| 2003 North America Blackout |
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satellite image of northeastern US and Canada taken before blackout on Aug. 13, 2003, at 9:21 p.m. EDT. ()]] )]] IMMEDIATE IMPACT According to system logs, a massive power fluctuation affected the transmission grid at 4:10:48 p.m. , Toledo , New York City , Buffalo , Albany , Detroit , and parts of New Jersey . This was followed by other areas initially unaffected, including all five Borough s of New York City and parts of Long Island , Westchester County , Rockland County , New Jersey , Vermont , Connecticut , and most of Southern and Northeastern Ontario , including Toronto , Ottawa , Kingston , Sudbury , Kitchener , and London as well as Windsor , Amherstburg, Kingsville, Lemington, Harrow and surrounding areas. It was estimated that the blackout covered an area of roughly 9,300 square miles (24,000 square kilometers). Eventually a large area bounded by Lansing, Michigan , Sault Ste. Marie , the shore of James Bay , Ottawa , New York and Toledo were left without power. 100 power plants, 22 of which were nuclear power plants, shut down during the outage. Over 200,000 people in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario , Canada , and the portion of New York State north and west of Albany continued to have power while the entire surrounding area dropped off the power grid. This was due to the action of transmission circuit protective devices at Sir Adam Beck Generating Station in Niagara Falls , at a switching station in Cornwall , and in central New York State, that arrested the collapse of this portion of the grid. Power remained in Niagara Falls , Niagara-on-the-Lake , half of Welland , a quarter of St. Catharines , Grimsby (near Hamilton) and most of Fort Erie until rolling blackouts began the next day in an effort to provide power to areas that hadn't had it for nearly 24 hours. Some essential services remained in operation in most of these areas, although backup generation in some cities was not up to the task. The phone systems remained operational in most areas; however, the increased demand by people phoning home left many circuits overloaded. Water systems in several cities lost pressure forcing water boil advisories. Cellular Telephones experienced significant service disruptions as cellular transmission towers were overloaded with the sudden increase in volume of calls. Major cellular providers continued to operate on standby generator power. Television and radio stations mostly remained on the air with the help of Backup Generator s, or by relaying their broadcasts through the Grimsby transmission towers, which were online throughout the blackout. Most Interstate Rail Transportation In The United States was shut down, and the power outage's impact on international air transportation and financial markets was widespread. Meanwhile, the reliability and vulnerability of all electrical power grids was called into question. In areas where power remained off after nightfall, the Milky Way and orbiting artificial Satellite s became visible to the naked eye in metropolitan areas where they cannot ordinarily be seen due to the effects of Light Pollution . MEDIA COVERAGE AND OFFICIAL REPORTS In the United States and Canada, the regional blackout dominated news broadcasts and news headlines beginning . National news stations, such as the CBC and CNN , continued to cover the story by inviting politicians and electrical experts to discuss the situation and ways to prevent blackouts. Internationally, coverage of the story focused on the development of the situation in New York City . More than two days later, the cause of the blackout was officially still under investigation, but the possibility of a Terrorist Attack was uniformly dismissed only 20 minutes into the blackout. Many American media pundits then turned the blame to Canada (most notably many pundits on the Fox News Channel ), in keeping with then-recent Anti-Canadian sentiment. Statements made in the aftermath During the first two hours of the event, various officials offered speculative explanations as to its root cause:
CAUSES Background Electricity cannot easily be stored over extended periods of time, and is generally consumed within Hundreds Of Milliseconds of being produced. The demand load on any power grid must be matched by supply to it and its ability to transmit that power. Any great overload of a power line, or underload/overload of a generator can cause hard-to-repair and costly damage, so the power grid is disconnected if a serious imbalance is detected. Power lines normally grow longer and sag between their towers when they get hotter as they carry more power, reaching a designed lowest height above the ground at a specified power level. To prevent the sagging lines from coming too close to trees and causing a short circuit the trees are pruned, often on a five-year cycle. If the lines touch the trees the lines are disconnected by systems which detect the sudden change in power flow from the short circuit. These power changes from a line going out of service can sometimes cause Cascading Failure s in the areas around them as other parts of the system see the fluctuations. These are normally controlled by delays built into the shutdown processes and by robust power networks with many alternative paths for power to take, which have the effect of reducing the size of the ripples. The borders of the blacked out areas on August 14th were where the blackout areas encountered the systems with more spare capacity. The operators of the power system control center are responsible for ensuring that they balance the supply of power, the loads (customers demanding that power), and the transmission line capacity, so that their system was in a state where no single fault can cause it to fail. After a failure affecting their system, operators are required, within thirty minutes, to obtain more power from generators or other regions, or to shed load (meaning cut power to some areas) until they can be sure that the worst remaining possible failure anywhere in the system won't