US and Canadian electricity experts are working to understand why the electricity blackouts of 14 August 2003 spread throughout the North-East and Midwest and into Canada, and were not contained. Michehl Gent, CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Council said that he was fairly certain that the problem started in Ohio.

Mr Gent stressed that the transmission system was designed to isolate problems such as those probably involving three electricity lines in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. “We are now trying to determine why the situation was not brought under control,” Mr Gent said at a news conference.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced the Department of Energy (DOE) had also dispatched teams of investigators to the North-East and Upper Midwest to begin on-site investigations into the cause of the power blackouts.

The Energy Secretary also said Canada and the US had agreed to establish a joint task force charged with identifying the causes of the blackouts which affected the both countries.

"Reliable electric power is the lifeblood of the economy for both the United States and Canada," Secretary Abraham said. "It’s more than just a personal convenience – it’s essential to the health and safety of the two countries’ citizens. We owe our citizens an explanation of this incident and an assurance that steps will be taken to address its cause."


Some 50 million people hit by
America’s worst power failure
New York/London/Toronto, 16 August 2003: More than 24 hours after 50 million people in the US and Canada were hit by North America’s worst electricity blackouts, power had not been restored to all the affected areas. The problem started on Thursday 14 August 2002 in mid-afternoon, when in large parts of north-eastern USA and in some areas of Ontario, Canada, lights went out, air conditioning ceased working, lifts stopped between floors and underground trains were left standing in pitch black tunnels.

The effects of the blackouts were particularly felt in cities like New York, Cleveland (Ohio), Detroit (Michigan) and Erie (Pennsylvania) as well as in many Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Niagara Falls. In the Canadian mining town of Sudbury some 100 miners were trapped underground until power could be restored.

Originally it was thought the problem was due to the breakdown of a power station in New York State or Ontario, Canada. But on Friday 15 August 2003, it emerged that the original problem may have begun in Cleveland, Ohio, and then spread within minutes to Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and to Ontario across the Canadian border. Investigators focused on a massive electrical grid that encircles Lake Erie, moving power from New York to the Detroit area, Canada and back to New York State. There had been problems with the transmission loop in the past, officials said.

The exact source and cause of the blackout led to bickering over the blame. Initial reports cited a lightning strike near Niagara Falls, followed by fingers pointing at Ohio, where officials pointed back at Canada and upstate New York. On Friday, one expert speculated the problem began in Michigan.

Particularly hard hit by the blackouts was New York City. When office buildings were evacuated shortly after four o’clock in the afternoon, the events of 11 September 2001 were on people’s mind. Many were convinced that terrorists had struck again. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg hurried to TV cameras to tell his fellow citizens that there was no indication that an act of terrorism was to blame for a series of events nobody thought possible.

Whatever happened where, and while Canadians and Americans were blaming each other for the cause of the power blackouts, one thing is certain - America’s ageing electricity grid just could not cope. Energy experts point to electricity deregulation which made it unattractive for power generators to invest in new infrastructure. US President George W Bush, on a fund-raising trip in San Diego, California, at the time of the blackouts, called them a wake-up call. “I will order a review of why the cascade was so significant,” he said.

In New York, by midday, Friday, electric power was restored to some parts of the city’s five boroughs but New Yorkers had to commute to work without subway trains. In addition, many traffic lights only worked intermittently. By the time the evening rush hour started there was still no indication when subway trains would be running again.

On Thursday night, thousands of stranded commuters slept in bus and train stations rather than venture on long walks home. In one hotel guests had to sleep outside on the pavement because there was no electricity to operate its electronic room keys.

During the night from Thursday to Friday New York suffered 60 serious fires, mostly caused by people lighting candles in the dark.

Mayor Bloomberg asked essential workers to travel to work but urged non-essential workers to stay at home. “There are worse things than taking a summer Friday off from work,” he said. While many New Yorkers may have enjoyed a holiday Friday, the city’s two major stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq, opened for trading as usual.

Michigan, with the cities of Detroit and Lansing, was also hard hit by blackouts. Some people in Detroit were warned to prepare for a weekend without power and advised not to go to work on Friday. The city’s 15 major car plants closed down until Monday 18 August 2003.

In Cleveland, Ohio, people faced a day without water because there was no electricity to pump it from Lake Erie.

While there were no reports of looting in US cities, some shops in Toronto were broken into after the onset of the blackouts. The city declared a state of emergency and directed that only its essential workers report for work on Friday. The City also asked businesses to permit non-essential personnel to remain at home. Toronto Zoo remained closed on Friday, while the Canadian National Exhibition delayed its opening until Saturday 16 August 2003.