There is some truth in it [that doesn't translate well over to some other part of the works]. It requires rather poor infrastructure to be present.
There has been snow for over 2 months here, with relatively low lows (-29C) but no issue like lack of electricity or water.
For our new home we're making we have two toilets (always practical). One of them is tankless, but we made sure the second one is a traditional cistern toilet with no electrical requirements. Just in case.
In the USA most residential toilets are tank type and don’t directly use electricity.