cause an unplanned system collapse. In an emergency they are expected to immediately shed load as required to bring things into balance. To assist the operators there are computer systems, with backups, which issue alarms when there are faults on the transmission or generation system. They also have power flow modeling tools which let them analyze what is currently happening on their network, predict whether any parts of it may be overloaded and predict what the worst possible failure left is so that they can change the power generation, load or transmission to prevent a failure if that accident happens. If the computer systems and their backups fail they are required to scan themselves instead of relying on the computer alerts. If they can't analyze and understand what they are seeing on their system they are supposed to switch to a more assuredly safe operating pattern. If there is a failure they also notify adjacent areas which may be affected, so they can predict the effect on their own systems. Backing up the local operators are regional coordinating centers which bring together information from adjacent areas and perform further checks on the system, looking for possible failures and alerting operators in different systems to them. Investigation efforts A joint federal task force was formed by the governments of Canada and the U.S. to oversee the investigation and report directly to Ottawa and Washington. The task force was led by then-Canadian Natural Resource Minister Herb Dhaliwal and U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham . In addition to determining the initial cause of the cascading failure, the investigation of the incident also included an examination of why safeguards designed to prevent a repetition of the Northeast Blackout Of 1965 failed. Issues of failure to maintain the electrical infrastructure, failure of upgrading to so-called "smart cables", failure of shunting and rerouting mechanisms, AC vs. DC intersystem ties, and substitution of Electricity Market forces for central planning were expected to arise. The North American Electric Reliability Council , a joint Canada-U.S. council, is responsible for dealing with these issues. Despite the absence of any indication of Terrorism or Sabotage , and days before terrorist claims were made, the United States Department Of Homeland Security immediately started a separate investigation of its own. Findings On November 19 , 2003 , the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force released an interim report placing the cause of the blackout on FirstEnergy Corporation's failure to trim trees in part of its Ohio service area. The report said that a generating plant in Parma, Ohio , a suburb of Cleveland, went off-line amid high electrical demand, and strained high-voltage power lines later went out of service when they came in contact with "overgrown trees". It also found that FirstEnergy did not take remedial action or warn other control centers until it was too late because of a bug in the Unix -based General Electric Energy's XA/21 system that prevented alarms from showing on their control system [http://www.io.com/~wazmo/blog/archives/2004_04.html , and they had inadequate staff to detect and correct the software bug. The cascading effect that resulted ultimately forced the shutdown of more than 100 power plants. [http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/media/docs/reports_e.htm] Sequence of events Blackout sequence of events, August 14, 2003 {Link without Title} {Link without Title} , times in EDT
EFFECTS
Affected infrastructure Power generation With the power fluctuations on the grid, power plants automatically went into "safe mode" to prevent damage in the case of an overload. This puts much of the nuclear power normally available offline until those plants could be slowly taken out of "safe mode". In the meantime, the coal and oil fired plants were brought online, bringing some electrical power availability to the area by the morning of the 15th. Homes and businesses both in the affected area and in nearby areas were requested to limit power usage until the grid was back to full power. Water supply Some areas lost water pressure because pumps didn't have power. This loss of pressure caused potential contamination of the water supply. Four million customers of the Detroit water system in eight counties were under a boil water advisory until August 18. One county, Macomb , ordered all 2,300 restaurants closed until they were decontaminated after the advisory was lifted. Twenty people living on the St. Clair River claim to have been sickened after bathing in the river during the blackout. The accidental release of 140 kg (310 lb) of Vinyl Chloride from a Sarnia, Canada , chemical plant was not revealed until five days later. Cleveland also lost water pressure and instituted a boil water advisory. Cleveland and New York had sewage spills into waterways, requiring beach closures. Kingston lost power to sewage pumps, causing raw waste to be dumped into the Cataraqui River at the base of the Rideau Canal . Transportation Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor railroad service was stopped north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and all trains running into and out of New York City were shut down, initally including the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad , both were able to establish a bare-bones "all-diesel" service by the next morning. Canada's VIA Rail , which services New York City, suffered service delays, but most routes were still running, and normal service was resumed on most VIA routes by the next morning. Passenger screenings at affected airports ceased. Regional airports were shut down for this reason. In New York, flights were cancelled even after power had been restored to the airports because of difficulties accessing "electronic-ticket" information. Air Canada flights remained grounded on the morning of the 15th due to reliable power not having been restored to its Mississauga, Ontario , control center. It expected to resume operations by midday. This