October has been a rather unsettling month for anyone who enjoys the modern convenience of electricity. Intelligence chiefs are discussing threats to critical infrastructure, governments are telling households to prepare for emergencies, and the prospect of attacks on power networks has returned to the headlines. Nobody particularly enjoys contemplating a future in which the fridge becomes a cupboard, the internet vanishes and the kettle sits uselessly on the kitchen worktop. With so much of everyday life dependent upon electricity, even a relatively short interruption can expose how fragile our routines have become. Then, on 29 October 2026, Cummins published an article entitled The Hidden Cost of Power Outages. An important subject, undoubtedly. Although when a company that sells generators begins explaining how terribly expensive losing electricity can become, it is worth checking whether the public-information exercise comes with a sales brochure tucked discreetly up its arse.
Britain Has Been Talking About The Lights Going Out
On 13 October 2026, MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum delivered his annual threat update. His speech examined hostile-state activity, sabotage, cyberattacks and the increasingly direct consequences of national-security threats for ordinary people. Rather than confining the discussion to spies exchanging briefcases in dimly lit car parks, McCallum encouraged his audience to think about their homes, workplaces and the electricity networks supporting them.
Britain’s energy infrastructure has become an increasingly important security concern. The government’s May 2026 Energy Sector Cyber Security Strategy describes threats from sophisticated state actors and groups seeking to compromise critical systems. It also discusses the December 2025 cyberattack against Polish energy infrastructure. These aren’t fantastical scenarios dreamed up by somebody whose YouTube recommendations have taken a particularly unfortunate turn. Governments and security agencies are examining real vulnerabilities in the systems that keep modern societies functioning.
The wider consequences are easy to imagine. Electricity underpins communications, water treatment, transport, financial transactions and essential public services. A prolonged regional outage would cause problems far beyond sitting in the dark and missing the football. Even relatively ordinary failures can create serious disruption for people who rely on medical equipment or refrigerated medicines. The modern world runs on an elaborate collection of interconnected systems, and the electricity supply sits beneath much of it like the foundations of a very expensive house.
Unfortunately, that house has an increasing number of people wondering whether somebody might attempt to kick the front door off its hinges.
The Government Has Started Talking About Preparation
On 22 October, the UK government launched its Be Ready campaign, encouraging households to prepare for three days of disruption to essential services. The advice covers emergencies ranging from severe weather to interruptions affecting electricity, water and communications. Officials recommend practical measures such as keeping drinking water, non-perishable food, a torch, spare batteries and a charged power bank.
There is little inherently alarming about that advice. Preparing for emergencies doesn’t mean predicting an imminent catastrophe, and the government isn’t announcing that Britain’s electricity network is about to collapse. Most power cuts remain local and relatively short. Nevertheless, the timing reflects a wider debate about resilience, hostile activity and the consequences of depending upon services that may occasionally fail.
Across the Atlantic, the United States has experienced its own electricity concerns. On 12 October, the Department of Energy issued a temporary emergency order covering the PJM electricity region. The order addressed expected system strain, planned generation maintenance and transmission outages. It allowed additional resources to support reliability between 13 and 16 October. This was a precaution against supply problems, not evidence of an attack on the American grid.
Those distinctions matter. Cyber threats, physical sabotage, bad weather and ordinary grid-management problems have different causes. They shouldn’t be bundled together into one enormous apocalyptic pudding merely because they all involve electricity. Yet the public conversation increasingly revolves around the same unsettling question: what happens when the power stops?
And that is where our old friends at Cummins begin to take an interest.
The Hidden Cost Of Living Without Electricity
Nobody needs convincing that an extended blackout can become expensive. Freezers thaw, businesses lose trading hours and heating systems may stop working. Restaurants can lose food stocks, manufacturers may halt production and households can face unexpected costs. Some people need alternative accommodation, while others depend on electricity for equipment that supports their health or independence.
These are legitimate concerns, especially for businesses whose operations cannot tolerate prolonged interruptions. Backup generators, battery systems and properly designed emergency power arrangements can make a meaningful difference. Hospitals, data centres and other critical facilities have particularly strong reasons to invest in resilience. There is nothing inherently objectionable about a company manufacturing equipment that addresses those needs.
The interesting part concerns how the financial argument reaches potential customers. Describe the cost of an outage and readers begin calculating what they might lose. Introduce the prospect of a future interruption and those losses become possibilities worth worrying about. Finally, offer equipment capable of keeping selected systems operational, and the frightening hypothetical begins to resemble an investment decision.
