Represented a major property and casualty carrier in a class action arising from disputes over coverage for losses suffered during the august 14, 2003 northeast blackout. Northeast blackout of 2003 your expert root cause analysis. The massive power outage left a swath 6,000 kilometers 3,700 miles longincluding portions of michigan, ohio, pennsylvania, new jersey, new york, connecticut, vermont, and canadain the dark. A serious software glitch in the f35 joint strike fighter air crafts gathered wide public attention in the month of march this year. And like the blackouts in california in 2001, it often. Blackout in northeast over attack on power installations. The northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on tuesday, november 9, 1965, affecting parts of ontario in canada and connecticut, massachusetts, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, rhode island, pennsylvania, and vermont in the united states. Darkness fell across times square because the aging snarl of wires and transformers that is the u. Transmission operations and maintenance conference instructed by. Ten years ago, every city between detroit and ottawa, including new york, turned dark in what became known as the northeast blackout of 2003, the most severe power outage to ever occur in the industrialized world. The story of the blackout immediately after the interruption of electric service throughout most of the northeast united states and the province of ontario on the evening of november 9, 1965, you directed the chairman of the federal power commission to launch a thorough study of. Transcript of radio commentary that aired in september 2003 on kunm public radio 89. By thinkreliability staff on august 14, 2003, over 50 million people in the u. Although this there are some new questions which arise in the mind of the engineering team after this big failure of a mission.
Little more than an hour later, a cascading power failure had blacked out most of the northeast united states and neighbouring parts of. This page contains relevant statements by the commission on the blackout, the progress of the investigation, and other related topics. The report makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented and that immediate actions must be taken in both the united states and canada to ensure that our electric system is more reliable. The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific. The outage affected an area with an estimated 50 million people and 61,800 megawatts mw of electric load in the states of ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, new york, vermont, massachusetts, connecticut, new jersey and the canadian province of ontario. The story of the blackout immediately after the interruption of electric service throughout most of the northeast united states and the province of ontario on the evening of november 9, 1965, you directed the chairman of the federal power commission to launch a thorough study of the causes of the failure and the. More recently, just prior to the august 10 breakup, it is possible that some utilities would have reshaped their generation andor transmission had they known that so many lines. The blackouts have effects on costs from litigation, loss of equipment, overtime. A case study of the 2003 north american power outage. This neglect caused the fault, which was then compounded by a software bug in the general electric energy control systems used by many utilities. The great northeast blackout at dusk, the biggest power failure in u. Expert witness supports the resolution of security incidents and active litigations by offering impartial and independent expert testimony, opinions, and customized reports in legal proceedings. Succeeded in obtaining summary judgment for our client.
Feb 12, 2004 the software should have given one system precedent. Ten years after the 2003 northeast blackout, much has changed. Our investigation of the august 14th blackout found no basis to dispute this conclusion. On august 14, 2003, parts of the northeastern united states and southeastern canada experienced widespread power blackouts. Jul 17, 2012 the resulting blackout the biggest in american history affected 55 million people in the northeastern u.
The blackouts proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohiobased. In this page, i collect a list of wellknown software failures. The software should have given one system precedent. The relevant root cause information is included below. For the next four days the lives of 50 million americans and canadians were turned upside down, and, due to the blackout, the lives of eleven ended. Remembering the 2003 northeast blackout photos wsj. Edt most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. Comparing the map of the outage, to that of northeast blackout of 1965, im going to suggest that the outage be renamed to northeast blackout of 2003. News blackout definition and meaning collins english. August 14, 20, marks the tenyear anniversary of one of the most notable dates in the history of power system operations.
Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. Increases in erisa penalties take effect august 1, 2016. You might find these news article interesting at 4. Blackout technologies protect your sensitive corporate. Blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation. The resulting blackout the biggest in american history affected 55 million people in the northeastern u. Planes started to head toward one another, something that. Ten years to the day after the great northeast blackout of 2003 caused new york city to go dark. Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. Bruce schneier wrote about the possible role of msblaster in the 14 august 2003 northeast electrical blackout.
