Actually, what he said is plausible.
Blackouts occur because the DEMAND exceeds the CAPACITY of a power plant because of a DISRUPTION in supply.
When that happens, utilities INTENTIONALLY shut down their generators, either manually or automatically, to prevent DAMAGE to their equipment.
Except that there were all of these SAFEGUARDS and REDUNDANCIES built in after 1977 to prevent this from happening again.
Unless one knows the EXACT spot to cause the disruption.