Looking Forward: Why Uptime Matters More Than Ever

By Arka Dhar, Zinier

On a hot summer afternoon in 2003, an overloaded power line in Cleveland, Ohio drooped onto underlying foliage, tripping the high-voltage line and sending a power surge back through the system.

Earlier that day, a technician in the area had gone to lunch after repairing an alarm processor and neglected to turn the system back on. Without the proper safeguards in place, line after line throughout the region tripped. Neighboring grids started feeding power into Northeastern Ohio, tripping more lines until cities as far as Detroit and New York were in the dark.

It was the largest blackout in American history. In New York, the subway system ground to a halt, stranding commuters and trains. Across the region, more than 50 million people lost power.