It is an established commercial technique. The problem comes when the discussion of vulnerability starts to look less like an objective assessment and more like the first half of a sales presentation.
Cummins has considerable experience with precisely that arrangement.
Enter Cummins, Carrying A Generator And A Clipboard
On 29 October, Cummins supplied its latest contribution to the discussion: The Hidden Cost of Power Outages. The headline arrives amid genuine public concern about infrastructure security and emergency preparation. It also happens to concern the exact commercial problem that Cummins’ Power Systems business exists to address.
The timing is striking, although timing alone proves very little. There is no evidence that Cummins possessed advance knowledge of an attack or coordinated its publication with government warnings. Nor would a sensible investigation need such a ridiculous theory. The company has spent years promoting backup power, and outages have always provided an obvious reason for customers to consider generators.
What makes the new headline interesting is the wider commercial context. Cummins isn’t a disinterested academic body studying electricity resilience for the intellectual satisfaction of it. The company manufactures and sells power-generation equipment. It also supplies the systems, components and services that support that equipment throughout its working life.
That doesn’t invalidate everything it says about blackouts. It does mean readers should understand the commercial interest behind the information.
A fire-extinguisher manufacturer can offer excellent advice about preventing fires. A locksmith can explain the consequences of burglary. And a generator manufacturer can describe the costs of losing electricity. The information may be useful, but nobody should mistake the accompanying sales opportunity for an unexpected outbreak of corporate philanthropy.
The lights haven’t even gone out, and somebody is already checking whether the prospect requires a fucking quotation.
Cummins Was Selling The Cost Of Darkness In 2022
This is where the story becomes considerably more entertaining. On 2 May 2022, Cummins published an article asking readers to consider the true cost of a power outage without one of its home generators. The company invited homeowners to calculate possible losses before comparing those expenses with the price of purchasing a Cummins standby system.
The article worked through several unpleasant scenarios. A failed sump pump could leave a basement flooded, while prolonged damp might require mould removal. Refrigerated food could spoil, frozen pipes could burst and an uninhabitable property might force a family into temporary accommodation. Cummins included cost estimates drawn from third-party websites, including a particularly eye-catching range of $500 to $85,000 for basement flooding and cleanup.
Those figures belonged to its 2022 American marketing example, not a current estimate of what every household would lose. Their purpose, however, was perfectly clear. The larger the possible damage bill, the more attractive an investment in standby power might appear. Cummins then directed readers towards its dealer network and invited them to arrange an assessment.
There it was, four and a half years before this week’s headline: an entire financial argument constructed around the consequences of not owning a Cummins generator. Flooded basement, ruined food, frozen pipes, hotel bills and finally the reassuring prospect of somebody arriving to sell you a machine.
The article wasn’t concealing its commercial purpose. The sequence was almost admirably straightforward, like a funeral director explaining mortality before producing a brochure for the deluxe mahogany package. Nobody disputes that death is expensive. The question is whether the fellow discussing it has remembered to mention what he’s charging for the bloody coffin.
The Disaster-To-Dealer Pipeline
Cummins’ 2022 article established a useful pattern. First, explain the risks of losing electricity. Next, convert those risks into potential financial losses. Then introduce the generator as the sensible alternative, complete with a route towards a purchase.
This is what makes the October 2026 headline worth examining. It belongs to an established commercial narrative, not a sudden discovery that electricity might occasionally disappear. Cummins has been explaining the cost of outages for years because the consequences of an outage provide a compelling reason to buy backup power.
The underlying business is perfectly legitimate. But the distinction between helping somebody assess a risk and encouraging them to fear it deserves scrutiny. A balanced discussion would examine the likelihood and duration of outages, the customer’s actual power requirements and the available options. It would also consider whether the cost of comprehensive standby power makes sense for that particular household or business.
Instead, the most dramatic possible consequences can dominate the conversation. A failed freezer becomes a potential financial catastrophe, the basement threatens to transform into an indoor swimming pool and ordinary inconvenience starts auditioning for a role in a disaster film. By the time the reader reaches the dealer locator, the sales department has practically performed an exorcism.
The generator is no longer simply a machine. It has become a mechanical guardian angel, available in several configurations and presumably subject to finance approval.
God works in mysterious ways. Cummins prefers an authorised dealer.
