1yr after Grid went down, study says needed changes not passed by Congress

[papau]

http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=14135&BT_CODE=DOEHOME&TT_CODE=GENERICDOCUMENT

http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=15423&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE

https://reports.energy.gov/

https://reports.energy.gov/BlackoutFinal-Web.pdf
Recommendations include the following:

Implementation of mandatory and enforceable electricity reliability standards in both the United States and Canada, with penalties for noncompliance, backed by appropriate government oversight;
Strengthening the institutional framework of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and its initiatives on compliance;
Developing a funding mechanism approved by regulators for NERC and the regional reliability councils, in order to ensure their independence from the parties they oversee;
Addressing deficiencies identified in FirstEnergy and some reliability organizations in the United States, by June 30, 2004;
Strengthening the technical recommendations made by NERC on February 10, 2004;
Improving near-term and long-term training and certification requirements for operators, reliability coordinators and operator support staff; and
Increasing the physical and cyber security of the network.
After the publication of the Interim Report in November 2003, the investigation team probed further into the state of reactive power supplies in northern Ohio prior to August 14, 2003. The team found that the ability to supply reactive power within the area had been inadequate for several years, and that the regional reliability council had not previously identified this vulnerability. As a result, there are now four groups of causes of the blackout:

Inadequate system understanding;
Inadequate situational awareness;
Inadequate tree trimming; and
Inadequate reliability coordinator diagnostic support.
The Report also identifies seven violations of the voluntary reliability standards administered by NERC.

The Final Report is comprehensive and covers all work done through the three Working Groups: electric system, security and nuclear. The Working Groups drew substantially on the work of NERC and input from three public forums, two technical workshops and electronic submissions to the U.S. Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada.

The Task Force reviewed previous major North American power outages and found that the causes of the August 14, 2003, blackout were strikingly similar to those of earlier outages. This finding reinforces the need for effective implementation of the Task Force recommendations.
The report is available at https://reports.energy.gov and http://www.NRCan.gc.ca .

FOR BROADCAST USE:

Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Natural Resources Canada Minister John Efford release the final report on the August 2003 blackout. The report identifies what caused the blackout and why it could not be contained. It also recommends steps to minimize the probability of future blackouts, including setting up mandatory reliability standards for electric utilities in both Canada and the U.S.

For more information, media may contact:

Alexandra Muir
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
[phone]
Jeanne Lopatto
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Department of Energy
[phone]


Ghyslain Charron
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
[phone]



The report makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented and that immediate actions must be taken in both the United States and Canada to ensure that our electric system is more reliable. First and foremost, compliance with reliability rules must be made mandatory with substantial penalties for non-compliance. In addition, a number of technical and organizational improvements are urgently needed to assure efficient and well-coordinated operations across the North American power grid.

Failure to implement the Final Report’s recommendations could threaten the reliability of the electricity supply that is critical to the economic, energy and national security of our countries. It is vital that the U.S. Congress pass comprehensive energy legislation that includes mandatory reliability standards.

And the GOP can't pass an energy bill that helps the US if that bill does not have a tax give away for a GOP political campaign contributor

[cosmicdot]

1. sure hope nothing happens, say, on election day

... The Tinfoil Hat (Man) for All Seasons ...

[Ookie]

2. Well, I've been looking into solar power

Wouldn't it be nice to control your own power source?