India, Aug. 7 -- No matter where you live, it stinks when the power goes out. The lights and the TV flick to dark; you check out your neighbors' houses -- dark too. Candles and battery-powered radios help, but soon things get uncomfortably cold, reminding you that furnaces use electricity. (Or sweat beads up if it's your air conditioner shutting down in hotter climates). Finally, your fingers start to twitch when you realize you don't even have WiFi, unless you can eek out a signal with a cell-based hot spot. Just remember that you'll need power to recharge that phone.

How long will it be down? Hours? Days? Weeks in the wake of a bad ice storm or hurricane!

That's when Kathy Kountze and her team are put to the real test. The CIO and sen...