The worst electric power blackout in US history, which occurred in the US northeast on Aug. 14, 2003, was caused by operator error, line maintenance issues, and the lack of reactive power in the FirstEnergy region, said the US-Canada Power System Outage Task Force Apr. 5 in its final report (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2003).
The blackout affected oil and natural gas operations from upstream to downstream. Also, with the US relying more on natural gas to fuel its electric power plants, the task force's report will aid energy planners in assuring the uninterrupted flow of gas for new and existing power plants. The task force recommended adoption of a single national entity to develop and enforce reliability rules to prevent a like occurrence in the future.
In addition to the need for systems integrity, better training, and effective oversight, the report also specified other issues that the electric power industry must address, such as the possibility of cyberattacks, especially on the industry's SCADA systems.
The report said that the systems, designed to be stand-alone systems isolated from outside connections, now frequently are linked to the internet for business purposes, leaving them vulnerable to outside attacks.
Pat Wood, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and a member of the task force, said FERC would review and implement all recommendations applicable to the commission and would carefully oversee the industry's response to them.
"However, the most important role for the commission––overseeing mandatory grid-reliability standards––can't happen without passage of an energy policy bill that includes reliability legislation," he said. "I trust our nation's lawmakers to see past their differences and pass an energy bill with reliability legislation."
Congressional reactions
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) sees the report as underscoring even more urgently the need for the energy bill's passage.
"The report clearly says this blackout could have been avoided. The task force makes several recommendations, particularly the implementation of mandatory reliability standards," Domenici said. But he emphasized that mandatory reliability rules alone can't do it. "The task force also calls for clear guidelines for transmission investment, increased use of advanced technologies, and better personnel training.
"The [energy] bill [S.2095] does all of that. We have mandatory reliability provisions. We have provisions to encourage superconductivity, more energy efficiency, smart metering, and net metering. We have provisions that encourage investment in the grid—a step critically needed to expand and modernize our electricity system. We expand and improve personnel training.
"All of these provisions are important to preventing future blackouts," Domenici added.
"This blackoutUleft 50 million people without electricity and cost our economy more than $5 billion. This must never happen again. The first step to preventing a future blackout is passing the energy bill," he said.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also acknowledges the need for legislation, but he favors a different route to accomplish it.
"The task force urges Congress to pass legislation that creates mandatory and enforceable electricity reliability standards—legislation that is backed by government oversight and penalties for failure to comply with those rules," Bingaman said last week. "That is why I gladly joined my colleague, Sen. [Maria] Cantwell (D-Wash.), in placing a bill [S.2236] on the Senate calendar...that does precisely that.
"I don't believe there is anyone in the Senate who thinks that we don't need such legislation. The only question is in what form," Bingaman said. "Sen. Cantwell's bill contains the identical reliability language that is in the much larger energy bill proposed by the Republicans. However, for reasons that are well known and have been widely reported, it appears less and less likely that that bill will succeed in the Senate (or, if it does, survive a conference with the House)."
Bingaman said that despite repeated blackouts and task force recommendations for effective legislation, Congress has failed to pass it.
"This latest task force report makes clear, once again, that it's time for Congress to pass reliability legislation. I hope that the majority leader will seek consent to pass S. 2236 at the earliest opportunity possible," he said.
