Page last updated Oct 20, 2021 @ 10:04pm
1997 Outage News
The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) compiles reports on outages. Click to go to their web site for a list of outages sorted by year.
The following is a list of news summaries of major power outages and related stories as reported in the media for this time period. The most recent are listed first.
A 2nd Larger Power Outage Hits Western North America
On August 10, 1996 a power outage occurred affecting customers in 7 western states,
2 Canadian provinces and Baja California, Mexico. Approximately 7.5 million customers lost
power for periods ranging from several minutes to nearly six hours. Inadequate
tree-trimming practices, operating studies, and instructions to dispatchers played a
significant role in the severity of this disturbance.
Press Releases August 10 - September 26, 1996, Western Systems Coordinating
Council
Major Power System Outage in West
On July 2, 1996 a significant power system disturbance occurred in 11 western
states and two Canadian provinces causing the loss of electricity to 2 million customers.
The outage was triggered when a flashover occurred between a 345 kV transmission line and
a tree that had grown too close to the line. Other contributors included high power
transfers between several states and a bad protective device.
Press Releases July 2 - July 21, 1996, Western Systems Coordinating Council
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