[off-topic] Re: US Power Outages

[shamrock@netcom.com (Lucky Green)]

At 22:24 8/11/96, Z.B. wrote:
>>From what I read, this wasn't a "small localized disturbance".
>Apparently, a fire underneath one of the main towers on the CA-OR border
>was the cause of the problem.  Now that may not sound like too much, but
>the lines were carrying at least 3000Mw of electricity, enough "to power
>3-1/2 Seattles for a day" (quote from local newspaper).  My guess is that
>when there is a problem involving that much power with no place to go,
>the safety systems shut everything down to prevent damage.

It was a disturbance at a single power line. By any standard, this should
not lead to a blackout from Canada to Mexico. Does anybody here have some
first hand knowledge about power transfer at the scale of the US grid?



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