[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5330-5331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2229]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force: Interim Report: 
Causes of the August 14th Blackout in the United States and Canada

AGENCY: Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and opportunity for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces the availability of 
proposed recommendations that have been submitted to the U.S.-Canada 
Power System Outage Task Force, and announces the deadline for 
submission of public comments on those recommendations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before 5 p.m. eastern standard 
time, February 11, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The document entitled ``Interim Report: Causes of the August 
14th Blackout in the United States and Canada,'' public comments on the 
Report, and proposed recommendations submitted by the public may be 
reviewed, and recommendations and comments may be submitted, at http://www.electricity.doe. gov/news/blackout.cfm?section=news& 
level2=blackout. Comments also may be submitted by any of the following 
means: by e-mail to [email protected]; by mail to James W. 
Glotfelty, Director, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, 
TD-1, Room 6H-050, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Washington, DC 20585; or by facsimile to (202) 586-1472. This 
notice is available on the Web at www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Meyer, Office of Electric 
Transmission and Distribution, U.S. Department of Energy, TD-1, Room 
6H-050, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-
1411.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 14, 2003, large portions of the 
Midwest and Northeast United States and Ontario, Canada, experienced an 
electric power blackout. The outage affected an area with an estimated 
50 million people and 61,800 megawatts (MW) of

[[Page 5331]]

electric load in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, 
Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey and the Canadian 
province of Ontario. The blackout began a few minutes after 4 p.m. 
eastern daylight time (16:00 e.d.t.), and power was not restored for 
two days in some parts of the United States. Parts of Ontario suffered 
rolling blackouts for more than a week before full power was restored.
    On August 15, 2003, President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Jean 
Chr[eacute]tien directed that a joint U.S.-Canada Power System Outage 
Task Force be established to investigate the causes of the blackout and 
how to reduce the possibility of future outages. Since the Task Force 
was formed, it has been investigating the causes of the outage and is 
currently engaged in developing recommendations concerning how to 
reduce the possibility of future outages and to minimize the scope of 
any outages that do occur.
    In November 2003, the Task Force issued an Interim Report, which is 
available on the Web at the Internet address identified in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice. The Interim Report presented the 
facts that the bi-national investigation had found regarding the causes 
of the August 14, 2003, blackout.
    When it issued the Interim Report, the Task Force requested that 
the public submit comments on any aspect of the Report. The Task Force 
also called for interested parties to submit proposed recommendations 
for the Task Force's consideration. Subsequently, three public meetings 
were held at which Task Force representatives received public comments 
and proposed recommendations. Those meetings were held on December 4, 
2003, in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 5, 2003, in New York, New York, 
and on December 8, 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Numerous parties 
also have submitted written comments and recommendations, all of which 
are available for public inspection at the Internet address identified 
in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    All persons interested in submitting comments on the Interim 
Report, proposed recommendations, and/or comments on proposed 
recommendations, must submit their comments to the Task Force by the 
date specified in the DATES section of this notice; after that date, no 
further submissions will be entertained. Comments must be submitted to 
one of the addresses listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 
The Task Force will consider recommendations and comments received by 
the specified deadline when preparing the Task Force's final report.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2004.
James W. Glotfelty,
Director, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution.
[FR Doc. 04-2229 Filed 2-3-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P