In accordance with the mandate of the U.S.-Canada Power Outage Task Force, the report outlines all of the actions taken to prevent or minimize the likelihood of future blackouts, reduce the scope of those that do occur and improve the security of the North American electric power grid. The report details 46 specific recommendations in four areas, including:
- Institutional issues related to reliability
- Support and strengthen NERC actions of Feb. 10, 2004
- Recommendations to enhance the physical and cyber security of North American bulk power systems
- The Canadian nuclear power sector
Actions currently underway include implementation of compatible, mandatory reliability standards in the United States and in jurisdictions across Canada, and strengthening the institutional framework for reliability management in North America. The North American Electric Reliability Council is also submitting 118 new standards to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and appropriate authorities in Canada for review and approval.
The report covers the largest power outage in North American history, which occurred on Aug. 14, 2003. This outage affected an area served by 61,800 megawatts of electric power in Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
According to an earlier report, released in April 2004, among the causes of the Aug. 2003 blackout were deficiencies in corporate policies, lack of adherence to industry policies, and inadequate management of reactive power and voltage.
“I appreciate the hard work and diligence that went into this important report. It demonstrates that while improvements are being made to enhance grid reliability,” Energy Secretary Bodman says. “We still have a very complex system that is subject to possible mechanical and human failures. We must remain vigilant.”
The governments of the United States and Canada have also established the Bilateral Electric Reliability Oversight Group as a forum in which the U.S. Department of Energy, FERC, Natural Resources Canada and provincial energy ministries can discuss issues of common concern.
To view the full text of the report, visit the DOE Web site.
