The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeasternand Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just after 4:10 p.m. All told, 50 million people lost power for up to two days in the biggest blackout in North American history. The event contributed to at least 11 deaths and cost an estimated $6 billion. A surge of electricity to western New York and Canada touched off a series of power failures and enforced blackouts that left parts of at least eight states in the Northeast and the Midwest without electricity.Transmission system operators scattered across some 300 control centers nationwide monitor voltage and current data from SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems placed at transformers, generators and other critical points.The widespread failures provoked the evacuation of office buildings, stranded thousands of commuters. As circuit breakers tripped at generating stations from New York to Michigan and into Canada, millions of people were instantly caught up in the largest blackout in American history. In New York City, power was shut off by officials struggling to head off a wider blackout. Cleveland and Detroit went dark, as did Toronto and sections of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Officials worked into the night to put the grid back in operation and restore electric service. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that that the power was back on in parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens by 11 p.m. -- but not Manhattan. The blackout began just after the stock exchanges had closed for the day, a slow summer day of relatively light trading, as thousands of workers were about to head home. Office workers who were still at their desks watched their computer monitors blink off without warning on a hot and hazy afternoon. Soon hospitals and government buildings were switching on backup generators to keep essential equipment operating, and the police were evacuating people trapped in elevators. Airports throughout the affected states suffered serious disruptions, including the three major airports in the New York metropolitan region, but did not close. Thousands of subway passengers in New York City had to be evacuated from tunnels, and commuter trains also came to a halt. Gov.George E. Pataki said that 600 trains were stranded.The office of the Canadian prime minister, Jean Chrétien, initially said the power problems were caused by lightning in New York State but later retracted that. Canadian officials later expressed uncertainty about the exact cause but continued to insist the problem began on the United States side of the border. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that the seven nuclear plants in New York and New Jersey and two in the Midwest had shut down automatically when the failure occurred.Telephone service was disrupted, especially calls to and from cellular phones.Officials said the.

1. The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts
of the Northeasternand Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario on
Thursday, August 14, 2003, just after 4:10 p.m. All told, 50 million people lost power for up to
two days in the biggest blackout in North American history. The event contributed to at least 11
deaths and cost an estimated $6 billion. A surge of electricity to western New York and Canada
touched off a series of power failures and enforced blackouts that left parts of at least eight states
in the Northeast and the Midwest without electricity.Transmission system operators scattered
across some 300 control centers nationwide monitor voltage and current data from SCADA
(supervisory control and data acquisition) systems placed at transformers, generators and other
critical points.The widespread failures provoked the evacuation of office buildings, stranded
thousands of commuters. As circuit breakers tripped at generating stations from New York to
Michigan and into Canada, millions of people were instantly caught up in the largest blackout in
American history. In New York City, power was shut off by officials struggling to head off a
wider blackout. Cleveland and Detroit went dark, as did Toronto and sections of New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Officials worked into the night to put the grid
back in operation and restore electric service. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that that the
power was back on in parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens by 11 p.m. -- but not Manhattan.
The blackout began just after the stock exchanges had closed for the day, a slow summer day of
relatively light trading, as thousands of workers were about to head home. Office workers who
were still at their desks watched their computer monitors blink off without warning on a hot and
hazy afternoon. Soon hospitals and government buildings were switching on backup generators
to keep essential equipment operating, and the police were evacuating people trapped in
elevators. Airports throughout the affected states suffered serious disruptions, including the three
major airports in the New York metropolitan region, but did not close. Thousands of subway
passengers in New York City had to be evacuated from tunnels, and commuter trains also came
to a halt. Gov.George E. Pataki said that 600 trains were stranded.The office of the Canadian
prime minister, Jean Chrétien, initially said the power problems were caused by lightning in New
York State but later retracted that. Canadian officials later expressed uncertainty about the exact
cause but continued to insist the problem began on the United States side of the border. The
Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that the seven nuclear plants in New York and New Jersey
and two in the Midwest had shut down automatically when the failure occurred.Telephone
service was disrupted, especially calls to and from cellular phones.Officials said the trouble was
compounded by power failures at some cellular transmitters. Police officials in the city said they
first responded as if the power failure had been the work of terrorists, and with the concern that
the city was suddenly vulnerable. Heavily armored officers were sent to likely targets and

2. emergency command operations were begun in every borough. As the lights came back on,
officials estimated that 10 percent of the city's households again had power by 10 p.m. About
that time, power was also restored in Newark and Buffalo. Mr.Bloomberg said the subways had
been evacuated safely and that he believed the rescues of people from stuck elevators had gone
smoothly. Mr. Pataki declared a state of emergency, and went to the Office of Emergency
Management at the state police headquarters in Albany, where he said he would remain until
power was restored. Phillip G. Harris, who is in charge of the consortium that oversees power
distribution from New Jersey to the District of Columbia, said the exact cause of the blackout
would not be known for some time. He said that his system had recorded a ''massive outflow''
of power to northern New York or Canada shortly after 4 p.m. He said that the surge overloaded
power lines that took themselves out of service. For people with medical problems, the blackout
added another layer of anxiety because the rooms were flooded with patients with heat ailments.
A number of pedestrians had been hit by cars because traffic lights were out.
*The blackout's primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the
FirstEnergyCorporation, located in Ohio. A lack of alarm left operators unaware of the need to
re-distribute power after overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage, which triggered a
race condition in the control software. In February 2004, after a three-month investigation, the
U.S.–Canada Power System Outage Task Force concluded that a combination of human error
and equipment failures had caused the blackout. The group's final report made a sweeping set of
46 recommendations to reduce the risk of future widespread blackouts. First on the list was
making industry reliability standards mandatory and legally enforceable.
References:
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/nyregion/blackout-2003-overview-power-surge-blacks-
northeast-hitting-cities-8-states.html?pagewanted=all
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003
Solution
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts
of the Northeasternand Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario on
Thursday, August 14, 2003, just after 4:10 p.m. All told, 50 million people lost power for up to
two days in the biggest blackout in North American history. The event contributed to at least 11
deaths and cost an estimated $6 billion. A surge of electricity to western New York and Canada
touched off a series of power failures and enforced blackouts that left parts of at least eight states
in the Northeast and the Midwest without electricity.Transmission system operators scattered
across some 300 control centers nationwide monitor voltage and current data from SCADA

3. (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems placed at transformers, generators and other
critical points.The widespread failures provoked the evacuation of office buildings, stranded
thousands of commuters. As circuit breakers tripped at generating stations from New York to
Michigan and into Canada, millions of people were instantly caught up in the largest blackout in
American history. In New York City, power was shut off by officials struggling to head off a
wider blackout. Cleveland and Detroit went dark, as did Toronto and sections of New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Officials worked into the night to put the grid
back in operation and restore electric service. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that that the
power was back on in parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens by 11 p.m. -- but not Manhattan.
The blackout began just after the stock exchanges had closed for the day, a slow summer day of
relatively light trading, as thousands of workers were about to head home. Office workers who
were still at their desks watched their computer monitors blink off without warning on a hot and
hazy afternoon. Soon hospitals and government buildings were switching on backup generators
to keep essential equipment operating, and the police were evacuating people trapped in
elevators. Airports throughout the affected states suffered serious disruptions, including the three
major airports in the New York metropolitan region, but did not close. Thousands of subway
passengers in New York City had to be evacuated from tunnels, and commuter trains also came
to a halt. Gov.George E. Pataki said that 600 trains were stranded.The office of the Canadian
prime minister, Jean Chrétien, initially said the power problems were caused by lightning in New
York State but later retracted that. Canadian officials later expressed uncertainty about the exact
cause but continued to insist the problem began on the United States side of the border. The
Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that the seven nuclear plants in New York and New Jersey
and two in the Midwest had shut down automatically when the failure occurred.Telephone
service was disrupted, especially calls to and from cellular phones.Officials said the trouble was
compounded by power failures at some cellular transmitters. Police officials in the city said they
first responded as if the power failure had been the work of terrorists, and with the concern that
the city was suddenly vulnerable. Heavily armored officers were sent to likely targets and
emergency command operations were begun in every borough. As the lights came back on,
officials estimated that 10 percent of the city's households again had power by 10 p.m. About
that time, power was also restored in Newark and Buffalo. Mr.Bloomberg said the subways had
been evacuated safely and that he believed the rescues of people from stuck elevators had gone
smoothly. Mr. Pataki declared a state of emergency, and went to the Office of Emergency
Management at the state police headquarters in Albany, where he said he would remain until
power was restored. Phillip G. Harris, who is in charge of the consortium that oversees power
distribution from New Jersey to the District of Columbia, said the exact cause of the blackout
would not be known for some time. He said that his system had recorded a ''massive outflow''

4. of power to northern New York or Canada shortly after 4 p.m. He said that the surge overloaded
power lines that took themselves out of service. For people with medical problems, the blackout
added another layer of anxiety because the rooms were flooded with patients with heat ailments.
A number of pedestrians had been hit by cars because traffic lights were out.
*The blackout's primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the
FirstEnergyCorporation, located in Ohio. A lack of alarm left operators unaware of the need to
re-distribute power after overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage, which triggered a
race condition in the control software. In February 2004, after a three-month investigation, the
U.S.–Canada Power System Outage Task Force concluded that a combination of human error
and equipment failures had caused the blackout. The group's final report made a sweeping set of
46 recommendations to reduce the risk of future widespread blackouts. First on the list was
making industry reliability standards mandatory and legally enforceable.
References:
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/nyregion/blackout-2003-overview-power-surge-blacks-
northeast-hitting-cities-8-states.html?pagewanted=all
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003