2008 Woodie Awards
Series of Blackouts in California
California experiences a series of power outages from the valley to San Pedro.
Rochelle Siegel
Issue date: 10/21/05 Section: News
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A series of blackouts stretching from the valley through downtown south to San Pedro, as well as parts of the city's west side affected about fifty percent of the Department of Water and Power's 1.4 million customers; including the downtown government buildings, Chinatown and nearby areas.
Backup power was able to keep key parts of City Hall and police headquarters running. This has been the third significant electrical failure in the city since mid-September.
Outages trapped people in elevators and caused many traffic problems at intersection where stoplights were not working. Los Angeles police were on full tactical alert, with officers being ordered to work beyond their shifts. Officers were needed to assist in traffic control.
Los Angeles International Airport reported some flickering of lights but no interruptions in flight schedules. An airport in the San Fernando Valley lost electricity but was able to continue flights by using backup power.
Both terrorism and human error have been ruled out as causes of the power outages. Some believe that a power line was mistakenly cut and that caused other lines in the area to go out because they could not handle the additional load. "Outages just happen periodically," said Carol Tucker, a Department of Water and Power spokeswoman.
The system is designed to shut down when it receives too much power. Receiving stations take high-voltage power from generating stations and convert it to lower voltage. By this process power can be used throughout the city. Three power outages in downtown Los Angeles in thirty days have many concerned about the reliability of the Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest public utility.
According to Jack Kyser, an economist, the first outage that occurred on September 12 led to an estimated 23 million dollar loss in economic output, which includes wages paid to idle workers. The cost of damaged equipment has reach $660,000.
Backup power was able to keep key parts of City Hall and police headquarters running. This has been the third significant electrical failure in the city since mid-September.
Outages trapped people in elevators and caused many traffic problems at intersection where stoplights were not working. Los Angeles police were on full tactical alert, with officers being ordered to work beyond their shifts. Officers were needed to assist in traffic control.
Los Angeles International Airport reported some flickering of lights but no interruptions in flight schedules. An airport in the San Fernando Valley lost electricity but was able to continue flights by using backup power.
Both terrorism and human error have been ruled out as causes of the power outages. Some believe that a power line was mistakenly cut and that caused other lines in the area to go out because they could not handle the additional load. "Outages just happen periodically," said Carol Tucker, a Department of Water and Power spokeswoman.
The system is designed to shut down when it receives too much power. Receiving stations take high-voltage power from generating stations and convert it to lower voltage. By this process power can be used throughout the city. Three power outages in downtown Los Angeles in thirty days have many concerned about the reliability of the Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest public utility.
According to Jack Kyser, an economist, the first outage that occurred on September 12 led to an estimated 23 million dollar loss in economic output, which includes wages paid to idle workers. The cost of damaged equipment has reach $660,000.