An Actual Grid Emergency, An Actual Cummins Sales Pitch
If that sounds like an exaggerated interpretation of the commercial opportunity, consider what happened in the United States earlier this month.
On 12 October, the Department of Energy issued its temporary order concerning the PJM electricity network. The purpose was to help maintain reliability during expected system strain. Officials were trying to prevent blackouts, not announcing that millions of households had already lost power.
Two days later, Buckeye Power Systems, an online retailer of Cummins generators, issued a press release using the emergency as a reason for homeowners and businesses to consider standby equipment. The announcement promoted its stock of Cummins diesel and natural-gas/propane generators, emphasising that units were ready to ship.
Buckeye is a separate business, not the Cummins corporate communications department. Nevertheless, Cummins lists Buckeye among the retailers selling its home generators online. The commercial connection is public, and so is Buckeye’s decision to use the grid emergency as a sales opportunity.
The contrast is almost beautiful in its sheer entrepreneurial efficiency. The Department of Energy issues a precautionary order to help keep the electricity flowing. A retailer examines the announcement and sees a reason to remind customers that Cummins generators are available for purchase. The government works to prevent the emergency, while the seller explains why preparing for the possible consequences might involve opening your wallet.
Nobody has established improper coordination, and none is required to appreciate the irony. The retailer made its own pitch, using a real government intervention as the commercial backdrop.
Apparently, the American Dream now includes the freedom to monetise a blackout that hasn’t fucking happened.
Don’t Panic, But We Have Stock
Buckeye’s announcement deserves attention because it demonstrates how quickly a public warning can acquire a commercial afterlife. The company acknowledged the precautionary nature of the government’s order and advised against panic. It then encouraged customers to secure backup power before the next problem developed.
That’s a remarkably efficient transition from reassurance to retail. First, tell people not to worry. Then explain why they ought to purchase a substantial piece of machinery before the situation becomes more serious. The sales pitch doesn’t require a disaster to occur. It merely needs customers to contemplate the possibility.
There is nothing dishonest about a generator retailer saying that generators are useful during outages. The real issue is whether an emergency warning becomes an excuse to inflate a customer’s perception of danger. A precautionary order does not establish that a household is about to lose electricity, and a temporary grid-management problem does not necessarily justify an expensive residential installation.
Yet the sales opportunity is obvious. A person reading alarming headlines may already feel uneasy. Offer immediate availability, automatic operation and the reassurance of a familiar industrial brand, and concern starts looking remarkably like consumer demand.
This is the business model in miniature: identify a problem, describe its consequences and present the product as the route back to safety. In ordinary circumstances, we’d call that marketing. Surround it with threats to national infrastructure, and the brochure begins to resemble something a particularly ambitious undertaker might leave beside the emergency supplies.
The interesting point isn’t that Cummins caused the anxiety. It is that its products occupy such an attractive position once the anxiety exists.
The Other Hidden Cost: Six Grand Before The Lights Go Out
Since Cummins enjoys discussing hidden costs, perhaps we should examine the other side of the equation.
Its American home-generator buying guide explains that an installed standby system requires more than the generator itself. Customers need an automatic transfer switch, professional installation and a suitable fuel connection. Depending on the property, the work can involve permits, site preparation, electrical labour, plumbing and potentially a propane tank.
Cummins says the total installed price typically starts at approximately $6,000 in its US buying guidance. That is a starting indication, not a universal quotation. Larger systems and difficult installations can cost more, while the precise amount depends on the property and its requirements.
Ownership doesn’t become free once the installer drives away, either. Cummins recommends annual servicing, including maintenance checks and oil changes. Longer periods of operation can create additional servicing needs, while the generator consumes natural gas or propane whenever it runs.
None of these expenses is scandalous. Machines require maintenance, skilled people deserve payment and fuel suppliers have an irritating habit of wanting money. But they belong in any credible discussion about the full financial cost of protecting a property against outages.
Cummins’ earlier marketing invited homeowners to imagine the cost of a flooded basement, spoiled groceries or temporary accommodation. Fair enough. Now add the purchase price, installation, maintenance, fuel and any eventual repairs to the same financial comparison.
A generator may represent excellent value for a household with frequent outages or critical electrical needs. Another property might experience only occasional short interruptions, making a costly whole-home installation difficult to justify.
Resilience should involve an assessment of actual circumstances, not a contest to discover who can produce the most frightening hypothetical repair bill.
