What the fuck is going on over there?
*******
Just so happens I'm consulting at one of the power firms and have a lot of real-time data.
Essentially it was a cascade failure of the power grid caused by an lightening strike or a fire or, well, no one is completely certain at this time.
The grid became "de-energized" as power mains went off line in Ottowa, Canada (or perhaps Ohio - this is also in dispute). As the remaining portions of the grid experienced demand in excess of the now lower power supply a rolling failure descended.
The system in my region has a total capacity of 61.2 megawatts of power and lost, as a result of the greater system failure throughout the eastern seaboard and the midwest, 4.1 megawatts.
This triggered a fail-safe circuit break, disconnecting Philly from the New York grid which prevented the Philadelphia metro region from going dark too.
Re-energizing the system is very complex and time consuming and not without danger. It doesn't help that its damn hot.
A dramatic illustration of the interconnectednes of key parts of the infrastructure.
DRM
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com