Misc A solar flare of the magnitude of the Carrington Event

A solar flare of the magnitude of the Carrington Event would not only take the grid down, parts of it would be down for longer than a year. There's a credible study that details the potential damage and the high risk areas. Depending on the time of year, the number of casualties could be huge.

When the large transformer plant in Muncie, Indiana previously owned by Westinghouse was closed, the clock started ticking. That was a key piece if infrastructure. AFAIK, the large transformers as shown are sourced from Europe just like the rotors for large turbine generators. That's a large transformer attached to the two halves of the Schnabel car for transport. A power plant uses one of those per phase. Some of those will be damaged by a solar flare similar to a Carrington event. It's unusual for a plant to have spares. Thirty years ago those were over a million each.