are creating people-powered wireless networks. Filecoin is building a decentralized internet, powered by everyday users. In Brooklyn, neighbors are trading solar energy like it’s nothing — and they’re doing it without waiting for permission from utility companies.

What happens when things go wrong?

Let’s say there’s a blackout. Cell towers go out. You can’t call anyone, and you can’t get online. But someone nearby has a backup router, or a battery-powered hotspot that’s part of a local network. Suddenly, you’re not cut off anymore. You can send messages. Find help. Coordinate. That’s what DePIN makes possible.

It’s not magic — it’s just a smarter way to build.

This isn’t about tearing down the old systems

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about replacing power companies or internet providers overnight. It’s about adding resilience. Creating backups. Building safety nets at the community level — so when the big systems fail (and they will), we’re not starting from zero.

It’s about putting some power back in people’s hands — literally and figuratively.

We need to start now

Governments should support this. Tech companies should build for it. And the rest of us? We should start asking questions. Start learning. Start looking at how we can contribute — even in small ways.

Because the next time the lights go out, we shouldn’t be stuck waiting for someone else to fix it. We should already have something running — built by us, for us.

And maybe then, we won’t feel so powerless when the grid goes down.