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Did We Learn Anything From Last Night's Blackout?
Aired August 15, 2003 - 13:07 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Did we learn anything from last night's blackout? We definitely found out there are a number of unanswered questions when it come to America's weaknesses.
CNN's Kelli Arena now on soft spots and our power grid.
Hi, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.
Well, I'll tell you, the short answer is that nobody knows exactly what happened, and it will take some time before they figure it out. The North American Electronic Reliability Council is actually in charge of promoting the reliability of promoting the systems that serve North America, and it has started compiling information. Now it's anecdotal at best at this point, but it is a start of an investigation into what happened to cause this blackout. No one is definitively saying where it started or why.
But they describe what happened as follows -- in as simple terms as I can use -- energy was flowing east to west within what's called the Lake Erie Loop, and that covers the area which encompasses Detroit, Canada, New York. Well, some event happened. They're not sure what, they haven't identified it, and the power flow reversed, then it swung back and forth over Lake Eerie, eventually shutting down. Well, the problem is, there was a cascading effect. That's not supposed to happen. There are firewalls in place that should prevent that. But this happened all in the matter of about 9 or 10 seconds. So the cascading problem is the main issue.
What -- like I said before, there were firewalls that are supposed to be in place, but the North American Regulatory Council says that it will work with the Department of Homeland Security, it will work with the Department of Energy. They're going to set up a team of experts. Now, they didn't define exactly how many people or where these people would be drawn from. But they need to determine what the problem was.
The first priority, though, is to restore power, Kyra, so the investigation into exactly what happened, which is the question everyone wants an answer to, is sort of taking a back seat right now.
But there are two issues brought up by the experts as possible culprits. Now, the first is a possible malfunction within the transmission grid, something technical that happened or burnt out. Or, some experts have suggested, that a power company may not have followed the voluntary rules that were set up by the industry, and that, I am told, can bring down the system.
At this point, that is all conjecture, Kyra, that is what the investigators will try to pin down over the next weeks and months.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks so much.
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 August 15, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Did we learn anything from last night's blackout? We definitely found out there are a number of unanswered questions when it come to America's weaknesses.
CNN's Kelli Arena now on soft spots and our power grid.
Hi, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.
Well, I'll tell you, the short answer is that nobody knows exactly what happened, and it will take some time before they figure it out. The North American Electronic Reliability Council is actually in charge of promoting the reliability of promoting the systems that serve North America, and it has started compiling information. Now it's anecdotal at best at this point, but it is a start of an investigation into what happened to cause this blackout. No one is definitively saying where it started or why.
But they describe what happened as follows -- in as simple terms as I can use -- energy was flowing east to west within what's called the Lake Erie Loop, and that covers the area which encompasses Detroit, Canada, New York. Well, some event happened. They're not sure what, they haven't identified it, and the power flow reversed, then it swung back and forth over Lake Eerie, eventually shutting down. Well, the problem is, there was a cascading effect. That's not supposed to happen. There are firewalls in place that should prevent that. But this happened all in the matter of about 9 or 10 seconds. So the cascading problem is the main issue.
What -- like I said before, there were firewalls that are supposed to be in place, but the North American Regulatory Council says that it will work with the Department of Homeland Security, it will work with the Department of Energy. They're going to set up a team of experts. Now, they didn't define exactly how many people or where these people would be drawn from. But they need to determine what the problem was.
The first priority, though, is to restore power, Kyra, so the investigation into exactly what happened, which is the question everyone wants an answer to, is sort of taking a back seat right now.
But there are two issues brought up by the experts as possible culprits. Now, the first is a possible malfunction within the transmission grid, something technical that happened or burnt out. Or, some experts have suggested, that a power company may not have followed the voluntary rules that were set up by the industry, and that, I am told, can bring down the system.
At this point, that is all conjecture, Kyra, that is what the investigators will try to pin down over the next weeks and months.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Kelli Arena, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
