What the Heck Happened?

摘要

The blackout that occurred in the northeastern U.S. and southeast ern Canada August 14, 2003 was but the tip of the iceberg of troubles facing the high voltage transmission grid in North America. The blackout highlights problems that are endemic across the continent, not just in a single region or utility jurisdiction. The fundamental problem is easy to see, easy to explain, and hard to fix. Years of regulatory uncertainty have produced a high voltage transmission system that has not received needed investment and maintenance and has not kept up with the needs of a rapidly commoditizing wholesale power market. Exactly the same overhang of deferred maintenance and deferred projects developed on the generation side of the market prior to 1997—almost no new generation projects were initiated over the prior decade, largely because of regulatory uncertainty. Once the rules for market governance were clearly in place, the prices became transparent and the traded market became liquid, a literal avalanche of generation construction projects ensued over the next six years.