One can look at the 2003 northeast blackout to see how one issue with one section of the grid can have a cascading impact on the rest of the grid. It is still considered the most widespread outage in our nations history. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech. Aug 14, 2003 a map of the states and provinces affected by the w.
Nerc august 14, 2003 blackout technical presentation 11192003 interim report. Finally, on the third day of this blackout, 2,000 mw was the loss for 20 hours and. Aug 14, 20 home 10 years after the 2003 northeast blackout the cascading event, which started shortly after 4. Moving forward on lessons learned from the blackout of 2003. The differences in software assurance issues and pro.
Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge world. If you look at all the steps that have been taken since 2003, i think overall the risk. Therefore, it is critical to test the interaction between those parts before release. Considered one of the worst blackouts in history, the northeast blackout was caused by a software bug. The blackout did not start out as a spectacular, immediate failure of power and transmission. In addition, issues related to the misoperation of the italian automatic procedure to prevent the blackout are discussed. Sep 25, 2003 in the discussion of the 2003 blackout, some potential linking factors were listed that could contribute to the risk of a condition in which a blackout could occur. In the discussion of the 2003 blackout, some potential linking factors were listed that could contribute to the risk of a condition in which a blackout could occur. This is an animation created from a simulation of the 2003 northeast blackout. The more complex a software system, the more likely you are to have issues between the individual functioning parts. Today is the tenyear anniversary of the northeast blackout of 2003. Remembering the 2003 northeast blackout photos wsj. Therefore, the loss of one line elevates the risk of losing a second line by a certain amount, making the entire blackout scenario in some cases a highly correlated event.
For some customers, power was not restored for nearly four days. Software bug contributed to blackout securityfocus. The northeast blackout of 2003 light pollution cloudy. Fortunately, my companys maryland offices were situated about 100 miles beyond the southernmost extent of the blackout. Using a 16,000bus model of the eastern interconnection, the sequence of disturbances that caused this event.
Northeast blackout of 2003 your expert root cause analysis. Aug, 20 august 14, 20, will mark 10 years since more than 50 million people in the northeast were left in the dark after an overwhelmed electric system crashed into a devastating blackout. An analysis of the causes and consequences of the northeast blackout of 2003. Aug 21, 2019 the more complex a software system, the more likely you are to have issues between the individual functioning parts. A case study of the 2003 north american power outage key questions what were the main vulnerabilities and threats related to the electricity subsector of the energy sector at the time of the blackout.
The 2003 northeast blackout, 10 years later photos. Ultimately, however, the issues raised by the blackout go far beyond that, which may be why doe took charge of the inquriy on 20 august. What will be key challenges for the resilience of the electricity subsector in the future. Biggest software failures software testing can help catch. Geckil, economist aeg working paper 20032 introduction on thursday, august 14, 2003, an electrical disruption caused a loss of electrical service to consumers and industry acro ss the northeast. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. Nerc august 14, 2003 blackout technical presentation 1119 2003 interim report. For more than five years, nerc has sought and failed to get.
If you look at all the steps that have been taken since 2003, i think overall the risk is less today than it was in. Pataki reluctantly recalled one of the two major blackouts of the last 40 years in the northeast the 1965 power failure, which left an 80,000squaremile stretch of the united states and. In cleveland, ohio, an overgrown tree branch touched a sagging, overloaded power line. Strategic initiatives by nerc and the regional reliability councils to strengthen compliance with existing standards and to formally track completion of recommended actions from. As far as i can tell this has been covered up by the government. Its been 15 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro detroit in the dark. New york subways resumed limited services around 8 p. A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u. Chinese hackers may have been responsible for the recent power outage in florida, and the widespread blackout that struck the northeastern u. A task force looking into the cause of the massive aug. An aging electrical grid, a series of technology flaws and a few overgrown trees led to a cascading series of outages stretching from new york city to ohio and up into ontario, canada.
Aug, 2008 the 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later. Less than two years after the terrorist attacks of september 11 th, the lights going out across the north east caused significant anxiety. Critical events northern ohio firstenergys eastlake 5 power generation unit exceeded. On august 14 th, 2003, a blackout affected northeast america and canada in which millions of people were affected. Most did not get their power back until two days later. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states, and the canadian province of ontario on august 14, 2003, beginning just after 4. Aug 14, 2019 blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific. The blackout was a telling example of how vulnerable modern infrastructure can be to disruption and a reminder that our sophisticated failure prevention systems are only as effective as the. Fourteen years ago a serious blackout occurred, affecting ontario, canada and eight us states, disrupting power in major population centers including new york city. Using similar arguments for the remaining period of the blackout, we assume more than,000 mw of customer load was lost for another 14 hours after which 6,600 mw was the shortfall for another 10 hours. As i sit here and plan a drive 3 hours to a blue zone in ny murphy hill state forest anyone been there.