Apparently, Cummins wants customers to calculate every possible cost of losing electricity. TCAP suggests including the cost of buying the bastard solution.
Your Generator Can’t Put The Country Back Together
There is another uncomfortable detail in the wider blackout conversation. A backup generator can supply power to a property or selected equipment, but it cannot restore the national electricity network. It won’t repair damaged substations, remove malicious software from an operator’s systems or guarantee that every service outside the customer’s premises continues functioning.
Consider a prolonged regional emergency. A business might maintain its own lighting, refrigeration and essential equipment while nearby communications, transport and fuel distribution experience disruption. A perfectly functioning generator cannot guarantee that suppliers can deliver materials or that customers can reach the premises. The equipment protects a particular part of the operation, not the entire society around it.
The US Department of Energy recognises these dependencies in its guidance for businesses. Companies relying on backup generation should establish whether fuel suppliers can reach them and continue operating during an emergency. They may need alternative arrangements if their usual supplier becomes unavailable.
That doesn’t diminish the value of standby equipment. It explains why resilient systems require planning beyond the machinery itself. Fuel availability, maintenance, testing, electrical design and the wider operating environment all matter. A generator is one element of a response strategy, not a magic diesel-powered force field against civilisation falling apart.
There is something darkly comic about imagining a wealthy homeowner sitting comfortably beside a Cummins-powered television while the surrounding infrastructure struggles. The fridge is cold, the lights are working and the coffee machine has survived Armageddon. Unfortunately, the supermarket can’t process deliveries, the mobile network has collapsed and nobody can tell the poor sod whether the golf club is open.
At least he can admire the investment while the rest of the world sorts itself out.
The AI Boom Has Already Opened Another Till
Backup power isn’t merely a sideline in Cummins’ commercial strategy. The company has been benefiting from substantial demand for power-generation equipment, particularly as data centres expand to support artificial intelligence and other computing requirements.
In its second-quarter 2026 results, Cummins highlighted strong orders for standby power serving data centres. The company also raised its full-year outlook, pointing to demand across several markets. This is an important growth opportunity, not a charitable exercise in keeping everybody’s computers switched on.
On 15 October, just two weeks before the latest blackout-cost headline, Cummins published From Strategy to Standby. That article focused on backup power for AI data centres, describing how the company’s engineers work with customers on system design, equipment selection, fuel options and maintenance arrangements.
The business logic is straightforward. Artificial intelligence requires extensive computing infrastructure, while computing infrastructure requires electricity. Operators also need protection against interruptions, creating demand for generators, controls, switchgear and support services. Cummins supplies equipment and expertise across that chain.
It is an exceptionally convenient market position. The world builds increasingly power-hungry systems, electricity networks struggle to keep pace with demand, and the companies operating those systems need backup capacity. Cummins can sell power-generation equipment into the expansion and standby systems to help protect the investment.
The AI industry has become a giant electricity-consuming furnace. Cummins has positioned itself near the coal shovel, the fire extinguisher and the emergency exit, offering commercial arrangements for whichever part of the operation starts smoking first.
If the lights go out, the company has a product. If the lights stay on but demand keeps growing, it has another.
That is a considerably more sophisticated business opportunity than merely selling somebody a generator because they’re frightened of a thunderstorm.
Government Advice Doesn’t Require A Cummins Sales Representative
One of the more revealing contrasts comes from the UK government’s own emergency-preparedness campaign. The Be Ready guidance encourages households to take practical steps, many of which cost little or nothing. People can keep essential contact details, charge power banks, check existing supplies and discuss arrangements with neighbours or relatives.
The government also encourages eligible households to consider the Priority Services Register, which helps utility providers identify customers who may need extra support. This approach recognises that preparedness must remain accessible to people who cannot afford expensive equipment.
There is no assumption that every household requires a permanently installed generator. Nor should there be. A modest emergency kit, sensible planning and an understanding of local risks may provide useful protection against the most common disruptions. More extensive equipment makes sense where the circumstances justify it.
Cummins is entitled to offer the premium option. The company manufactures sophisticated systems that can maintain essential power during outages, and some customers will have excellent reasons to buy them. But preparedness shouldn’t become a luxury industry in which reassurance comes with a five-figure price tag and an annual service contract.
The difference between public resilience and commercial resilience is worth remembering. Governments should help communities withstand disruption, while companies naturally seek customers for products that address particular risks. Those interests sometimes overlap, but they are not identical.
