A Portland-Style Plan for Emergencies and Power Outages

Portland, Oregon has teamed up with three partners to create public landmarks where people can gather and charge their phones during natural disasters that cause power outages.

The hope is that the landmarks will become as well-known as other Portland landmarks, including the Portlandia statue, the city’s fountains, and its wildlife statues. That way, residents will know just where to go if there’s an emergency.

Power for cell phone charging will come from pedal power, solar energy and storage.

The partners include the city, Portland General Electric (PGE), Portland State University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Called PrepHubs, the public landmarks were first conceived by MIT.

Read a story I wrote about this here:

Portland Plans Emergency Microgrid Statues in Parks. Will use Pedal Power