2003 northeast blackout software bug curve

What started out as a typical warm summer day, which looked largely uneventful to most. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge world. Jan 28, 2015 its been 15 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro detroit in the dark duration. 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 main cause of this disaster was a software bug in the energy management system used by firstenergy corporation, located in. For example, in the 2003 northeast blackout in the united states, a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation,locatedinohio,eventuallycausedawidespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario krysac, 2005. In a city running 100s of systems for critical services, a software bug had huge impact due to a chain reaction or events. For more public eye satellite imagery, see the picture of the week gallery of satellite and other imagery of places in the news. Aug 14, 20 ten years ago today, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and into canada went dark. Feb 12, 2004 software bug contributed to blackout no, nothing to do with blaster, or microsoft. Major power outage hits new york, other large cities. Software bug contributed to blackout no, nothing to do with blaster, or microsoft. 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. 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.

Michigan public service commission report blackout of august 14, 2003 executive summary the august 14, 2003 blackout was a wakeup call concerning reliability of our nations electric grid. The blackouts primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system 14. The bug resulted in performance problems for many of the sites simultaneously and required disabling of the software until the bug was fixed. 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.

The northeast blackout of 2003 was one of the most critical blackouts in the history which affected more than 50 million people in both the united states and canada. Dmsp imagery of the great northeast power blackout of 2003. Eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. Aug 17, 2018 wikipedia says the blackouts primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of an ohio based electric utility. The outage, which was much more widespread than the northeast blackout of 1965, affected approximately 10 million people in ontario and 45 million people in eight u. Geckil, economist aeg working paper 20032 introduction on thursday, august 14, 2003, an electrical disruption caused a loss of electrical service to consumers and industry acro ss the northeast. Great northeast power blackout of 2003 satellite imagery. A postmortem report on the blackout describes it thusly. I was the first journalist to report on a bug in a ge energy management system that resulted in an alarm system failure at firstenergys.

Jul 17, 2016 the outage, which was much more widespread than the northeast blackout of 1965, affected approximately 10 million people in ontario and 45 million people in eight u. Michigan public service commission report on august 14th blackout. Geckil, economist aeg working paper 2003 2 introduction on thursday, august 14, 2003, an electrical disruption caused a loss of electrical service to consumers and industry acro ss the northeast. Resilience metrics in energy master planning for communities.

Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. We examined the public health effects of the northeast blackout of august 2003 and the emergency response to the blackout by the new york city department of health and mental hygiene dohmh. A state of emergency was declared in ontario until august 22 nd. Its been a decade since the great northeast blackout cut power to over 45 million people across the northeastern and midwestern united states and 10 million people in ontario, canada. The problem is that grids run close to the edge of their capacity because of economic pressures. Spatial vulnerability of network systems under spatially.

The cascading event, which started shortly after 4. Click here for a before and after comparative overview of the greater new york city area. Is current energy systems designed for resilience to unexpected hazard. The blackouts cause was primarily a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation, located in ohio. 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. Ten years ago today, large portions of the midwest and northeast united states and into canada went dark. August 14, 2003 outage sequence of events this report provides the sequence of some of the significant events that led to the blackout of the electric systems in the midwest and northeast united states and eastern canada on august 14, 2003. This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the northeast blackout of 2003 article. The blackout of 2003 thirteen years ago this month, a titanic power outage swept across the eastern united states and part of canada that affected 50 million people. 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.

Northeast blackout of 2003first energy outage reports. Investigators found several factorsalarm system issues, software bugs, and an overloaded. The relevant root cause information is included below. 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. What will be key challenges for the resilience of the electricity subsector in the future. S curve and zero bug bounce as techniques for ensuring the timely completion of those. Canada power system outage task force final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united states and canada. Did a ninja squirrel cause the northeast blackout in 2003. 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. 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. The task force responsible for investigating the cause of the aug. Et, 21 power plants shut down in just three minutes. This explanation is intended to provide a general understanding of how the blackout evolved. A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u.

Photo of a toronto street corner during the 2003 blackout by john r. Its the system, not a shortage of power plants that is the problem. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. The new york stock exchange was able to stay open because of backup generators, while the rest of the city suffered. One way to estimate the economic costs of a power outage is to calculate consumers willingnesstopay wtp to avoid such outages. Tracking the blackout bug kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040407. 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. Feb 14, 2006 tracking the blackout bug kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040407. What was the cost of the northeast blackout of 2003. 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.

Software failure cited in august blackout investigation. Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p. One of them was buried in a massive piece of software compiled from four million lines of c code and running on an energy management computer in ohio. The recordbreaking outage, caused by a software bug in the control room of an energy company in ohio, had a catastrophic effect on the entire region. In 2003 ontario was the only jurisdiction with enforced reliability standards for power systems. Part one of a twopart series on the northeast blackout of 2003. Software bug in the alarm system in the control room of firstenergy 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. Its been 15 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro. Every so often i teach an electrical engineering class, and towards the end we discuss engineering ethics. Northeast blackout nyc august 14th15th, 2003 duration. A blackout affected almost 10m people in ontario, canada and 45m people in 8 u. Oct 03, 2010 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. Northeast blackout caused by a software bug techdirt. Wikipedia says the blackouts primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of an ohio based electric utility.

This gives a measure of the cost of reliability of. A series of line outages in northeast ohio starting at 15. 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. New york news coverage of the northeast blackout of 2003. Take a look at the major power outages over many years, and see that the problems we face are not because we arent building enough power plants.

Apr 01, 2003 another pdf file to the final analysis of the 2003 power blackour in the ne united states. The primary cause of the northeast blackout of 2003 was a bug in energy management software. The blackouts primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room what should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into collapse of the entire northeast region. Because our economy and society are increasingly dependent on computers, we are more vulnerable to disruption of computerbased services. For example, in the 2003 northeast blackout in the united states, a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation,locatedinohio,eventuallycausedawidespread power outage throughout parts of the northeast ern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario krysac, 2005. Disaster preparedness 101 art of manliness podcast. Fifty million people were affected, including residents of new york, cleveland and detroit, as well as toronto and ottawa, canada. A number of factors and failings came together to make the august 14th northeastern blackout the worst outage in north american history. One of them was buried in a massive piece of software compiled from four million lines of c code and running on an. One glitch can cause disruptions all the way down the chain.

A major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. Jul 20, 2011 eight years ago a computer virus accidentally killed power to the entire northeast. We investigated mortality in new york, ny, during the largest blackout in us history august 1415, 2003. A look back at the historic 2003 northeast blackout. Remembering the 2003 northeast blackout photos wsj.

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. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge by jeremy johnson and alex lefebvre 20 august 2003 the blackout that began last thursday, cutting. According to news reports in april of 2004, a software bug was determined to be a major contributor to the 2003 northeast blackout, the worst power system failure in north american history. Apr 14, 2014 but large grids are vulnerable to the rare but significant possibility of a gridwide blackout like the one in 2003, when overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage in ohio, combined with a software bug a powerplant alarm system. Its been 15 years since the 2003 blackout that left metro detroit in the dark duration. The problem built from there, until 15 8kv lines failed nearly at once at 3. This is not a forum for general discussion of the articles subject put new text under old text. Aug 14, 2003 major power outage hits new york, other large cities. But large grids are vulnerable to the rare but significant possibility of a gridwide blackout like the one in 2003, when overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage in ohio, combined with a software bug a powerplant alarm system. For example, in the 2003 northeast blackout in the united states, a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the firstenergy corporation, located in ohio, eventually caused a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states and the canadian province of ontario krysac, 2005. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech. An example of what could happen occurred august 14, 2003.