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CNN Live Today
Italy Comes Unplugged
Aired September 29, 2003 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The lights are back on across Italy today after a weekend blackout plunged most of the country into darkness.
Our Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci joins us now with the much brighter picture today as the afternoon now progresses there in Rome.
Hello, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Leon.
Well, first of all, to be reported here, four people died as a result of this blackout. Two elderly women fell in their apartment in darkness last night, and then one died as a result of a fire from a candle she had lit to make some light. And finally, one man died in a traffic accident at an intersection where the traffic light was not working.
Now, the power is back in most of the country. Power officials are telling us that the grid will be totally operational as tomorrow, Tuesday. And in the meantime, of course, the question is, what happened and who is to be blamed?
Now, initial preliminary investigation points to a series of failures that began first in the Switzerland, where a tree hit a power line across the Alps, then simultaneously, almost simultaneously, two power lines, bringing electricity to Italy from France also went down at the same time. All these problems created a 25 percent drop in the electricity supply to Italy. And in just four seconds, 57 million people in this country lost power. The country went completely dark. It was the middle of the night indeed. Just the island of Sardinia was spared, and another small island.
But the entire country went black. Now, French and Swiss officials acknowledge the fact that the power was cut momentarily, but they're saying it was restored within a matter of minutes, and they blame the Italians for failing to react quickly enough. The Italians are saying nope, the blame does not lie here, but, they say, that the problem in this country is Italy depends too much on imported electricity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA BOLLINI, ITALIAN ELECTRIC BOARD: We have been short for the last 10 years. Only very, very recently the new government plan has decided to -- energy plan, has decided to invest in new capacity to give incentives and promotion of new capacity generation. But new products will come into effect two years from now, and therefore now, we are suffering from this fragility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VINCI: And, Leon, in this country, Italians in 1987 voted against nuclear power. The irony, if you want, if there is one, is that 17 percent of the electricity that Italy imports everyday comes from France and Switzerland, which produce electricity with their own nuclear power plants which sit just across the border from here.
Back to you, Leon.
VINCI: Well, it's an interconnected world in many ways. Thanks, Alessio. Alessio Vinci reporting live from Rome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 29, 2003 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The lights are back on across Italy today after a weekend blackout plunged most of the country into darkness.
Our Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci joins us now with the much brighter picture today as the afternoon now progresses there in Rome.
Hello, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Leon.
Well, first of all, to be reported here, four people died as a result of this blackout. Two elderly women fell in their apartment in darkness last night, and then one died as a result of a fire from a candle she had lit to make some light. And finally, one man died in a traffic accident at an intersection where the traffic light was not working.
Now, the power is back in most of the country. Power officials are telling us that the grid will be totally operational as tomorrow, Tuesday. And in the meantime, of course, the question is, what happened and who is to be blamed?
Now, initial preliminary investigation points to a series of failures that began first in the Switzerland, where a tree hit a power line across the Alps, then simultaneously, almost simultaneously, two power lines, bringing electricity to Italy from France also went down at the same time. All these problems created a 25 percent drop in the electricity supply to Italy. And in just four seconds, 57 million people in this country lost power. The country went completely dark. It was the middle of the night indeed. Just the island of Sardinia was spared, and another small island.
But the entire country went black. Now, French and Swiss officials acknowledge the fact that the power was cut momentarily, but they're saying it was restored within a matter of minutes, and they blame the Italians for failing to react quickly enough. The Italians are saying nope, the blame does not lie here, but, they say, that the problem in this country is Italy depends too much on imported electricity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA BOLLINI, ITALIAN ELECTRIC BOARD: We have been short for the last 10 years. Only very, very recently the new government plan has decided to -- energy plan, has decided to invest in new capacity to give incentives and promotion of new capacity generation. But new products will come into effect two years from now, and therefore now, we are suffering from this fragility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VINCI: And, Leon, in this country, Italians in 1987 voted against nuclear power. The irony, if you want, if there is one, is that 17 percent of the electricity that Italy imports everyday comes from France and Switzerland, which produce electricity with their own nuclear power plants which sit just across the border from here.
Back to you, Leon.
VINCI: Well, it's an interconnected world in many ways. Thanks, Alessio. Alessio Vinci reporting live from Rome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