problem affected all Air Canada service and cancelled the most heavily traveled flights to Halifax and Vancouver . Many gas stations were unable to pump fuel due to lack of electricity. In North Bay, Ontario , for instance, a long line of Transport Truck s was held up, unable to go further west to Manitoba without refueling. In some cities, traffic problems were compounded by motorists who simply drove until their cars ran out of gas on the highway. Gas stations operating in pockets of Burlington, Ontario , that had power were reported to be charging prices up to 99.9 cents/liter when the going rate prior to the blackout was lower than 70 cents/liter. Customers still lined up for hours to pay prices most people considered unjustified by the blackout. Although part of the price hike was arguably due to price gouging, station operators could also claim that they had a limited supply of gasoline and did not know when their tanks would be refilled, prompting the drastic price increases. Many oil refineries on the East Coast of the United States shut down as a result of the blackout, and were slow to resume gasoline production. As a result, gasoline prices were expected to rise approximately 10 cents/gallon (3 c/L) in the United States. In Canada, gasoline Rationing was also considered by the authorities. Communication Many people were very surprised to find that (unlike wired telephones) cellular communication devices were disrupted. Wired telephones continued to work, although some systems were overwhelmed by the volume of traffic. Many people who in prior blackouts would have relied on Transistor Radio s for news discovered to some dismay that they no longer had one, having long since replaced them with portable CD players and other such devices. Most New York and many Ontario radio stations were momentarily knocked off the air but were able to return with backup power. Cable television systems were disabled, and areas that had power restored (and had power to their television sets) could not receive information until power had also been restored to the cable provider. Those who relied on the Internet were similarly disconnected from their news source for the duration of the blackout, with the exception of Dialup access from Laptop Computers , which was widely reported to work until the battery would run out of charge. Amateur Radio operators came in to pass emergency communications during the blackout. {Link without Title} Industry Large numbers of factories were closed in the affected area and others outside the area were forced to close or slow work because of supply problems and the need to conserve energy while the grid was stabilized. At one point a 7-hour wait developed for trucks crossing the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor due to the lack of electronic border check systems. Freeway congestion in affected areas affected the "just-in-time" supply system. Some industry including the auto industry did not return to full production until August 22. Looting Incidents of Looting were reported in Ottawa, Canada (notably in the suburb of Orleans where it appeared to be systematic) and Brooklyn, New York. Overall, there was only a small fraction of the looting and general civic disturbance seen in the New York City Blackout Of 1977 . By region New York, USA during the blackout]] Almost the entire state of New York lost power. Exceptions include a few places on Long Island that relied on localized power plants, as well as the southernmost areas of the Southern Tier of Upstate New York that relied on power from Pennsylvania , Starrett City, Brooklyn which has auxiliary power, and pockets of Amherst , in the Buffalo area, running off of University power. In New York, all prisons were blacked out and switched to generator power. The two Indian Point Nuclear Reactors on the Hudson River near Peekskill, New York , the two reactors at Nine Mile Point nuclear plant, the single reactor at Ginna nuclear plant near Rochester, New York and the FitzPatrick reactor near Oswego, New York all shut down. With three other nuclear plants shutdown in Ohio, Michigan, and New Jersey, a total of nine reactors were impacted. The governor of New York State, George Pataki , declared a State Of Emergency . Manhattan , including Wall Street and the United Nations , was completely shut down, as were all area airports, and all New York area rail transportation including the Subway , the PATH lines between Manhattan and New Jersey, Metro North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road . Hundreds of people were trapped in elevators; by late evening the New York City Fire Department had reportedly confirmed that all stalled elevators in approximately 800 Manhattan high-rise office and apartment buildings had been cleared. Over 600 subway and commuter rail cars were trapped between stations; the NY State Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority Of New York And New Jersey —which operates the PATH lines—reported that all passengers were evacuated without serious injury. However, PATH was first to resume subway service on Sixth Avenue (albeit on 15-minute headways) by 6PM that evening. Without traffic lights, a Gridlock was reported as persons in Lower and Midtown Manhattan fled their offices on foot; for hours into the evening the streets, highways, bridges and tunnels were jammed with traffic and pedestrians leaving Manhattan, though many civilians opted to help direct traffic. Mayor Michael Bloomberg advised residents to open their windows, drink plenty of liquids to avoid Heat Stroke in the heat, and not to forget their pets. Temperatures were 92°F (33°C) with high humidity, as New York had just experienced a record-breaking rain spell that had started at the end of July. With cell phone operation mostly stalled by circuit overloads, New Yorkers were lining up 10 deep or more at pay phones as ordinary telephone service remained largely unaffected. While some commuters were able to find alternate sleeping arrangements, many were left stranded in New York and slept in parks and on the steps of public buildings. While practically all businesses and retail establishments closed down, many bars and pubs reported a brisk business as some New Yorkers took the opportunity to spend the evening "enjoying" the blackout. 