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2000 Outage News
The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) compiles reports on outages. Click to go to their web site for a list of outages sorted by year.
The following is a list of news summaries of major power outages and related stories as reported in the media for this time period. The most recent are listed first.
The numbers are stark. The U.S. has generating plants capable of cranking out 780,000 megawatts in a summers day. But it will take a minimum of 700,000 megawatts to power the nation this summer. That leaves little surplus, and the power cant always get to where its needed the most. The result: a national electricity system that is vulnerable to disruptions caused by equipment breakdowns and human error.
The U.S. is generally well-wired, but some of the fastest-growing parts of the country, such as San Diego, are virtual islands in the vast electricity grid. San Francisco, Long Island and Florida all have inadequate links to larger regional electric networks. Mr. Richardson says he doesnt even like identifying the regions at greatest risk because hes afraid of "causing public panic."
[Note: This is a brief synopsis of a very comprehensive front
page article. We highly recommend reading the full version at your local library or if you
can find it elsewhere!]
Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2000
Energy Secretary speaks of more summer power outages
On March 13 Energy Secretary Bill Richardson spoke to the National League
of Cities and expressed fears of more power outages this summer. He also believes
the solution to declining reliability is new laws at the federal level. Excerpts of
his remarks follow here. "Demand for electricity is soaring along with the use
of computers, fax machines and other appliances in homes and apartments, office towers and
factories. When temperatures rise so does electricity consumption, driven by the use of
fans and air conditioners. At the same time, the reliability of our
electric grids is, at times, faltering... Last year, many of you
suffered through a long, hot summer of brownouts, blackouts and tight supplies of
electricity. Chicago, New York and New Orleans were hardest hit, but it was a concern
across the country. We need mandatory reliability standards for
bulk-power systems. And the current system of voluntary reliability rules have not been as
effective as they should be during this transition to competitive markets. Making the
electric grid more reliable is a main reason I believe Congress needs to enact
comprehensive electricity restructuring legislation and do it soon. To do otherwise
is to risk history repeating. And that could mean more long, hot summers of outages
in America's cities."
Various news reports and DOE web site transcript, March 15, 2000
Killer tornadoes hit Southeast causing power outages
On February 13th and 14th more than a dozen tornadoes ripped through
Georgia and nearby states causing death, injury, destruction and power outages. If some
meteorologists have it correct, we may be in for many more this spring. This is
because history seems to show that in springs following La Niña winters tornadoes are
more severe and numerous. La Niña refers to cooler than normal waters at the
surface of the Pacific Ocean.
Various news reports, February 14, 2000
Storm hits East Coast causing power outages
A strong storm moved up the East Coast after hitting the Southeast with
ice and snow and causing power outages. After three days 12,000 Alabama residents
and 100,000 customers in Atlanta were still without power from an ice storm on Saturday.
That storm initially knocked out power to 1.8 million people. In North and
South Carolina more than 200,000 customers were without power Tuesday. The storm
dumped more than a foot of snow on many states in the Northeast.
Various news reports, January 25, 2000
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