Massive power cut hits Italy

BBC News ^ | September 28, 2003

[bd476]

The civil protection agency in Italy says a power cut has left large parts of the country in darkness.

A spokesman said that as yet it was not possible to say how many areas were affected, or what the cause of the blackout was.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome said he woke to find that there was no power at all, and only battery-powered appliances were working.

He says that Rome, the Vatican and Naples are among the areas affected.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Yeah right! First the U.S., then London, then Sweden (I believe), now Italy. I'm putting my tin foil on right now.

[Libertina]

Testing...testing...

[Brian S]

MORE...


Italy hit by power outage

A large part of Italy has been hit by a power cut in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The country's civil protection agency said it was still not possible to say how much of Italy was affected or why the blackout.

But the national news agency ANSA quoted the national grid authority as saying the outage was caused by a malfunction of incoming electricity lines from abroad.

The blackout put a sharp end to an all-night party in the capital Rome where over shops, tourist sites, and museums were set to stay open until daybreak.

[Destro]

It happens in Italy all the time. No biggie.

[Malsua]

Is there any socialist or leftist who isn't a Banana?

"Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone?"

Not enough power...hmmm...what shall we do? Lessee...let's just complain about the USA. After all, they are the root of all problems everywhere.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Don't forget Sydney, Australia, too.

[Lijahsbubbe]

I didn't hear about that one. These are some awfully big coinky dinks. Or maybe it's just like when the movie stars die in threes.

I think I'll keep my hat on overnite anyway!

[Destro]

Sabotage! Huge Explosion topples High Voltage Pylon Connecting Greece and Italy near Albanian Border

[Timesink]

Uh .. March 2002?

[jern]

Blackout Across Italy, Police Say




The Associated Press
Sep 28, 2003 : 12:05 am ET

ROME -- Power went out across Italy before dawn Sunday, plunging the nation into darkness, police and news reports said. Authorities did not immediately know the cause.

The first power outages were reported around 4 a.m. local time in Rome, where the city was celebrating an all-night festival with museums and restaurants open around the clock.

Later, the national electricity company ACEA said power was out across the nation, the ANSA news agency said.

"As far as we know it's all across Italy," police official Franca Sesti Miraglia said in Rome.

[Destro]

Sabotage! Huge Explosion topples High Voltage Pylon Connecting Greece and Italy near Albanian Border

Is someone practicing? The US has high power lines all throughout the lands.

33 posted on 03/20/2002 10:25 AM EST by PatrioticAmerican

[jern]

Italian Blackout Cuts Short Rome All-Night Party
50 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

ROME (Reuters) - A power cut hit a large part of Italy in the early hours of Sunday morning, the country's civil protection agency


"A large part of the country is in darkness, although as yet it is impossible to quantify how much or why," a spokesman for the civil protection agency told Reuters.


The national grid authority said the blackout was caused by a malfunction of incoming electricity lines from abroad, national new agency ANSA reported.


The blackout put a sharp end to an all night party in the capital Rome where over shops, tourist sites, and museums were set to stay open until daybreak.

[Destro]

Yup. Posted in response to Seamole's querry.

[Publius6961]

Just a coincidence.
Nothing to see here.

Move along now.

[Mo1]

Another blackout huh??

Hmmmmm ... makes one wonder

[_Jim]

Is someone practicing? The US has high power lines all throughout the lands.

YOU SAW what happens when utilities FAIL to do prompt and regular power line right-of-way trimming back on August 14th when lines 'sagged' into trees and line then tripped out (two specific occasions that day) ...

Terrorists - heck, trees!

[Destro]

Probably why you remembered it....

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Hmmmmm ... makes one wonder

I think Pit Bulls must have some connection to all this. Judging by the recent upswing in stories about both topics, that is.

[Destro]

That post you commented on was a blast from the past. heh :)

[_Jim]

Sabotage! Huge Explosion topples High Voltage Pylon Connecting Greece and Italy near Albanian Border

"The cable, which can transport up to 400,000 volts of electricity, was not working at the time of the explosion and no power outages occurred."

[_Jim]

There are some 'maintanance issues' that the power industry has to work out - some of those can have real results!

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Terrorists - heck, trees!

