Where Were You? Remembering the 2003 Blackout That Left Millions in the Dark
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — On this day 23 years ago, a massive power outage left tens of millions of people in the dark across northeast and midwestern United States and parts of Canada.
The blackout began around 4:10 p.m. on August 14, 2003, after a chain of failures spread through the electric grid.
The blackout cut power to 45 million people across eight states and 10 million in Ontario. At the time, it was the second most widespread blackout in world history.
Today, the electrical outage remains the largest power outage in U.S. history.
A United States–Canada Power System Outage Task Force was created and determined it all started in Ohio. The outage was triggered by a software bug in the alarm system of the FirstEnergy Corporation in Akron.
The bug prevented operators from initially realizing there was a problem.
It was later found that the issue began around 12:15 p.m. that day when incorrect telemetry data appeared in FirstEnergy’s computer systems and went unnoticed. If operators had recognized the issue, they would have known they needed to redistribute the electrical load.
The bug then caused the Eastlake, Ohio, generating plant to shut down. This led to overloaded transmission lines falling into foliage in Walton Hills, just outside Cleveland.
What started as a manageable local blackout was able to cascade across the entire electric grid because of the bug.
The blackout affected Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and parts of Canada.
In Ohio, more than 540,000 homes and businesses lost power. Portions of Akron, Mansfield, Massillon, Marion and Ashland, along with most of Cleveland, were left without electricity for anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.
Cleveland also experienced water services being cut off due to the city being supplied by electric pumps, forcing locals to boil water for days.
Not all areas were affected heavily or for extended periods of time, however the impact of the blackout lingered.
The United States–Canada Power System Outage Task Force investigators took a closer look at reactive power supplies in northern Ohio and found the area’s ability to supply reactive power had been inadequate for several years.
Almost 100 people died as a result of the massive power outage. Deaths were reported from Canada, Connecticut, New York City, and Michigan.
The U.S. federal government has since mandated the standards of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation for U.S electricity providers in response to the incident.
Do you remember where you were on August 14, 2003?