Strips power, else disaster (5)
I believe the answer is:
peels
'strips' is the definition.
(I know this)
'power else disaster' is the wordplay.
'power' becomes 'p' (symbol in physics).
'disaster' indicates anagramming the letters.
'else' is an anagram of 'eels'.
'p'+'eels'='PEELS'
(Other definitions for peels that I've seen before include "Removes the skin from an orange" , "Strips off" , "Removes skin, rind" .)