If you're not with us, you're with the weeping willows! No blood for sap! It's Rush LIMBaugh's fault!

That's all I got right now.

[Destro]

One would hope that 2 years later that they had the juice flowing.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

It's not that it's only coalition allies that are being affected.

It's that coalition allies are the only places on earth with electricity.

Back to the mall, folks. Nothing to see here.

[Lijahsbubbe]

It's not that it's only coalition allies that are being affected.

That's the part that bothers me, along with the time frame.

Let's see, checklist: batteries, water, duct tape....

[null and void]

YOU SAW what happens when utilities FAIL to do prompt and regular power line right-of-way trimming back on August 14th when lines 'sagged' into trees and line then tripped out (two specific occasions that day) ...

Terrorists - heck, trees!

Odd that a couple trees can black out darn near the entire northeast, yet all the trees blown into lines, and all the lines downed in a hurricane cause only local outages...

[_Jim]

that 2 years later that they had the juice flowing.

Real juice (sap) or electrons?

It can take time to get to the 'root' of a problem before one can 'bark' about the cure and 'leave' it for others to spread the 'green' around on ...

[Orangedog]

Thank God I'm not the only one who has noticed that!

[Orangedog]

Gee...who has the third-world power grid now?!

[_Jim]

Odd that a couple trees can black out darn near the entire northeast, yet all the trees blown into lines, and all the lines downed in a hurricane cause only local outages...

345 KV "transmisison" lines (as those were that had trouble) are capable of carrying on the order of 1200 MW - the output of a good sized power generation plant (like a nuke) or two ... most of those that are affected by trees in a hurricane are "distribution" lines are routed through neighborhoods and along main streets; thousands and thousands of these need repair after a storm and affect people locally.

The trees on Aug 14th weren't the only cause, but, it's possible the blackout would have occurred later or not at all (given all the various factors that came together at different times that day) ...

[FairOpinion]

"Yeah right! First the U.S., then London, then Sweden (I believe), now Italy. I'm putting my tin foil on right now."

====

Actually one can get pretty suspicious, no tinfoil needed.

This is just TOO much of a coincidence.

[Pro-Bush]

Yeah right! First the U.S., then London, then Sweden (I believe), now Italy. I'm putting my tin foil on right now.

I am with you on that. Oh, and don't forget the Sydney, AU outage. Something is going on here.

[tubavil]

Yeah right! First the U.S., then London, then Sweden (I believe), now Italy. I'm putting my tin foil on right now

More coincidence.

8/28 - Kassam rockets were directed to the Ashkelon power plant, per the IDF.
8/29 - London

[_Jim]

This is just TOO much of a coincidence.

AND - how many events (small to major) blackouts occur on average here in the US?

Without knowing actual numbers (facts?) how does one really appraise what's taking place?

(THIS IS another case of over-sensitization to an issue or an 'event'. Remember all the calls that PD's and FD's received about suspicious pcakages after the *real* Anthrax scare surfaced?)

[_Jim]

Something is going on here.

"Physics"

[NormsRevenge]

Italy plunged into darkness during 'White Night'

FRom the Sac Bee

Italy plunged into darkness during 'White Night'

The Associated Press
Last Updated 9:24 p.m. PDT Saturday, September 27, 2003

ROME (AP) - Power went out across Italy before dawn Sunday, plunging the nation into darkness, police and news reports said. Authorities did not immediately know the cause.

The first power outages were reported around 4 a.m. local time in Rome, where the city was celebrating an all-night festival with museums and restaurants open around the clock.

Later, the national electricity company ACEA said power was out across the nation of 57 million, the ANSA news agency said.

"As far as we know it's all across Italy," police official Franca Sesti Miraglia said in Rome.

"We don't know the cause yet," she said.

ANSA said that hundreds of people attending the all-night "White Night" festivities in Rome were stuck in subways due to the blackout. Police could not immediately confirm the report.

"We're not aware of anything really serious. There are some problems," Sesti Miraglia said, without giving details. "With the 'White Night,' there were many people out."

Italy was hit with partial power cuts in June, when people - suffering in the scorching summer - overloaded the system with air conditioners and other electricity-guzzling appliances. That was the first time in more than 20 years that the national operator of the electrical grid ordered power cuts.

