We have a lot more equipment that rely on electric nowadays though,I'd say this new No is probably just a safety measure to combat the overwhelming amount of calls energy company's get during a blackout by folk wondering when they'll be able to play with their train sets again
I remember the days when powercuts were frequent,folk had to adapt and cope without electric because there was no numbers to ring,folk were aware that if there was a blackout at home then they needed to be prepared.
We kept candles,torches and had a wireless that ran on batteries and we just got on with life until the lights came back on.