NYS Seal

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER

PAUL D. TONKO, CHAIRMAN

ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENERGY


NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

ORAL TESTIMONY BY INVITATION ONLY


SUBJECT: The August 2003 Power Outage

PURPOSE: To examine events and circumstances that resulted in widespread system failure; to investigate preventive measures taken against power outages; to review power restoration protocols; to discuss prevention of future outages; and examine the current regulatory oversight of the transmission grid.

NEW YORK CITY

Thursday, September 4, 2003
10:00 AM
Assembly Hearing Room 1923
19th Floor
250 Broadway, New York, NY


On the afternoon of Thursday, August 14th, people in Northeastern and Midwestern states as well as Canada were left in the dark. Most recent reports from federal investigators point to power line failures in Ohio as the cause of system failure, causing 50 million people to lose power. Such massive power failures were supposed to be avoidable since the steps taken after the 1965 outage that left the entire eastern coast without power.

The Assembly plans to hold hearings regarding circumstances that led to the blackout. These hearings will assess what systems are in place to prevent power outages, examine the circumstances that led to the current situation, and assess why the outage occurred as it did. This hearing will also review power restoration protocols as they apply in New York City. Additional hearings may be scheduled as further information becomes available.


SHELDON SILVER
Speaker of the Assembly

PAUL D. TONKO
Chairman, Energy Committee



SELECTED TOPICS TO WHICH WITNESSES MAY DIRECT THEIR TESTIMONY:

  1. What circumstances led to the outage in New York State?
  2. What are the physical controls of the system to minimize or avoid cascading blackouts?
  3. Are there protocols for restoring power to customers? What are they? How was the system as a whole brought back on-line?
  4. Who provides regulatory oversight of the transmission system?

Oral testimony will be accepted by invitation only and will be limited to 10 minutes' duration. Twenty copies of any prepared oral testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements. Written testimony also will be accepted.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committees' interest in hearing written testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN TESTIMONY:

Persons wishing to submit written testimony as part of the public hearing on the Summer 2003 Power Outage are requested to mail or fax their testimony to:

Jeff O'Donnell
Committee Assistant
Assembly Committee on Energy
Room 520 - Capitol
Albany, New York 12248
Phone: (518) 455-4363
Fax: (518) 455-5182



PUBLIC HEARING REPLY FORM


box I plan to attend the hearing on September 4, 2003 in Manhattan.

box I have been invited to make a public statement at the hearing in Manhattan. My statement will be limited to 10 minutes. I will provide 20 copies of my prepared statement.

box Please add my name to the Committee's mailing list.

box Please remove my name from the Committee's mailing list.

box

I will require assistance and/ or handicapped accessibility information at the hearing site. Please specify the type of assistance required:






NAME:

TITLE:

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