In the work, new protection principles are proposed to form a basis for an anti-collapse complex of power systems. Blackouts are accompanied by cascade emergency processes, which could be highly diversified thus creating impression that each of them is unique. On the other hand for prevention of such events it is necessary to use automatics which react only to regularities. The in-depth analysis of the world’s blackouts focusing on the most essential has proved that such an impression is erroneous. From this point of view disturbances could be divided into primary (causes of events) and secondary (their consequences) sub-disturbances. Unsuccessful attempts to cope with blackouts could be explained by the usual practice when attention is focused on the elimination of their secondary manifestations. Concentrating on primary creation of a radical anti-collapse complex is possible. As a result the concept of the automatic preventive anti-collapse complex has been formulated which is based on the solutions tested by practice; according to this concept, emergency events can be set on the right track, with blackouts fast and automatically elimination within some tens seconds.