WASHINGTON, DC -- It’s been just under two weeks since the power blackout that affected much of the northern United States and a major portion of Canada.   Since that time, a large number of people have done a great deal of work to help us answer the questions –

• Why did the power outage happen?
• Why did it spread to such a large area?
• And what steps should be taken to prevent such incidents in the future?

Finding the answers to these questions requires the collection and analysis of a tremendous amount of data.    And I want to thank Michael Gent, president of NERC (North American Electric Reliability Council), for his cooperation in this important investigation and for helping us compile that data. 

We had an extremely productive meeting today, and we look forward to continuing to work together with NERC as we move forward with the task of gathering and analyzing all this information.

It’s a complex job we are undertaking.   To put that into perspective, the area affected by the blackout included 34,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and hundreds of power generating units, all of which went out of service in a period of about nine seconds.

And during those nine seconds, thousands of events occurred over this vast network of power plants, transmission lines, switching stations and control centers that could have had some role in the blackout.

It’s a staggering amount of extremely technical data over a huge area.   It’s going to take some time to compile all this information, get it all synchronized and sequenced, and then determine exactly what happened when – and how it’s all interrelated.

Once we get everything in order, we have the task of analyzing all these events and data points to determine the causes.   And then, there’s the search for potential weaknesses in the systems of hardware, software, rules and procedures – finding out what worked well and what didn’t.

Finally, we will move on to develop recommendations on how we can prevent such an outage from occurring again.   It is important to understand that the facts will drive any recommendations we make, so I will not pre-judge what they will be.

But in the first instance, any recommendations the joint U.S.-Canada Task Force makes will likely focus on technical standards for operation and maintenance of the grid, and on the management of performance of the grid, in order to more quickly correct the problems we identify.

Such a complex undertaking is going to take some time – weeks, not days, certainly. But, hopefully, not months.   We are determined to finish this investigation in a timely manner, but we will not compromise quality for speed.   As I’ve indicated, we will follow the facts wherever they lead us.  We won’t jump to conclusions.  Our investigation will be thorough and objective.

With the excellent group of people we have working throughout the Task Force, and with the determination and sense of urgency we all share, I’m confident that we will produce good results in a reasonable period of time.

This investigation is a top priority for President Bush and for Prime Minister Chretien as well.   Minister Dhaliwal and I are in close contact with each other and with the leadership of the Task Force, and we expect to make periodic reports on our progress. 

We appreciate all the hard work and dedication of everyone on the team, and we appreciate the support and patience of the people of the United States and Canada as we move forward.

Media Contact(s):
Jeanne Lopatto, Joe Davis 202-586-4940
Corry Schiermeyer, 202-586-5806