Blackout pinned on three failed transmission lines in Ohi

[QuietStorm]

7 hours ago

The Associated Press
8/16/03

WASHINGTON (AP) - The failure of three transmission lines in northern Ohio was the likely trigger of the United States' biggest power blackout, a leading investigator said Saturday.

Experts are working to understand why the disruption spread throughout the Northeast and Midwest and into Canada, and was not contained.

"We are fairly certain" that the problem started in Ohio, said Michehl Gent, head of the North American Electric Reliability Council. "We are now trying to determine why the situation was not brought under control."

Gent said the transmission system was designed to isolate problems such as those apparently involving the three lines in the Cleveland area.

http://pennlive.com/newsflash/breakingnews/index.ssf?0816whathappened.html

[mike_c]

1. can you say "taxpayer bailout of utility investors?"

I'll bet you can!

[QuietStorm]

2. please explain

expound upon what you mean please.

[NYC]

3. My guess as to what he means.

PRIVATE companies have bought the utilities. However, now that they will claim massive upgrading is needed, they will look for taxpayer funds to do so.

[QuietStorm]

4. How is something so crucial to America's Infrastructure

left dwindling by the Federal Government? As I ask the question I partially answer it by saying sacastically that electric is big in the good ole boys portfolio, but the truth is I am not very informed regarding utilities. Do we also pay for other the maintenance of other utilities, like gas and phone (i know roads and libraries). sorry I hate to appear stupid, but we can't know everything.

[DifferentDrummer]

5. Du-uh! THAT's how privatizing works!

The expenses are public, only the control and the profits are private.

[QuietStorm]

6. why are you duhing to NYC

I was the one asking the question, thanks for putting it so succinctly.

[NYC]

9. That's the sad thing. Private ownership is incompatible

with the public good. If we have to pay for the damned thing we ought to be able to control it.

I do think we should pay for it. I also very strongly think we should own it. I hate to use the word "nationalized" considering who is in our federal government, but these public utilities should be owned by the public.

If the private owners want to own it and make a profit, then they had better bear the expenses. They won't. They'll just say that they can't POSSIBLY provide us with electricity because too much upgrading needs to be done, so they'll just continue to provide inferior service unless WE, the taxpayers, give the money for the upgrading. After that, they'll continue to collect their profits from the electric bills we pay.

I am especially annoyed that foreign countries can own our electricity and water. What happens when we have a falling out with the foreign country? Can they deprive us of electricity and water? Simple answer: YES.

Furthermore, these people use the power of Niagara falls, and who the hell owns that? Not those private investors.

I guess you have noticed that privatization irks me.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

7. GOP Deregulation...

... strikes once again, they sure are good at leaving the taxpayers holding the bag for the messes they ask for and create, ala Enron, WorldCom, Anderson....

<snip>

To pull off this grand theft by kilowatt, the NiMo-led consortium fabricated cost and schedule reports, then performed a Harry Potter job on the account books. In 1988, I showed a jury a memo from an executive from one partner, Long Island Lighting, giving a lesson to a NiMo honcho on how to lie to government regulators. The jury ordered LILCO to pay $4.3 billion and, ultimately, put them out of business.

And that's why, if you're in the Northeast, you're reading this by candlelight tonight. Here's what happened. After LILCO was hammered by the law, after government regulators slammed Niagara Mohawk and dozens of other book-cooking, document-doctoring utility companies all over America with fines and penalties totaling in the tens of billions of dollars, the industry leaders got together to swear never to break the regulations again. Their plan was not to follow the rules, but to ELIMINATE the rules. They called it "deregulation."

<snip>
<http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=257&row=0>

[wellst0nev0ter]

8. So Much For The "Blame Canada" Lie

"Canadian officials insisted a massive blackout Thursday across the Northeast and parts of Canada originated in the United States, though U.S. power workers denied that and American officials blamed Canada.'

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=517&e=2&u=/ap/20030815/ap_on_re_ca/canada_blackout

Twats.

[NYC]

10. Canada must really love us.

Our national motto:

Privatize the profits, socialize the costs, blame Canada.

[cmd]

11. Our beloved Gov. Taft is vacationing in Canada.

He stayed there the whole time, and is there today. Apparently he believes in the * leadership theory.

[robbedvoter]

12. At least Andrew Card lead the country (by saying it's not the WH problem)

Here, in NYC, we let go a pretty decent mayor (Dinkins) because he did not interrupt a vacation for a riot in Brooklyn. Will the US electorate care that BFEE did same when 1/3 of the country was in a crisis?
Anyway, the Ohio plant owner is Tony Alexander, a bush pioneer. And I am still waiting for Pataki to apologize to Cretien.