In Fallout 3,it does seem that most settlements have their own generators - but most buildings in the capital wasteland seem to have electricity aswell...have the Wastelanders managed to somehow power all of D.C? Or are most of the lightbulbs and terminals only there to help/add flavour for the player?In New Vegas,it seems most of the settlements do have power aswell - do they have their own generators too?Or (crazy theory) did the government decide to give America constant power incase of a nuclear war in exchange for outragous prices,and places that need generators are merely places which were damaged to badly to be powered by the national grid?

Another question - how are robots powered?I assumed that after awhile they went to their stations and recharged,but since there are hostile robots walking aimlessly in the Wasteland(s) I assume that either they have another power source or that these robots will eventually run out of power?

New Vegas' lights come from power from Hoover Dam. Initially, the power you see is likely "Bleed" off the 5% of the Dam's output that goes to the Strip.

In the Capital Wasteland, given how vital D.C. and the surrounding area was, I simply assumed the fission and fusion reactors were still active. The car's explode in a micro-mushroom cloud when they take enough damage, so they're obviously still functional. So too would any underground reactors.


As for Robots, they have their own internal power supplies. Obviously, these power supplies are extraordinarily long lasting. Though if we're going to get into the realism aspect, two centuries of neglect would have rendered most robots inert due to simple lack of maintenance.

The common thought before was that everything was nuclear powered... the situation with electricity in New Vegas kind of throws a wrinkle into that though. Perhaps the Vegas area lost their nuclear power for some reason?

Given the proximity of Hoover Dam, I'd venture Vegas saw no need to "upgrade" to Nuclear Reactors. House obviously has some for his little projects, but the vast majority of power was still Hydroelectric.