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December 1, 2009

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Facts on the power outage

Saturday, Sept. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

What:

A report by the Western Systems Coordinating Council on a massive electricity outage Aug. 10 for 7.5 million customers across much of the West.

Principal Outage Causes:

-Failure by the Bonneville Power Administration to adequately trim trees beneath transmission lines.

-Failure of the BPA to promptly notify other utilities as the situation worsened.

-Inability of equipment at McNary Dam on the Columbia River to operate properly as a backup when a major transmission line failed.

-Unavailability of power from The Dalles Dam because generators were off line as water was sent over spillways to help migrating salmon.

-Extreme demand for electricity throughout the region because of a heat wave.

Major Recommendations:

-BPA should assess why it failed to identify that the initial line outage would overload parallel lines and immediately take corrective measures.

-The coordinating council should thoroughly review the report and develop ideas for improving the system.

-The BPA shall ensure its dispatchers are trained regarding what should be done when they encounter stressed or unusual operating conditions.

-The BPA shall review its procedures for identifying and accounting for critical operating conditions.

-The BPA shall determine and report why problems at McNary were not considered in establishing new procedures following a massive outage July 2.

-The BPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall review the adequacy of the communications between the two agencies to ensure that planning models are accurate and that recommended modifications are made.

-The coordinating council and its subcommittees shall carry out several other studies.

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