Is there a good resource for what would actually happen to the power grid? I was under the impression that the large near-DC currents induced by the changing magnetic field would destroy the wires, burn through insulators, etc., regardless of whether everything is shut down.
Here's a good article at the IEEE. They say an 1859-level flare could wipe out the grid. The big transformers would be destroyed, we don't have spares, and they're built painstakingly by hand, by skilled artisans who spend years learning how.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/a-perfect-s...
There's a new device that could be installed to protect those transformers, but it's still in testing.
