Last year's Southwest blackout could have been avoided with a smarter grid, say regulators
Market Watch // May 02, 2012Federal regulators have released a report describing the 2011 blackout in Arizona, Southern California, and Mexico as avoidable. The FERC report issued Tuesday focused on grid communication and operation, noting that the power outage highlights the need for a more coordinated grid. MarketWatch reports:
The agency said that the transmission line outage itself didn't cause the blackout, but that the outage initiated a "sequence of events" that led to the blackout. FERC, which worked with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation on the report, concluded that better "review and use of information," as well as communication, data sharing and use of real-time tools might have allowed grid operators to avoid the outages.