The lamps already went off in Sydney earlier this year for an hour; San Francisco and Los Angeles will be joining them soon. Recently, Variey described this L.A. incident, which foreshadows the event rather nicely:

Some 300 people gathered on Tuesday night at the Brentwood home of CAA's David O'Connor and his wife, Lona Williams, anxious to see the guest of honor, Bill Clinton.

Then the power went out --- in the entire neighborhood --- putting this Hillary Clinton fund-raiser into near total darkness.

The only light came from candles and some battery operated lanterns, which were shined on Clinton when he spoke in the backyard pool area. That helped, but it was still hard to see guests. And with no electricity, and therefore no microphone, it wasn't always easy to hear, according to a guest.

"There are a lot of great things about the modern world," Clinton said, according to the guest. "Predictable electricity may not be one of them."