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. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge by jeremy johnson and alex lefebvre 20 august 2003 the blackout that began last thursday, cutting electrical power to more than 50 million. Its been 16 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge world.
Using similar arguments for the remaining period of the blackout, we assume more than,000 mw of customer load was lost for another 14 hours after which 6,600 mw was the shortfall for another 10 hours. Finally, on the third day of this blackout, 2,000 mw was the loss for 20 hours and. As the august 14th blackout began, a flaw buried in widelydeployed. In more remote areas it took nearly a week to restore power. Eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. What will be key challenges for the resilience of the electricity subsector in the future. Aug, 20 august 14, 20, will mark 10 years since more than 50 million people in the northeast were left in the dark after an overwhelmed electric system crashed into a devastating blackout. The department of energy and natural resources canada jointly commissioned a task force that. Northeast blackout of 1965 or north america blackout of 1965. The power outage that left 50 million wo electricity retro report the new york times duration. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation. The northeast blackout of 2003 in august 2003, a massive power outage occurred in northeastern us and eastern canada. The cascading event, which started shortly after 4.
This study assessed the health effects of the 2003 northeastern blackout, the largest one in history, on mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases in new york city nyc, and compared the disease patterns and sociodemographic profiles of cases during the blackout with those on control days. Many others did not get their power back until two days later. Edt, the largest power blackout in north american history sweeps through eight u. Watch dua lipa, mark ronson and diplos new video for electricity. Apr 01, 2003 another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. 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. 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. The blackout s proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohiobased company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. Aug 14, 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 wikipedia august 14, 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 was a massive widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and ontario, canada on thursday, august 14, 2003, at approximately 4. Indeed, the fragility of the american power grid was starkly illuminated by the 2003 northeast blackout in which a software bug caused a simple local power issue to cascade into an outage.
A look back at the historic 2003 northeast blackout. Aug 14, 20 ten years ago today, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and into canada went dark. Software bugs have caused many realworld problems, e. The task force responsible for investigating the cause of the aug. The relevant root cause information is included below. Its been 15 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro.
The first cyber battle of the internet of things era may. The blackout that exposed the flaws in the grid the new. A software bug in the alarm system of firstenergy, a power company located in ohio, was to blame for the blackout. Only one of these outages, july 2012 in india, was due to more electricity demand than could be supplied by existing resources. Satellite images of the night before left and night after right the 14 august 2003 blackout. Designing practical software bug detectors using commodity. The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific.
In the industrialized economies of north america and europe, we more often lose power due to a subtle and difficult challenge. The blackout s primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a firstenergy control room, so operators werent alerted that the system was going into overload. This paper summarizes the blackouts key events, driving factors and tipping point for its cascade in order to highlight the critical benefits of smart grid technology sgt. Aug 14, 2003 in the great northeast blackout of 1965, the largest in u. Feb 22, 2008 you might find these news article interesting at 4. The eastern grid has a peak of 800,000 megawatts but it was only 60,000 megawatts that got knocked out. Software bug contributed to blackout it failures in the great us blackout sparks over us power grid cybersecurity ncsp drafts secure code guidelines cyber security alliance sets sights on. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. 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.
Meanwhile back in nyc fat joes team won the game by. More on the 2003 northeast blackout correction august 14, 20. 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. Unfortunately, many existing bug detectors suffer from high runtime and space overheads as. How a smarter grid could have prevented the 2003 u. A massive power outage like argentinas could happen in. The blackout was, in fact, triggered on a hot day by an untrimmed tree in ohio and was aided by a hung alarm system. Software bug contributed to 2003 blackout ars technica.
Health impact in new york city during the northeastern. Collection of software bugs, glitches, errors, disasters like ariane 5, pentium bug, sleipner. A look back at the historic 2003 northeast blackout we use cookies on this site to improve your experience as explained in our cookie policy. Northeast blackout of 2003first energy outage reports.
