Carrington Event
The Carrington Event was a huge solar flare that caused a geomagnetic storm so powerful that telegraph operators were able to send messages without battery power. "Better than with our batteries on. ā Current comes and goes gradually." (Though a lot of the telegraph stations weren't so lucky. Many failed or even caught fire.)
What might the impact be on techfolk? Realistically, probably bad times. But we can get silly with it. What if it makes them run around all hyper like toddlers who found a Red Bull? Perhaps the Astros induce a solar flare in an attempt to kill Earth's power grid and weaken the Alliance, without realising it'll empower and juice up the techfolk themselves.