40,000 police and the entire fire department were called in to maintain order. At least two fatalities were linked to the use of flames to provide light, and many nonfatal fires also resulted from the use of Candle s. The City's Office Of Emergency Management activated the City's Emergency Operations Center, from which over 70 agencies coordinated response efforts which included delivery of portable light towers to unlit intersections, generators and diesel fuel to hospitals, and a portable steam generator necessary to power air conditioning units at the American Stock Exchange. Verizon 's emergency generators failed several times, leaving the Emergency Services Number 9-1-1 out of service for several periods of about a quarter hour each. The City's 311 information hotline received over 175,000 calls from concerned residents during the weekend. Amateur Radio operators attached to New York City ARES provided a backup communications link to emergency shelters and hospitals. Amateur Radio Repeater s were supplied with emergency power via Generator s and batteries and remained functional. Many major U.S Networks (i.e CBS , NBC , ABC , and FOX ), and some cable TV Networks like HBO , MTV , and Nickelodeon were mostly unable to broadcast because of the lack of electricity in the New York area, however a back-up station in Dallas, Texas and flagship transmitters there made it possible for prime-time television to be broadcasted. ( ABC however chose not to do that and decided to cover the news from Washington DC during the blackout). For delayed effects at Niagara Falls , see below under Ontario . New Jersey, USA Affected areas included most of Essex , Union , Passaic and Bergen Counties, including the major cities of Newark and Paterson . Power was returned first to the urban areas because of concerns of safety and unrest. The day following the blackout, August 15, the New Jersey Turnpike stopped collecting tolls until 9:00 a.m. Connecticut, USA Parts of New London County, New Haven County, Litchfield County and Fairfield County, from Greenwich to Danbury and Bridgeport, were affected, although most of the rest of the state had power all evening, aside from a few momentary interruptions that caused computers to reboot. Metro North trains stopped, and remained on the tracks for hours until they could be towed to the nearest station. A local controversy ensued in the days after the blackout, when the Federal government ordered the HVDC Cross Sound Cable between New Haven and Long Island turned on. This cable had been installed, but had not been activated due to environmental and fisheries concerns. The Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, and the Governor of New York, George Pataki, traded insults over the cable. Most Connecticut politicians expressed their outrage that the cable was being turned on, since it did not help anyone in Connecticut, as the cable would transport power from Connecticut to Long Island. Massachusetts, USA A small area of extreme western Massachusetts was affected. Worcester endured power dips sufficient to reboot some computers, but was otherwise unaffected. Michigan, USA About 2.3 million households and businesses, which included all of Metro Detroit as well as Lansing , Ann Arbor , and surrounding communities in southeast Michigan were affected. TV stations were temporarily knocked off the air and water supplies were disrupted in Detroit due to the failure of electric pumps. Because of the loss of water pressure all water was required to be boiled before use until August 18. Several schools which had planned to begin the school year August 18 were closed until clean water was available. A Marathon Oil refinery in Melvindale near Detroit suffered a small explosion from gas buildup, necessitating an evacuation within one mile around the plant and the closure of Interstate 75. Officials feared the release of toxic gases. Heavy rains on Friday coupled with the lack of sewage pumps closed other expressways and prompted urban flood warnings. Untreated sewage flowed into local rivers in Lansing and Metropolitan Detroit as contingency solutions at some sewage treatment plants failed. In the midst of a summer Heat Wave , Michigander s were deprived of Air Conditioning . Several people, mostly elderly individuals, had to be treated for symptoms of Heat Stroke . The influential Protopunk band Iggy Pop & The Stooges were scheduled to play their homecoming reunion show in Detroit on the night of the blackout. The show was rescheduled for later in the month; many Stooges fans quipped that the blackout had been caused when guitarist Ron Asheton was playing his guitar during soundcheck, a joke immortalized in the liner notes of a DVD of the rescheduled concert. Ironically, the venue the Stooges were playing at is owned by the local electric power company Detroit Thomas Edison. At the rescheduled show, lead singer Iggy Pop ordered over the microphone that all of the house lights be turned off during the closing minutes of "TV Eye", in emulation of the blackout. Ohio, USA Over 540,000 homes and businesses were without power. In Cleveland, water service stopped because the city is supplied by electric pumps and backup electricity was available only on a very limited basis. Portions of the cities of Akron , Mansfield , Marion and Ashland were without power. Cleveland declared a Curfew on all persons under the age of 18. At Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky , park employees had to help guests walk down the steps of the 310-foot-tall Millennium Force rollercoaster, which had stopped on the lift hill due to the blackout. Ontario, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Union Station During The Blackout200pxright | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Toronto" class="copylinks">Toronto Union Station during the blackout]] |
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