Created by laura cronin, conor mccarter, and stephanie tilden. But it was quite alarming to watch the power outage spread across a map of the northeastern and great lakes states plus ontario in realtime, like some sort of creeping blob from a science fiction film. There is a need for intelligent grid monitoring tools capable of giving early warning of conditions in which there is a heightened risk of instability and cascading failures. The northeast blackout of 2003 posted in light pollution. This page contains relevant statements by the commission on the blackout, the progress of the investigation, and other related topics. This interconnectivity can lead to some issues with the reliability of the grid across many different organizations, regardless of the origin point of the root cause event. Is it weird that i would absolutely love another one of those. This is what failed the company responsible for the new software should be held responsible. Yet it stealthily rolled on, wave by wave, into perhaps the second most widespread blackout in history. The map shows an entire state or province as red, when in some cases only a small portion e. The task force responsible for investigating the cause of the aug. The massive blackout prompts some companies to turn to providers of disaster recovery services, but it operations at many businesses appear. Aug 14, 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 wikipedia august 14, 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 was a massive widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and ontario, canada on thursday, august 14, 2003, at approximately 4. As will be shown, the 2003 northeast blackout was heavily based in these concepts.
Mar 01, 2008 on the evening of august 14th 2003, the united states and canada experienced the largest power blackout in north american history. August 14, 20, marks the tenyear anniversary of one of the most notable dates in the history of power system operations. About 55 million people in eight states and wide swaths of canada lost electric power for anywhere from a few hours to several days. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation. By thinkreliability staff on august 14, 2003, over 50 million people in the u. Health impact in new york city during the northeastern. Blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003.
For instance, in the 2003 northeast blackout in usa, a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation, located in ohio, eventually caused a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario, affecting an estimated 10 million people in. Ten years after the great northeast blackout of 2003. Pataki reluctantly recalled one of the two major blackouts of the last 40 years in the northeast the 1965 power failure, which left. The massive power outage affected areas in eight northeastern and midwestern states, as well as ontario, canada. Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. Many others did not get their power back until two days later. The blackout that exposed the flaws in the grid the new. The report makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented and that immediate actions must be taken in both the united states and canada to ensure that our electric system is more reliable. Ferc assisted the us department of energy in determining the root causes of the blackout that occurred on august 1415, 2003. Though some problems began earlier, the actual blackout did not began until shortly after 4 p. This study assessed the health effects of the 2003 northeastern blackout, the largest one in history, on mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases in new york city nyc, and compared the disease patterns and sociodemographic profiles of cases during the blackout with those on control days. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of. Actions taken in the united states and canada to reduce blackout risk 82004 utility vegetation management and bulk electric reliability report from the federal energy regulatory commission september 7, 2004. Aug 15, 2003 the massive blackout prompts some companies to turn to providers of disaster recovery services, but it operations at many businesses appear safe thanks to backup generators.
Nov 11, 20 in 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the u. Canada power system outage task force, november 2003. In some respects, kingdon capital management lucked out with the northeast blackout of august 2003. Edt most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. The day of the blackout one of the networks reported that homeland security installed new software a few days before the blackout. Ten years after the 2003 northeast blackout, much has changed. We investigated mortality in new york, ny, during the largest blackout in us history august 1415, 2003. This greatly exaggerates the actual area of the blackout. On the anniversary of the blackout, we consider both its extent and. The tripping of the sammisstar 345kv transmission line prompted the outcome propagating across borders and turning into a cascading blackout which affected eight states and two provinces in canada. Correct the direct causes of the august 14, 2003 blackout. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and ontario, canada on thursday, august 14, 2003, just before 4.
The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states, and the canadian province of ontario on august 1428, 2003, beginning just after 4. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge by jeremy johnson and alex lefebvre 20 august 2003 the blackout that began last thursday, cutting electrical power to more than 50 million. The northeast blackout of 2003 wikipedia august 14, 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 was a massive widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and ontario, canada on thursday, august 14, 2003, at approximately 4. Geckil, economist aeg working paper 2003 2 introduction on thursday, august 14, 2003, an electrical disruption caused a loss of electrical service to consumers and industry acro ss the northeast. The outage occurred after the market had closed and, for kingdon at least, only lasted about 12. On this day, more than 50 million people in the us and canada lost powerand it all happened in a matter of seconds. A map of the states and provinces affected by the w. Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. The outage occurred after the market had closed and, for kingdon at. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of the power grid. The 2003 northeast blackout, 10 years later photos a decade ago today, more than 50 million people lost power during the great northeast blackout of 2003. Causes of the august 14th blackout in the united states and canada, u.