Pete Domenici: “Today the United States-Canada Power System Outage Task Force released their final report on the causes of the August…”

“Today the United States-Canada Power System Outage Task Force released their final report on the causes of the August 14, 2003 blackouts and the ways to reduce the possibility of future blackouts. The August 14 blackout was the worst blackout in North American history. It affected Ontario, Quebec, the States of Michigan, Ohio, New York, northern New Jersey, and parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Approximately 62,000 megawatts of customer load was lost, leaving close to 50 million people without power. Economic losses related to the blackout are estimated to range between $4 and $10 billion. The principal recommendation of the task force is that Congress enact mandatory reliability rules like those included in S. 2095. That is the Energy bill. The truth of the matter is that bill is loaded with important provisions, matters of policy for America's future, and one is it provides us, if and when it is signed, with a mandatory system to regulate the customer load and the kinds of things that would prevent us from having another blackout.”