Last month california utility officiais began their annual warnings to residents about cutting back on power usage. And in April a joint task force finally released its report on the causes of the summer 2003 blackout that left most of the northeastern U.S. sweltering in the dark. The committee placed blame on several clumsy utilities and a weak transmission grid. While the task force did suggest ways to fix the problems, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, left the industry with these dire words: "Improvements are urgently needed. Failure to implement [the report's] recommendations could threaten the reliability of the electricity supply." In other words: Get ready for the lights to go out again.
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