They are fear mongering, yes. But it's also a gaslighting technique being employed now to get you to think it's all just fear mongering, until your power actually does go out for an extended period of time. It's a way to keep people from preparing for, and staying prepared for any craziness that may arise, like say, a "sudden" snow storm "so severe" the electrical grid fails in these areas. It's part of [their] long game to keep people in the fence when it comes to prepping.