Northeast blackout according to news reports in april of 2004, a software bug was determined to be a major contributor to the 2003 northeast blackout, the worst power system failure in north. In fact, the northeast blackout of 2003 was blamed on a private electrical generation company in ohio based first energy for their low standard of preventive maintenance. If a blackout or power failure occurs during daylight, the college will remain open. Northeast blackout of 2003first energy outage reports. Willful failure to provide summary of benefits coverage to participant or beneficiary. Statesohio, michigan, pennsylvania, new york, vermont, massachusetts, connecticut, new jerseyand the province of ontario, canada, leaving up to 50 million people with no electricity. Some recent software failures caused by software bugs. Software bug blamed for blackout alarm failure technology. These outage figures do not include major blackouts like the one after super storm sandy or the northeast big blackout in 2003. Detroit, new york, new jersey, cleveland, toronto that might not be true, but on august 14th at 4. Miso state estimator and the realtime contingency analysis rtca software 67.
Edt, the msblast worm was dropping systems all across north america. Blackout threat unmitigated a decade after the northeast went. Aug, 2008 the 2003 northeast blackout five years later. In a matter of seconds, large portions of ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, massachusetts, new york, connecticut, new. The journal of the quality assurance institute 22 october 2005. The task force responsible for investigating the cause of the aug. Northeast blackout of 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 is the second most widespread power outage in history. A survey on power system blackout and cascading events mdpi. Of fice of the cairman december 6, 1965 the white house.
A disastrous string of preventable communication failures, software misuse and power line shutdowns caused the landmark electricity blackout that struck north america in. Pacific daylight time, air traffic controllers lost voice contact with 400 airplanes they were tracking over the southwestern united states. Blackout threat unmitigated a decade after the northeast. Feb 14, 2006 to nobodys surprise, the final report on the blackout released by a u.
There are a variety of legal problems that make litigation over electrical outages. The cases include the 1977 new york city blackout, the 2003 northeast blackout, multiyear national annual lightningrelated electrical damage. To an increasing extent, curtailed operation may also result from litigation or the fear of it. Michigan public service commission report on august 14th. Ten years after the 2003 northeast blackout, much has changed tuesday, august, 20 at 8. It is still considered the most widespread outage in our nations history. Liability of electric utility in the usa for outage or blackout. Second, the failure of rupture disks at four of the detroit edison generating plants slowed the. A collection of wellknown software failures software systems are pervasive in all aspects of society. Case studies archive case studies take an indepth look at a particular topic or situation. We recommend that the utility conduct a study of potential modifications to the system and report to the commission on the results.
Northeast blackout of 2003 or north america blackout of 2003. With the software not functioning properly at that point, data that should have been deleted were instead retained, slowing performance, he said. From electronic voting to online shopping, a significant part of our daily life is mediated by software. A software bug at firstenergy corporation in ohio caused this power outage. Litigation support legal consultants and attorneys translate litigation issues into strong case strategies that effectively utilize electronic evidence. The great northeast blackout institute for energy and. Without warning, on tuesday, 14 september, at about 5 p. Life supportensuring proper regulation of the electric grid. New york subways resumed limited services around 8 p.
Power back in cuba after major blackout havana times. Edt, the largest power blackout in north american history sweeps through eight u. The phone and emergency systems will continue to operate and most rooms on campus will have enough ambient light to continue activities. Targets are stuck in blackout status though the blackout has ended successfully doc id 2216105. Todd myers, technical advisor, epri transmission research, epri tim mcjunkin, power systems engineer project manager, idaho national laboratory energy systems lab tim vice, transmission maintenance analyst, westar energy eileen lockhart, uas program lead, xcel energy. Turns out after all the various speculation on reasons, the big northeast blackout from last summer was the result of a software bug that was only just discovered. Another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. About icf consulting icf consulting is a leading management, technology, and policy consulting firm. Northeast blackout of 1965 or north america blackout of 1965. On august 14, 2003, fifty million people in the northeastern united states, parts of the midwest, and parts of canada lost all electricity. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech. Austins trial and appellate practice concentrates on complex litigation in state and federal courts nationwide, with an emphasis on antitrustcompetition law, rico, state consumer protection act class actions, false claims act and qui tam litigation, and government and internal investigations. The two primary case studies produced by the nasa safety center are the safety and mission assurance sma focus and the system failure case study. While the blackout was caused by technical and managerial failures, the parallels with the tragedy of september 11, 2001, are striking.