The company points out, quite rightly but also narrowly, that it is too soon to tell whether its tripped power plant and lines were the cause or effects of the northeast blackout. Northeast blackout caused by a software bug techdirt. The later in the production process that a bug is discovered, the more costly it is to repair the bug. Chinese hackers may have been responsible for the recent power outage in florida, and the widespread blackout that struck the northeastern u. What should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into the collapse of the.
Blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. Northeast blackout of 2003 your expert root cause analysis. New york news coverage of the northeast blackout of 2003. Aug, 20 think about how the 2003 blackout progressed. Blaster worm linked to severity of blackout computerworld. Fifteen years ago tuesday, a power company software glitch plunged large swathes of the northeast u. Fifteen years ago, a software bug resulted in over 50 million people losing. Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. Considered one of the worst blackouts in history, the northeast blackout was caused by a software bug. Approximately 10 million people in canada and 45 million people in the us were without. A number of factors and failings came together to make the august 14th northeastern blackout the worst outage in north american history. Rm, northeast blackout of 2003 northeast blackout of 2003, uncontroversially moved, 28 september 2011, request a fact from this article was featured on wikipedia s main page in the on this day section on august 14, 2004 and august 14, 2005.
Jul 20, 2011 eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u. Northeast blackout of 2003 how can a software bug of an energy company in ohio lead to a blackout in new york city. Fifteen years ago, a software bug resulted in over 50 million people losing power, crippling the northeast power grid. The massive power outage affected areas in eight northeastern and midwestern states, as well as ontario, canada. Feb 14, 2006 tracking the blackout bug kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040407. Tougher regulatory measures are in place, but were still a long way from a smart power grid. Aug 14, 2019 blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. 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.
Aug, 2008 the 2003 northeast blackout five years later. Jan 27, 2015 an analysis of the causes and consequences of the northeast blackout of 2003. You might find these news article interesting at 4. This page has previously been nominated to be moved. 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. Northeast blackout of 2003 or north america blackout of 2003. Finding bugs is critical to solving those problems. In a matter of seconds, large portions of ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, massachusetts, new york, connecticut, new.
For some customers, power was not restored for nearly four days. Uncategorized software bug contributed to 2003 blackout a flaw in general electrics management system contributed to last august 14th fred locklear feb, 2004 4. Apr 08, 2004 software bug contributed to blackout it failures in the great us blackout sparks over us power grid cybersecurity ncsp drafts secure code guidelines cyber security alliance sets sights on. What began as a software bug in the electrical grid of ohio soon escalated into a catastrophic event that left nearly 45 million americans without power, ultimately becoming the worst blackout in north. Nba legend reveals truth about lebron james, jayz, yao. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the. Then impact estimates were developed relative to two counterfactual scenarios. The blackouts proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohiobased. Created by laura cronin, conor mccarter, and stephanie tilden. This loss of electricity was the largest blackout in north american history. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech.
The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific american. The cause of the blackout stemmed from a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohiobased company. By thinkreliability staff on august 14, 2003, over 50 million people in the u. We investigated mortality in new york, ny, during the largest blackout in us history august 1415, 2003. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation computerworld. On august 14, 2003, more than 50 million people across eight u.
Software bug contributed to blackout securityfocus. Industry research suggests that sg could have prevented the cascade, had it been. Statesohio, michigan, pennsylvania, new york, vermont, massachusetts, connecticut, new jerseyand the province of ontario, canada, leaving up to 50 million people with no electricity. The blackouts proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of firstenergy, an akron, ohio. On august 14, 2003, parts of the northeastern united states and southeastern canada experienced widespread power blackouts. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today august 14, 2018 at 4. Remembering the 2003 northeast blackout photos wsj. Unpruned trees in ohio affected the power lines and the distribution of electricity. Did a ninja squirrel cause the northeast blackout in 2003. Ten years ago today, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and into canada went dark. The blackout s cause was primarily a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation, located in ohio. Software engineering, disaster management, and observability. Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. August 1416, 2003 a software bug in the energy companys alarm system left causing operators to remain unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage.
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