IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2014 - 33

Despite the thoughtful development
of restoration plans, a number of unforeseen difficulties
arose throughout the process.

On 14 August 2003, an enormous power disruption resulted
in the loss of power to approximately 50 million people. A
total of 61,800 mW of load was disconnected, along with 265
generating plants (see Figure 5). three major metropolitan
areas (cleveland, Detroit, and new York), along with much
of the province of Ontario, were blacked out. two large areas
(upstate new York and the combination of new england and
the maritime provinces) and several smaller areas became
electrically islanded systems, disconnected from the eastern
interconnection. Overall, given the difficulties confronted,
the affected utilities and their dedicated personnel did an
admirable job in overcoming those difficulties and restoring
the power system following this historic power outage.

http://www.iso-ne.com/pubs/spcl_rpts/2004/iso_august_
blackout_report.pdf
canada newsWire. (2003, sept. 2). imO releases
details of power restoration effort. T&D World Magazine [Online]. Available: http://tdworld.com/energizing/
imo-releases-details-power-restoration-effort
Ontario independent electricity market Operator. (2003,
sept. 4). testimony on August 14, 2003 Blackout by David
goulding President and chief Operating Officer of iesO before
the united states house of representatives committee on
energy and commerce. [Online]. Available: http://www.ieso.
ca/imoweb/pubs/corp/imO-testimony-congresshearings_
2003sep04.pdf
J. spears (2013, Aug.). Blackout 2003: how Ontario went
dark. Toronto Star [Online]. Available: http://www.thestar.
com/business/economy/2013/08/13/blackout_2003_how_
ontario_went_dark.html
nPcc inter-control Area restoration coordination Working group (cO-11). restoration of the nPcc areas following
the power system collapse of August 14, 2003. presented at
the Joint meeting of the nerc market committee, Operating
committee and Planning committee, Vancouver, canada, July
21, 2004. [Online]. Available: https://www.npcc.org/library/
blackout%20recommendations/restoration_of_the_nPcc_
Areas.pdf
michigan Public service commission, "michigan public
service commission report on August 14th blackout," nov.
2003.
Dte energy. (2004, Apr.). Detroit edison's response to
the August 14, 2003 blackout, response to michigan Public
service commission case no. u-13859. [Online]. Available:
http://efile.mpsc.state.mi.us/efile/docs/13859/0006.pdf
u.s.-canada Power system Outage task Force. (2004,
Apr.). Final report on the August 14, 2003 blackout in the
united states and canada: causes and recommendations.
[Online]. Available: http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/
indus-act/reliability/blackout/ch1-3.pdf

For Further Reading

Biographies

new York independent system Operator. (2005, Feb.).
Blackout August 14, 2003 final report. [Online]. Available:
http://www.nyiso.com/public/webdocs/media_room/press_
releases/2005/blackout_rpt_final.pdf
independent system Operator new england. (2004,
Feb.). Blackout 2003: Performance of the new england and
maritimes Power systems During the August 14, 2003 Blackout. united states: isO new england. [Online]. Available:

Eric H. Allen is with the north American electric reliability corporation, Atlanta, georgia.
Robert B. Stuart is with stuart consulting, Walnut
creek, california.
Thomas E. Wiedman is with Wiedman Power system
consulting, elizabeth, illinois.

learned during system restoration." in the aftermath of the
blackout, the north American electric reliability council
(nerc) developed a number of reliability standards to minimize the likelihood of major blackouts and mitigate their
impact should they occur. two particular standards-eOP005-2 and eOP-006-2-address system restoration. eOP005-2 provides standards regarding the use of black-start units
to reliably restore the system after a blackout. some of the
lessons learned in the 14 August blackout, such as identifying key strategies for establishing cranking paths and adding
load incrementally to stabilize voltage and frequency, were
incorporated into eOP-005-2. nerc standard eOP-006-2
addresses the need for coordination of restoration plans
among reliability coordinators, the need for plans to achieve
synchronization between islands formed by the blackout and
the need for training and simulation drills at prescribed periods
to ensure that the main ties among reliability coordinators are
restored in a reliable manner. While the emphasis remains on
preventing blackouts in the first place, it is important to have
thoughtful and coordinated plans to restore the power system
reliably, particularly in view of the ever present threat of natural disasters such as fires, floods, and hurricanes.

Conclusion

january/february 2014

p&e

ieee power & energy magazine

http://www.iso-ne.com/pubs/spcl_rpts/2004/iso_august_ http://www.tdworld.com/energizing/ http://www.ieso http://www.thestar https://www.npcc.org/library/ http://efile.mpsc.state.mi.us/efile/docs/13859/0006.pdf http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/ http://www.nyiso.com/public/webdocs/media_room/press_

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