March 15, 2010 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Blackout 2003
2003 BLACKOUT

When the city returned to work after a blackout that put 50 million people in the dark for at least a day and cost New York City an estimated billion dollars, many New Yorkers started seeking answers to difficult questions: Why did it happen? Why did the power failure spread so far? Who and what are to blame? How can it be prevented in the future?

HOW IT BEGAN
The events that led to the largest power failure in U.S. history began in Ohio, officials said, when several high-voltage transmission lines failed. Investigators said that an alarm that should have alerted power controllers also failed. These events triggered the shutdown of power lines and some 100 power plants across the North East and Canada. However, officials could not yet account for why the safety measures that should have isolated the power failures did not work.

WHO WAS AFFECTED
An estimated 50 million people in Canada, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York lost electrical power at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Thursday. In New York City, subway trains shut down and thousands of riders had to be evacuated. Travel on New Jersey Transit, PATH trains, and the Long Island Rail Road and area airports came to a halt. Millions of people walked out of their office buildings and tried to figure out how to get home.

Tens of thousands of commuters and tourists had no where to go and ended up sleeping on city streets, buying what food and drinks they could from stores that stayed open. Many neighbors organized their own festivities, with outdoor parties extending late into the night.

The New York Stock Exchange opened on Friday morning, powered by a generator, but much of the city took a summer "snow day." All power was fully restored in the city by 9 p.m. on Friday; the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan was the last to see the lights go on. By 6 a.m. on Saturday, the subway system was running on its regular schedule.

By Sunday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared that the city was back to normal, except "the Mets won three in a row."

CITY RESPONDS
Mayor Bloomberg said that the night of the blackout, the 911 system handled 90,000 calls, more than twice the usual number. The police said they arrested 60 people on burglary charges related to looting, but that overall crime was below normal levels. "The city that burned in the 1970s facing similar circumstances is a very different place," said Mayor Bloomberg. In the blackout of 1977, there was looting and fires and more than 3,500 people were arrested.

This time around, Emergency Medical Service workers responded to a record 5,000 calls for medical attention and firefighters put out 60 serious fires, the majority of which were started by candles. Five people died as a result of the blackout. The power failure also caused major problems for the city's EMS dispatch system, including backlogs of thousands of calls, and the complete collapse of the radio system on at least three occasions, one lasting as long as 14 minutes. Mayor Bloomberg promised an investigation into why the city's 911 system failed.

The day after power was restored, sanitation workers struggled to pick up extra trash, including food thrown out by restaurants and stores. City beaches were closed, after the power failure triggered releases of raw sewage into the East River from facilities at East 13th Street in Manhattan and near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

COST OF THE BLACKOUT
City Comptroller William Thompson estimated the economic impact of the blackout at $800 million to $1 billion in the city. Restaurants and stores that had to throw out food or businesses that will not be able to recoup lost revenue were hardest hit.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated the city would pay $10 million in overtime related to the blackout. "There's economic pain in the sense that sales tax revenue will be lower," Bloomberg said. "So our revenues will be lower, our expenses will be higher. It'll really take a little while before we see how that plays out."

POLITICS OF POWER OUTAGE
Local officials are calling for an international investigation into the power outage. Some accused the federal government of neglecting the power facilities. "New Yorkers have a right to know the question of why this happened, how it happened," said Governor George Pataki.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver promised to hold hearings on the blackout and deregulation of the power industry. "For almost a decade, experts have warned of a very real vulnerability that exists in the transmission and delivery of electricity throughout the state," Silver said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who predicted on Thursday evening that power would be restored in a few hours and that the city would be "back in business" on Friday morning, was frustrated with local energy suppliers who responded slowly. "We can't be held hostage by some of the upstate utilities," the mayor said. The mayor even decided that legal action could be necessary and directed the city's corporation counsel to begin proceedings to get a court order preventing Con Edison from turning off the power to city residents.

But the battles over power are difficult. New wires, towers, and transformers can cost billions of dollars and local communities and politicians oppose the construction of new plants in their areas.

Deregulation further complicates the task of supplying the city's growing energy needs. Electricity can not be stored in large quantities and many different companies must collaborate in sharing power lines and energy, while competing financially with one another. Local utilities have little incentive to invest in infrastructure and choose to purchase power at lower rates from great distances. The result, as the power failure demonstrated last week, is that when it comes to power, New Yorkers are no better off than residents of Toronto or Toledo.

Post your comments on our Blackout Message Board.

     
In the News:

Bloomberg: All Parking Tickets Issued During Blackout Are Forgiven (Daily News) 8/22/03

Con Ed Reminds Customers to Conserve Energy in Heat Wave (Newsday) 8/22/03

Central Parts of Brooklyn Saw the Worst of Looting (New York Times) 8/21/03

Upstate's early light? State to probe re-power sequence (Newsday) 8/21/03

Oversight Group Warned Utilities on Power Flows (New York Times) 8/21/03

Pataki Orders Blackout Probe (Newsday) 8/21/03

Energy Department Will Lead Investigation of Blackout (New York Times) 8/21/03

Con Ed Will Not Reimburse New Yorkers for Food Spoiled in Blackout (Daily News) 8/20/03

Pataki Policies Helped Create Conditions for Blackout (Village Voice) 8/20/03

The Mayor: Bloomberg Seeks Lessons From Crisis (New York Times) 8/19/03

City Hurts, But It's Back in Business (Daily News) 8/19/03

Owners of Looted Store to Sue City (Daily News) 8/19/03

Loss Tops $1 Billion (New York Post) 8/19/03

City Power Plants Being Expanded (Newsday) 8/19/03

Special Blackout Section (New York Times)

Blackout Puts Energy On Top of Agenda in Albany (New York Times) 8/17/03

How Many People Really Lost Power? (New York Times) 8/17/03

The City's Past Blackouts (New York Times) 8/15/03

911 Glitches (Daily News) 8/17/03

Blackout Photogallery (Newsday) 8/14/03

Power Grid Q & A (Newsday)


The Blackout Via TV; By Phone; On Blogs

Laura Forlano looks at the blackout on NYC blogs, via phone, and from her perch abroad. Also: Only days left until .nyc runs out.



Before And After The Blackout

Three days after we first posted our article ("Studying How To Avoid Blackouts") about the effort Con Edison was making to avoid blackouts in New York, New Yorkers were among the victims of the largest blackout in the nation's history. Now, Kate Stohr provides an update in After The Blackout -- Going Back To The Experts.


Related Articles

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After The Blackout - Going Back To The Experts (8/18/03)

Gotham Gazette:
Studying How To Avoid Blackouts (8/11/03)

Gotham Gazette:
Power Plant Siting (04/23/01)

Gotham Gazette:
No More Power Plants by Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr. (07/29/02)

Gotham Gazette:
Maps of Power Plants in New York City and State (07/00)




















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