Indeed, if you've observed anything during the last few years, even monitored the power line with a scope for waveform content, you've seen phenomena you've not seen before. Suddenly it's clear we're in dire straits.

Just last year the North American Electric Reliability Council said that energy reserves would be reasonably solid for the next few years. But if you've spent time watching your local news, you know that's a situation that has changed in a hurry.

Make no mistake: Power utilities are fast losing their grip on handling the load, as well as the quality. Whether a result of steadily increasing population across the country, true climactic change, more switch-mode supplies in close proximity reflecting hash into the mains or the sale of power across state lines, even Joe Public knows that we're in trouble.

Here in the Northeast, all it takes is a hot and humid day (and in this region, that's not really so very hot or humid) to bring line voltages to below 100, or to generate, for no apparent reason, a sudden blackout that lasts from a few minutes to hours.

Or we might hear a bang in the distance (five blown insulators and one power transformer in the past two years), followed by a loss of power. In one case, a hurricane that didn't come close to damaging anything here took the power down for 63 hours. It's ridiculous, and getting way out of hand.

What to do? With telecommuting and small businesses still on the upswing, do what the pros do: Make sure you have backup power, such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and monitor the state of your system at all times. This will be the best investment you will ever make.

Despite all the talk, new plants aren't going to be built overnight, if at all, and power-line quality isn't going to improve. I must admit that, until a year or two ago, I was never a true believer in the power of a UPS for "localized" applications. I am now.