Power Outage in US, Canada Slowly Being Reversed - Voice of America -August 15

Blackout mystery- Canada, US agree on joint probe to find cause Jamaica Observer - Saturday, August 16, 2003

CANADA and the United States yesterday agreed to a joint probe into the cause of Thursday's power outage which, up to yesterday, had still left about four million people in the US powerless for a second day.

Power Out in NYC, and other Major Cities -a review:

USA Today

At 4:20 PM EST, ewing 2001 wired via cell phone to GFP, admin: "...Main Generator in Queens Astoria is down according to con-edison, the local power provider..."

Developing Story:

Con Ed says five more hours before power back up in NYC

from CNN

Major power outage hits New York, other cities

A major power outage simultaneously struck several large cities in the United States and Canada late Thursday afternoon. A New York state official said the outage came when the Niagara-Mohawk power grid failed. Officials don't believe the outage is related to terrorism.

DEVELOPING STORY

Outage Cuts Power to 10 Million Canadians
Reuters, UK - 46 minutes ago
By Amran Abocar. TORONTO (Reuters) - A blackout brought most of southern
Ontario to a standstill on Thursday afternoon, turning off ...
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3281650

Pittsburgh Channel.com, PA
New York City Hall is operating on a backup generator and has power, and all major airports in the area are blacked out. The cause for the outage is unclear. ...
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/2406559/detail.html

...

KRQE, NM
... Other cities in the dark include Detroit, Cleveland and Toledo. And power
is out in parts of Canada, including Toronto and throughout Ontario.
http://www.krqe.com

...Thursday Aug 14, 5:42 PM EST :ewing2001, reporting live from NYC, strongly handicapped.

I found one of the few notebooks here in the area with some batteries. This could be one of the last reports from here. At the last electricity shutdowns in 1965 and 1977, the electricity came back after 66 hours.

Here is the latest article, i found:

Power Outage Strikes New York; Other North American Cities

By , CRN

5:05 PM EST Thurs., Aug. 14, 2003

A huge power outage swept across several North American cities Thursday, darkening parts of New York, Detroit, Cleveland and Canada, according to news reports and eyewitness accounts.

In New York, three major airports were hit as well as subways, according to Reuters. Cellular service also was disrupted, according to the news agencies. Pedestrians are said to be directing traffic in New York City, and so far the situation has been calm. Several news agencies reported that the New York power grid had shut down, but New York Major Michael Bloomberg said he currently does not believe the outage is the work of terrorism.

The U.S. Department Homeland of Homeland Security said after 5pm EST the outage was not due to terrorism.

David Via, vice president of business development for Wolcott Systems Group, a Fairlawn, Ohio solutoin provider in Fairlawn Ohio reported intermittent power disruptions and failed cell phone service. Fairlawn is about 25 minutes from Cleveland, where the power loss hit hard, shutting down Hopkins Airport. Via was preparing for a preventive shutdown of his own office systems.

CRN will continue to update additional information about the power outage and how the incident is impacting solution providers and their customers throughout the day

How DU reported about the Power Outage.

Friday, Aug 15:

Ewing 2001, Brooklyn, New York: ...just back with electricity, after almost 23 hours...

http://www.niagaramohawk.com/nimotod/newsindx/newsrelease/2000_09_05.html

Niagara Mohawk To Retain Name And Syracuse-Based Operating Headquarters; National Grid Casts Vote of Confidence for Upstate New York Economy

Westborough, MA and Syracuse, NY, September 5, 2000—National Grid Group plc (LSE, NYSE: NGG) and Niagara Mohawk Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMK) announced today that they have signed a merger agreement under which National Grid will acquire Niagara Mohawk through the formation of a new National Grid holding company, New National Grid, and the exchange of Niagara Mohawk shares for a combination of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) and cash. National Grid, one of the U.K.’s 50 largest companies and the world's largest independent electric transmission company, builds, owns and operates electric and telecommunications networks around the world. Niagara Mohawk is the second largest combined electric and gas utility in New York State.

Niagara Mohawk's merger with National Grid UK was completed
in late 2001.
Source:
http://www.niagaramohawk.com/merger%2D2.html

In the 1980s, "NiMo" built the nuclear plant, Nine Mile Point.
The National Grid Group plc builds, owns and operates electric and
telecommunications networks around the world, focusing on liberalizing markets.
National Grid operates electric networks in the U.K., the U.S., Argentina and
Zambia. The company’s growing portfolio of telecommunications businesses
includes ventures in the U.K., the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Poland.
National Grid Group’s headquarters are in London, England.

N M Rothschild & Sons Limited and Rothschild Inc. are advising National Grid,
and Niagara Mohawk is being advised by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities
Corporation. Merrill Lynch International and Credit Suisse First Boston are
brokers to National Grid.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=athI_oEZ5iTU&refer=uk

U.K. Stocks Mixed: National Grid Declines as HBOS Advances

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks were mixed. National Grid Transco Plc fell after a blackout in parts of the U.S. and Canada was attributed by some utilities to the company's New York unit. HBOS Plc advanced.

U.K. Stocks Mixed: National Grid Declines as HBOS Advances

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks were mixed. National Grid Transco Plc fell after a blackout in parts of the U.S. and Canada was attributed by some utilities to the company's New York unit. HBOS Plc advanced.

http://www.ngtgroup.com/scripts/homepage.asp

National Grid Transco plc is an international energy delivery business, whose principal activities are in the regulated electricity and gas industries. In the UK we own and operate the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales, and Britain's natural gas transportation system. In the US we are one of the top ten electricity companies, with the largest electricity transmission and distribution network in the New England/New York region.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=afGIXwF45Gd4&refer=uk

Buffett Among Possible Bidders for National Grid Units, FT Says

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and United Utilities Plc, the biggest publicly traded U.K. water company, are among four potential bidders interested in buying National Grid Transco Plc's regional gas businesses, the Financial Times said.

Scottish & Southern Energy Plc and private equity group CVC are also interested in bidding for the units, whose assets are valued at between 800 million pounds ($1.28 billion) and 2 billion pounds, the FT reported, without saying how it obtained the information.

Morgan Stanley & Co. and N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd. will help manage any sale, the paper said.

National Grid, the manager of Britain's natural-gas pipelines, has said it will sell no more than half of its eight regional networks that distribute gas. Any planned sales would require the approval of the government's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets.