Energy Probe

November 20, 2003

Energy Probe‘s Tom Adams was interviewed extensively on Wednesday, November 19, following the release of the interim report "Causes of the August 14^th Blackout in the United States and Canada," published by the US-Canada Power System Outage Task Force.

The scope of this report is limited to the proximate causes of the blackout. Energy Probe’s general observation is that the blackout is the result of several routine failures that happened to occur at the same time. The blackout demonstrated the vulnerability of our power system – a vulnerability due primarily to the design of the system. Energy Probe believes a more decentralized power system, more modular in its design and less reliant on the flow of large amounts of electricity across great distances, could provide substantial reliability advantages (as well as significant environmental and economic advantages).

A more decentralized model could also provide greater resilience in response to malicious attacks. While ruling out terrorism as a cause of the blackout, the report notes that the power system "has been, and continues to be, the target of malicious individuals and groups intent on disrupting the electric power system."

Energy Probe believes that the 2003 blackout demonstrates the need for utility regulators to pay attention to reliability. First Energy, the US utility at the center of the blackout investigation, is regulated by the Ohio Public Utility Commission. Energy Probe notes that the Ohio Public Utility Commission is not mentioned in the "Causes of the August 14^th Blackout in the United States and Canada" report, although, the report does highlight a significant number of First Energy’s deficiencies.

The report also identified a major deficiency in the competence of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC): CNSC staff were unable to immediately activate the CNSC’s Emergency Operation Centre because of loss of power to the CNSC’s head office building. Instead, CNSC staff established communications with licensees and the U.S. NRC from other locations. This finding highlights the need for the CNSC to have a working emergency management plan.

Energy Probe was interviewed for its response to the report by CBC Newsworld, Radio Canada, ROB TV, and TVO’s Studio 2 program, as well as The Globe and Mail, London Free Press, and Canwest.

A public forum in Toronto on December 8 will give the public an opportunity to contribute to the second phase of the US-Canada Power System Outage Task Force report. The second phase will attempt to draw broad conclusions and to present policy recommendations. Energy Probe intends to participate in this process.

Click here for the report on the "Causes of the August 14^th Blackout in the United States and Canada"