A torch, bottled water, a power bank and a conversation with your neighbours might not excite the investor-relations department. They’re considerably less glamorous than an automated standby system humming beside a suburban house. They also demonstrate that survival doesn’t necessarily require somebody from Cummins turning up with a clipboard and a finance application.
When Anxiety Becomes A Business Opportunity
The temptation is to look at Cummins’ 29 October headline, notice the recent discussion about infrastructure attacks and declare the timing suspicious. That would be the easy article, and probably the weaker one. Nobody has established that Cummins planned its publication around a particular security warning, much less that the company possesses secret knowledge of an impending outage.
The documented commercial pattern is more interesting. Cummins was already promoting the financial consequences of blackouts in 2022. Its October 2026 material emphasises standby power for AI data centres, while an online retailer listed on Cummins’ website has used this month’s American grid emergency to encourage generator purchases.
These aren’t imagined connections. They are published examples of how the backup-power business presents its products in relation to reliability, disruption and potential financial losses.
The deeper criticism concerns the relationship between public anxiety and commercial opportunity. As concern about infrastructure security grows, the market for reassurance becomes more attractive. Governments may be trying to prevent disruption, while consumers and businesses consider how to protect themselves. Manufacturers offering backup systems stand to benefit from that demand.
That is capitalism doing what capitalism does. The question is whether companies give customers a balanced account of the risk, the likelihood of disruption and the full cost of their proposed solutions.
Cummins doesn’t need to manufacture fear. It operates in a market where fear, uncertainty and genuine operational risk can already provide a powerful incentive to spend money.
The clever part is turning that incentive into a purchase while making the sales process look like a public-information service.
The Lights Go Out, The Sales Pitch Comes On
By now, the pattern should be familiar. Intelligence agencies warn about threats to infrastructure. Governments encourage sensible preparation, while energy operators work to prevent interruptions. Millions of people consider how difficult life might become without electricity, particularly as winter approaches.
Into that atmosphere steps a multinational power-generation manufacturer with a conveniently relevant product range and a long history of explaining why outages can become expensive.
Cummins cannot prevent every attack, storm or technical failure affecting an electricity network. It can, however, provide equipment that helps some customers protect their premises against the consequences. That is a valuable service when properly specified, maintained and supported. Nobody needs to pretend otherwise.
What TCAP questions is the promotional theatre surrounding that legitimate business. Describe every possible consequence of losing electricity, encourage readers to imagine the financial damage and then introduce an expensive machine as the answer. The process may be commercially effective, but it deserves examination rather than automatic applause.
The company’s own buying guidance shows that resilience comes with purchase, installation, fuel and maintenance costs. Its earlier marketing demonstrates how the financial consequences of outages can support a generator sales pitch. Meanwhile, the Buckeye announcement shows how quickly a real grid warning can become an invitation to browse available Cummins equipment.
Perhaps the most remarkable achievement is that none of this requires an actual blackout. The electricity can remain perfectly functional, the grid operators can manage the emergency and households can carry on with their lives. The commercial conversation has already happened.
And somewhere in the background, the executives can admire another market full of people who would quite like to avoid sitting in the dark.
The old saying tells us that every cloud has a silver lining. Cummins has found a way to fit the cloud with an automatic transfer switch, connect it to a natural-gas supply and arrange twelve months of servicing.
The lights might go out. The sales department, it seems, is determined to remain on full fucking power.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Sources
- Cummins – The Hidden Cost of Power Outages, 29 October 2026
- MI5 – Director General’s Annual Threat Update, 13 October 2026
- UK Government – Energy Sector Cyber Security Strategy, 28 May 2026
- UK Government – Households Encouraged To Prepare For Emergencies, 22 October 2026
- UK Government – Be Ready: Emergency Preparedness Guidance
- US Department of Energy – Mid-Atlantic Grid Emergency Order, 12 October 2026
- Buckeye Power Systems – Federal Grid Emergency And Standby Generators, 14 October 2026
- Cummins – What’s The True Cost Of A Power Outage Without A Cummins Home Generator?, 2 May 2022
- Cummins – The Ultimate Guide To Buying A Home Generator
- Cummins – Authorised Online Generator Retailers
- Cummins – From Strategy To Standby, 15 October 2026
- Cummins Investor Relations – Second Quarter 2026 Results
- US Department of Energy – Business Owners : Respond To An Energy Emergency