By thinkreliability staff on august 14, 2003, over 50 million people in the u. 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. That was nothing to get excited about and i doubt anyone saw much in the way of dso from nyc during the 2003 event. Northeast blackout of 2003 your expert root cause analysis. How and why the blackout began in ohio summary this chapter explains the major eventselectrical, computer, and humanthat occurred as the blackout evolved on august 14, 2003, and identifies the. Aug 14, 2003 a map of the states and provinces affected by the w. The outage affected an area with an estimated 50 million people and 61,800 megawatts mw of electric load in the states of ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, new york, vermont, massachusetts, connect. 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. A map of the states and provinces affected by the w. On august 14, 2003, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and ontario, canada, experienced an electric power blackout. Ten years ago today, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and into canada went dark. Apr 01, 2003 another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. Aug 14, 2018 fifteen years ago tuesday, a power company software glitch plunged large swathes of the northeast u.
The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific. The company points out, quite rightly but also narrowly, that it is too soon to tell whether its tripped power plant and lines were the cause or effects of the northeast blackout. Aug 14, 2018 a famous fake photo from the great 2003 northeast blackout is still claiming victims. You assumed it was your house or your neighborhood, and to know. 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. Disaster companies have likely taken this into consideration when creating backup systemsthe northeasts massive blackout of 1965 introduced the concept of overlapping power gridsbut it is the. A major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. My mom was afraid we would burn the house down if we tried to use candle light and we were told to only use the flashlights we did have only if you really needed it so no. The events wiki claims a software bug in firstenergy corporations control room caused the blackout. Nine years ago, a blackout crippled the american northeast for two days. The real blackout in the region was the great northeast blackout of 1965, when the whole region and portions of canada went dark.
Blackout page 2 july 7th peoples independent inquiry. 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. Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. Comparing the map of the outage, to that of northeast blackout of 1965, im going to suggest that the outage be renamed to northeast blackout of 2003. Nov 11, 20 in 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the u. The plant is owned by firstenergy, an akron, ohiobased company. Mar 18, 2020 software bug in the alarm system in the control room of firstenergy 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. Fifteen years ago, a software bug resulted in over 50 million people losing. Blackout threat unmitigated a decade after the northeast. Northeast blackout of 2003 wikimili, the best wikipedia reader.
Ten years to the day after the great northeast blackout of 2003 caused new york city to go dark, the new york times website has crashed and left readers without access to the entirety of nytimes. The map shows an entire state or province as red, when in some cases only a small portion e. 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 precipitating cause of the blackout was a software glitch in the alarm system in a control room of firstenergy corporation, causing. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario on thursday, august 14, 2003, just after 4. Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. The blackouts proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohio based company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. 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 int.
Mar 01, 2008 on the evening of august 14th 2003, the united states and canada experienced the largest power blackout in north american history. Remembering the 2003 northeast blackout photos wsj. Finally, on the third day of this blackout, 2,000 mw was the loss for 20 hours and. Eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. More than 35 million people were hit by the northeast blackout in 1965, one of the largest outages in north american history.
Aug, 20 see this great npr piece about how the 2003 blackout practically became a civic holiday in new york. Aug, 2008 the 2003 northeast blackout five years later. At this writing, it appears that the 2003 blackout started in facilities owned and operated. Elected officials testified about an august 14 power blackout in the northeast u. What will be key challenges for the resilience of the electricity subsector in the future. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the.
Another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. How a smarter grid could have prevented the 2003 u. The cascading event, which started shortly after 4. Industry research suggests that sg could have prevented the cascade, had it been. Chinese hackers may have been responsible for the recent power outage in florida, and the widespread blackout that struck the northeastern u. Nerc response to questions posed by the honorable w. The atlantic remembers the epic northeast blackout of 2003 with a great series of photos. We investigated mortality in new york, ny, during the largest blackout in us history august 1415, 2003. 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. Aug 14, 20 home 10 years after the 2003 northeast blackout the cascading event, which started shortly after 4. This paper summarizes the blackouts key events, driving factors and tipping point for its cascade in order to highlight the critical benefits of smart grid technology sgt.
