| That story has been all over the radio talk shows here in Toronto, as well.
Hey ya gotta do what you gotta do. Unfortunately, society, in general is fairly self-centered.
You can ask people to do the right thing but most won't give a shit. The same people that throw coffee cups out their car window, drive on the shoulder in a traffic jam....the list goes on.
I think the best solution would be that in times of crisis, an address could be LIMITED to a certain amount of power. Let the occupants of that address decide where they want to use the power. A/C or lights? Washing machine or toaster? TV or heart monitor?
I once rented a house with co-workers. The owner of the place neglected to pay the electric bill. The electric company put a box on the inbound electricity that had a reset button. It allowed a minimal amount of power through. If you used the toaster and the microwave with the lights and tv on it would blow the box. You then had to go outside press the reset button. Aggravating as hell. | 
