joel m. eichen d.d.s.

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It was then a minute before the blackout hit Detroit,

See? Closer than you thought! I still think it was an overload due to
a Cerec plus some paper shredding ............


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Faulty Computer System Cited for Role in U.S. Blackout
Fri Sep 5, 1:28 AM ET


WASHINGTON -- A Midwest electricity reliability coordinator and a
faulty utility computer system played key roles in the Aug. 14
blackout, Friday's Wall Street Journal reported.

The reliability coordinator lacked authority to control the part of
the nation's electricity grid it saw failing, while the computer
system lagged behind in reporting crucial events.


Witnesses told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that system
operators in the Midwest knew they had serious problems a half-hour
before the blackout but didn't know they were of national scope until
4:09 p.m. It was then a minute before the blackout hit Detroit,
Toronto, New York and other major cities in the Northeast, and heads
of utilities and grid monitors there said they had no time to react.


According to 650 pages of transcripts released by the committee,
operators at Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc.
were getting moment-to- moment computer signals that power lines owned
by FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - News) were failing, but because of
FirstEnergy's computer problems, the company's operators couldn't see
them.


H. Peter Burg, chairman and chief executive officer of FirstEnergy,
Akron, Ohio, told the committee the computer was designed to monitor
the company's transmission system every second, but it was late in
reporting the events of Aug. 14. "We're doing everything we can to
find out what was going on with that computer," he said.


Despite the failure of a number of power lines and at least one power
plant, Mr. Burg insisted his transmission system appeared "stable"
until just before the blackout.


James P. Torgerson, president and CEO of Midwest, based in Carmel,
Ind., said his operators saw some of FirstEnergy's problems, but up
until 4:09 p.m. "the issues did not seem to implicate a regional
problem." Midwest was set up in 1998 to oversee the reliability of the
grid in its area, which includes portions of 15 states. But the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (news - web sites) hasn't given
it the power to control the operation of the grid, which remains with
FirstEnergy and other utilities there.


Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter John J. Fialka contributed to this
report

--
Joel M. Eichen, .
Philadelphia PA

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