New york news coverage of the northeast blackout of 2003. The front page of the daily news on august 15, 2003 was a special edition on the blackout. The relevant root cause information is included below. 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. More important, the disaster underscored just how rickety our interconnected and juryrigged electrical grid was and how vulnerable it. Created by laura cronin, conor mccarter, and stephanie tilden. This greatly exaggerates the actual area of the blackout. An analysis of the causes and consequences of the northeast blackout of 2003. May 03, 2016 the northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario on thursday. 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. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation.
Et, 21 power plants shut down in just three minutes. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation computerworld. In addition, some companies appear to have had only a limited understanding of the status. The department of energy and natural resources canada jointly. Sep 20, 2017 that was nothing to get excited about and i doubt anyone saw much in the way of dso from nyc during the 2003 event. A number of factors and failings came together to make the august 14th northeastern blackout the worst outage in north american history. One of them was buried in a massive piece of software. This page has previously been nominated to be moved.
Deadlock, northeast blackout of 2003, heartbleed, buffer overflow, therac25, memory leak, cloudbleed. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of. Northeast blackout of 2003 leadership vits december 2007 jim lloyd deputy chief, safety and mission assurance. Northeast blackout of 2003 wikimili, the best wikipedia. Many others did not get their power back until two days later. The substations step down the high voltage to that required by the utilitys consumers and distribute this power to homes, businesses, and industries. The northeastern blackout 2003 the blackout report. A famous fake photo from the great 2003 northeast blackout. See this great npr piece about how the 2003 blackout practically became a civic holiday in new york. Tougher regulatory measures are in place, but were still a long way from a smart power grid. Aug 15, 2003 disaster companies have likely taken this into consideration when creating backup systemsthe northeast s massive blackout of 1965 introduced the concept of overlapping power gridsbut it is the.
Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge world. The precipitating cause of the blackout was a software glitch in the alarm system in a control room of firstenergy corporation, causing operators to be unaware of the need to redistribute the power load after overloaded transmission lines had drooped into foliage. The northeast blackout of 2003 light pollution cloudy. 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. Normally, the problem would have tripped an alarm in the control room of firstenergy corporation, an ohiobased utility company, but the alarm. Critical events northern ohio firstenergys eastlake 5 power generation unit exceeded. Jul 28, 2019 the great northeast blackout began at the height of rush hour, delaying millions of commuters, trapping 800,000 people in new yorks subways, and stranding thousands more in office buildings. Jan 27, 2015 an analysis of the causes and consequences of the northeast blackout of 2003.
For some customers, power was not restored for nearly four days. House of representatives house energy and commerce committee. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech. Software bug in the alarm system in the control room of firstenergy 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. Aug 14, 2012 nine years ago, a blackout crippled the american northeast for two days. In 2003, a series of unfortunate events turned out the lights for some 50 million people across the northeast, including cleveland, detroit, toronto, ottawa, and new york city. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario on thursday, august 14, 2003, just before 4. I was still a kid living in the nyc suburbs at the time where we also lost power. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. As indicated, there was a fat moon in the sky at the time as i recall so little was gained. One of them was buried in a massive piece of software compiled from four. The failure on the evening of august 14th 2003, the united states and canada experienced the.
The great northeast blackout began at the height of rush hour, delaying millions of commuters, trapping 800,000 people in new yorks subways, and stranding thousands more in office buildings. Fifty million people were affected, including residents of new york, cleveland and detroit, as well as toronto and ottawa, canada. Fifteen years ago tuesday, a power company software glitch plunged large swathes of the northeast u. The northeast blackout of 2003 light pollution cloudy nights.
Cause, software bug in the alarm system in the control room of firstenergy. The task force responsible for investigating the cause of the aug. 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. A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of the power grid.
The power outage that left 50 million wo electricity retro report the new york times duration. The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific american. 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. Senior full stack developer software engineer scrum agile. Northeast blackout of 2003first energy outage reports. Ironically, the companys activities in cleveland propelled democratic.
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