IMO, yes being rural will help. Generation and transmission are the ones to watch. If a blackout is on a major scale, almost everyone will be effected. The grid relies on the spinning inertia of generators on the grid, once the grid takes a hit and a big generator goes offline suddenly, and then another and another, you lose that inertia and that particular interconnect is subject to blackout. There are protective relays that can help but idk exactly what kind of capabilities the DS and other enemies have