Authorities have repeatedly said that power demand is growing faster than supply and that imported electricity would not make up for insufficient production in the long term.

By 6 a.m. local time (midnight EDT) power was still out, and authorities had not yet announced an explanation.

[tubavil]

Later, the national electricity company ACEA said power was out across the nation of 57 million, the ANSA news agency said.

That's significant.

[_Jim]

"Outages" in the use of over 50,000 customers or loss of over (about) 200 MW os load is required to be reported.

Here is a summary for a few select years as shown:


- - - - - -



1996
System
Disturbances

In 1996, utilities reported 29 incidents of system disturbances, demand reductions, voltage reductions, public
appeals, or unusual occurrences, seven more than were reported in 1995. These incidents are categorized as:

- Sixteen system interruptions
- Four unusual occurrences
- One demand reduction
- Two voltage reductions and public appeals
- Two voltage reductions and demand reductions
- Four voltage reductions

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

No report prepared for 1997

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

1998
System
Disturbances


In 1998, utilities reported 63 incidents of system disturbances, demand reductions, voltage
reductions, public appeals, or other occurrences. These incidents are categorized as:

- Forty-six system interruptions
- Five unusual occurrences
- One demand reduction
- Three public appeals
- Three voltage reductions
- One voltage reduction and interruption
- Four public appeals and interruptions



= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

1999
System
Disturbances


In 1999, utilities in the United States and Canada reported 36 incidents of system interruptions,
demand reductions, voltage reductions, public appeals, or unusual occurrences. These
incidents are categorized as:

- Twenty-one system interruptions
- Nine unusual occurrences (no customer interruption)
- Two public appeals
- Two public appeals and interruptions
- One public appeal and voltage reduction
- One public appeal followed by a voltage reduction and interruption



= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

2000
System
Disturbances


In 2000, utilities in the United States and Canada reported 58 incidents of system
interruptions, unusual occurrences, demand and voltage reductions, or public appeals. These
incidents are categorized as:

- Thirty-five system interruptions
- Seventeen unusual occurrences (no customer interruption)
- Two voltage reductions
- Two public appeals
- Two public appeals and system interruptions

Causes of Disturbances

Almost half (28 out of 58) of the disturbances reported to DOE
and NERC during 2000 were related to severe weather.

Personnel related actions were the cause of 12 incidents, a
statistic that the Working Group is concerned about.

The third major cause (ten incidents) of disturbances was
equipment failure, in one form or another.


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =


2001
System
Disturbances

In 2001, utilities in the United States and Canada reported 50 incidents of system
interruptions, unusual occurrences, demand and voltage reductions, or public appeals.
These incidents are categorized as:

- Twenty-five system interruptions
- Twenty-one unusual occurrences (no customer interruption)
- Two voltage reductions
- Two demand reductions

[_Jim]

power was out across the nation of 57 million

About equivalent to the NE Blackout on August 14th ...

TWICE the size of the 1965 NE Blackout ...

[PatrioticAmerican]

Our power grid is wide open. A chopper crashed into ours near my home a few years back. It was a mess. A few pounds of explosives or a gas powered cutter is all a raghead needs to do serious damage.

[Lijahsbubbe]

AND - how many events (small to major) blackouts occur on average here in the US?

We do know that the last one we had was the largest ever. As for the other countries, I don't recall seeing any news stories about failures this large (most of Italy) and in such a short time frame, and mostly coalition allies. If it's media hype, I'll be glad to be wrong, because, frankly it is unsettling.

[PatrioticAmerican]

I just reviewed our previous exchange on this subject. Greece in March. someone is practicing, IMHO.

[_Jim]

A few pounds of explosives or a gas powered cutter is all a raghead needs to do serious damage.

Not really ... most of these circuits are REDUNDANT through OTHER PATHS (since this is, after a power 'grid') if one is lost.

IT HAPPENS al the time.

The most frequent cause is lightning, not ragheads. It would take a BIG coordinated effort to have any noticable impact on the public ...

THE BIGGEST problem is the operators of the systmes themselves - like the guys who allowed the Con Ed system in New York on July 1977 to collpase ...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Hmmm... that's interesting, especially in Europe where teh headline would normally read 'Power Cut Hits France' - which is why they whine so much in their irrelevance ;0)