How is it everything still had power?

Question

In the movie Zombieland it is stated that it is at least two months since the outbreak and collapse of society, and yet every building, whether it be a country store or an amusement park, has electricity.

Most power in the U.S. comes from coal and gas power plants. Without people supplying more fuel, the plants would stop producing electricity pretty quickly.

Thousands of zombies on thousands of treadmills. In the early days of the outbreak, some intelligent and enterprising engineers hooked up generators to all the gyms in America, and stuck cardboard cut-outs of fit and healthy human meat in front of the treadmills. Those zombies are still trying to run those pesky human critters down, and are cranking out the megawatts in the process. — James Sheridan, Jan 05 '15 at 09:28
possible duplicate of Why is there no electricity available in the Walking Dead Series? — phantom42, Jan 05 '15 at 14:03
Whoops. Meant to flag it as a dupe of The Walking Dead: wouldn't all nuclear reactors be down? and mention the other as related. Both questions are originally about The Walking Dead, but the answers are general enough about zombie-apocalypse-worlds to fit either franchise. — phantom42, Jan 05 '15 at 14:05
Out-of-universe, Zombieland is a cosy catastrophe (TVTropes link). The writers believed, probably correctly, the audience would find a world without electricity more depressing and scary than one overrun by zombies. — Royal Canadian Bandit, Aug 02 '15 at 13:30
I'm a power plant worker myself and this thing actually bugs me out. It shows how everyone today take reliable electricity for granted. Renewable plants probably can last for days running on automatic mode, but most combustion-based power plants would only last for hours. The grid is the answer tho, it is the one cannot be run unmanned for even hours. — Rizqi-Hiktaka Ewi, Mar 14 '20 at 11:08

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 05 '15 at 20:01

Nuclear plants, dams generating electricity through water falling and windmills could endure several years without human supervision, as Randall Munroe, creator of XKCD states on it's funny book "What-if".

Also, many other energy plants could have fuel resources for more than just two months. Of course, this doesn't allow everything to be turned on but is enough to justify the presence of electricity on the story at the moment it's presented.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

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This has been addressed (or rather hand-waved) in the film's sequel. Apparently this is a world where self-managing hydro plants are the main source of electrical energy.

When Madison complains about it being a cold environment, Tallahassee suggests her turning it off, to which she replies that there is no switch, and that she’s just been waiting for the electricity to run out. It’s this comment that leads Columbus to chime in, “As long as it keeps raining, the dams keep giving us power.”

_{^{How Zombieland: Double Tap’s Director Was Inspired To Design The World 10 Years After The First Movie}}

One assumes that this is in direct response to people constantly mentioning the presence of electricity as a plot-hole.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Community

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answered Mar 14 '20 at 11:23

Valorum

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Presumably, the White House would have an emergency electrical backup; perhaps a diesel generator with several thousands gallons of fuel reserve. – Mar 14 '20 at 13:40
@Jeeped - I doubt the White House has 10+ years of fuel. And if it does, that fuel wouldn't go far if you started sharing it with the neighbours – Valorum Mar 14 '20 at 13:42
a) I thought they were staying in the White House on the beginning of the second movie of the series, not a neighbouring structure. b) A generator powering a large battery bank with several thousand gallons of fuel in reserve could easily last 10 years of low use until someone decided to visit and start turning lights on. – Mar 14 '20 at 13:46
@Jeeped - The first film has electricity widely available after the fall of society, as does the second film – Valorum Mar 14 '20 at 13:48
Agreed. Perhaps my comment was too focused on their living arrangements in the second movie. – Mar 14 '20 at 13:51

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 02 '15 at 00:25

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There is a national grid. Few people are using electricity. So perhaps if nuclear powers stations kept functioning there would be enough electricity to go around. Only one station would be needed.

answered Aug 02 '15 at 00:25

JohnC

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How is it everything still had power?

3 Answers3