Canada power outage task force have issued sequences of. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation computerworld. Software glitch causes f35 to detect targets incorrectly. With the software not functioning properly at that point, data that should have been deleted. Much larger than the northeast blackout of 1965, in america alone, this blackout affected 45 million people in 8 states. Failure to establish or update a funding restoration plan.
The bug in ge energys xa21 system was discovered in an. The ensuing cascading failure resulted in 55 million people out of power almost the entire northeastern united states and part of canada. To nobodys surprise, the final report on the blackout released by a u. I will start with a study of economic cost of software bugs. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states, and the canadian province of ontario on august 14, 2003, beginning just after 4. Blackout technologies offers employers total control over that which employees can access via their mobile devices, including the ability to disable the camera and browser functions, and block the launching of apps on ios and android.
Eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. Chinese hackers may have been responsible for the recent power outage in florida, and the widespread blackout that struck the northeastern u. Most did not get their power back until two days later. On this day, more than 50 million people in the us and canada lost powerand it all happened in a matter of seconds. Photo of a toronto street corner during the 2003 blackout by john r. Insured losses represent between 3% and 64% of total loss costs across the case studies. A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u. He reports on the november interim report by a joint uscanadian taskforce. Sponsor of cooperative and small employer charity csec plan. Over 30 million people and 80,000 square miles 207,000 km 2 were left without electricity for up to hours. Public roads learning from the 2003 blackout, september. Ferc assisted the us department of energy in determining the root causes of the blackout that occurred on august 1415, 2003. An early case of this can be found in the 1965 northeast blackout, when operators unknowingly operated above the unnecessarily conservative thresholds of key relays.
Northeast blackout according to news reports in april of 2004, a software bug was determined to be a major contributor to the 2003 northeast blackout, the worst power system failure in north american history. Software failure list software engineering references. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. Fifteen years ago, a software bug resulted in over 50 million people losing. If a blackout or power outage occurs after dark, classes may be excused after 15 minutes. In other areas, it took nearly a week or two for power to be restored. Northeast blackout, multiyear national annual lightningrelated electrical damage, and multiyear. How and why the blackout began in ohio summary this chapter explains the major eventselectrical, computer, and humanthat occurred as the blackout evolved on august 14, 2003, and identifies the. This drastically limits the amount of data that could be removed or sent by rogue employees. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states, and the canadian province of ontario on august 1428, 2003, beginning just after 4. A case study of the 2003 north american power outage key questions what were the main vulnerabilities and threats related to the electricity subsector of the energy sector at the time of the blackout. Feb 11, 2004 turns out after all the various speculation on reasons, the big northeast blackout from last summer was the result of a software bug that was only just discovered and not as many had speculated. Northeast blackout caused by a software bug techdirt.
The cases include the 1977 new york city blackout, the 2003 northeast blackout, multiyear national annual lightningrelated electrical damage, and multiyear national linedisturbance events. That blackout was caused when a tree hit a power line set off a chain reaction that knocked out electricity to 50 million people in eight states and the canadian provinces of ontario and quebec. Apr 01, 2003 another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. Canadian task force monday puts most of blame for the outage on ohiobased firstenergy corp. A silent failure of the alarm function in firstenergys computerized energy management system ems is listed in the final report as one of the direct causes of a blackout that eventually cut off. Here is a list of the top five software failures of 2015. What will be key challenges for the resilience of the electricity subsector in the future. News on the blackout of 2003 from nbc part 1 of 5 youtube. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario on thursday, august 14, 2003, just before 4. Jul 20, 2011 eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. Canadian task force investigating the blackout said in november that firstenergy employees failed to take steps that could have isolated utility failures because its datamonitoring and. But over a dozen of task forces 46 recommendations for preventing future.