Blackout incoming.

Power infrastructure is currently being tested, as turning the whole country back on is, electrically, more dangerous than turning it off. Power flickering in main power-producing cities and municipalities are moments of data-gathering events to show feasibility.

Operations currently underway benefit from the blackout. Secondary purpose is to reboot the power infrastructure systems with new systems to replace the compromised system brought to the public’s attention as a result from the Solar Winds hack, among the duly-compromised nature of Chinese technology currently being used in our power infrastructure.

While I can not place the time of the blackout to a specific hour of the day, I can educationally guess that it is to occur at moment in time where the entire country has been given the chance to consume a warm meal and to heat the homes long enough to sustain the winter temperature for at least twelve hours. The well-being of Americans comes first, and the blackout will most likely occur in a period of time where everyone’s daily needs will have been met.

I would hazard a guess of the blackout occurring anytime after 10:00 PST, 13:00 EST.

Emergency Broadcast Messages can be sent during blackouts. Towers are battery-backed and contain generators that can sustain power for twelve hours or longer, depending on the tower site manager’s ability to maintain a steady fuel schedule.

The EBM/EAM system doesn’t always rely on towers. It can be sent via satellite and AM/FM radio frequencies. For some technologies to take advantage of EAM, power will be required. I would expect any message sent to occur simultaneously with the blackout, allowing most technologies the chance to emit the message before power cuts it off, whereas cellular/AM/FM tech can stay online.

My personal “Price is Right” close-without-going-over guess of time will be 1:00pm PST.

That would be 4:00 01/10/20, or 4-10-20.