3 more quick thoughts:
I think internet is about to the point where regulation as a utility should be given some strong consideration.
I didn't mean that we can replace the largest transformers with smaller ones, just that it would be more feasible to get the smaller ones up and running apparently. I'm assuming we are talking the ones at power stations connecting to the grid -- hopefully someone with some more knowledge could confirm that these are not, you know, off the shelf type things.
That was a question in my last post. Would an EMP (whether nuclear weapon, movie plot device, or solar powered) cause these kinds of problems?