TAFT RELEASES STATEMENT REGARDING
BI-NATIONAL TASK FORCE REPORT ON BLACKOUT
COLUMBUS (November 19, 2003) - Governor Bob Taft today released the following statement:
"The Bi-National Task Force's interim report on the August blackout finds that our system for the transmission of electricity is outdated and must be revised. This finding affirms my position that the nation's transmission system needs to be strengthened immediately.
"Following the blackout, I testified before Congress and stressed the need to implement mandatory reliability standards for transmission and make certain they are enforced. As the report indicates, voluntary standards have been proven inadequate. The task force cited wide variations in performance among the utilities involved in the August 14th blackout. I call upon Congress to enact mandatory reliability standards immediately.
"The report indicates FirstEnergy has fallen short of the early warning, training and maintenance practices which should be the industry standard and which are followed by other utilities. This is troubling, and I have directed PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber to work with his fellow Commissioners and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) to direct FirstEnergy to correct these shortcomings by the earliest possible date.
"In addition to the need for mandatory reliability standards, the report affirms the need to replace the current fragmented oversight of the transmission system with a more coherent system of regional transmission operators. The report points to a lapse in emergency contingency planning due to the lack of coordination between multiple transmission organizations. I testified to this issue and I will continue to urge Congress to simplify and make more coherent the nation's transmission system.
"Finally, the report underscores the fact that Ohio utilities should fall under a single system operator for transmission purposes as both Chairman Schriber and I have proposed.
"I commend the task force on their prompt action on this first phase of investigating the blackout and await the forthcoming recommendations on system changes needed to prevent a future occurrence. This blackout was a threat to the health and safety of Ohioans and cost Ohio businesses millions of dollars in losses. We must do all we can to prevent a future power outage."
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Contact: Orest Holubec, Governor's Press Secretary, at (614) 644-0957.