Posted on 02/04/2013 9:41:44 AM PST by thackney
The Super Bowl power outage on Sunday happened after electrical monitoring equipment “sensed an abnormality in the system,” according to the power provider for the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Entergy, which provides power to the Superdome, along with 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, said in a statement Monday that the change triggered a partial electrical shutdown. Entergy’s service area includes 400,000 customers in southeast Texas, including homes in Beaumont, Port Arthur, The Woodlands, Huntsville and Conroe. The only customer affected by the problem was the Superdome, Entergy spokesman Michael Burns told FuelFix.
“Shortly after the beginning of the second half of the Super Bowl in the Mercedes Benz Superdome, a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system,” Entergy said in a joint statement with stadium operator SMG. “Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue.”
The outage partially darkened the stadium when half the lights shut off and scoreboards went out throughout the arena. It caused a 34 minute delay in play that was credited with shifting momentum in Sunday night’s NFL championship game. The partial blackout was followed by an offensive surge from the San Francisco 49ers, who lost to the Baltimore Ravens in a game that came down to the final seconds.
Entergy and SMG said backup generators “kicked in immediately as designed” and that full power was restored.
It was not clear what caused the “abnormality.” CBS broadcasters initially reported that the NFL suspected a power surge was the problem.
“The fault-sensing equipment activated where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy’s feed into the facility,” the statement said.
The FBI does not suspect any kind of attack played a role int he partial blackout, Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the bureau’s New Orleans field office, told FuelFix.
“We have no indication that last night’s power outage in the dome was ever a result of a threat of terror or a cyber attack,” Romig said.
The outage occurred shortly after an energy-intensive halftime performance from Beyonce, involving light displays, video boards and fireworks.
The companies said they are still investigating the incident to determine the “root cause of the abnormality.”
“We’re conducting a root-cause analysis to determine exactly what happened,” Burns said. “We’re obviously trying to do it as quickly as possible.”
The companies said no additional issues were detected in the electrical system.
In Before the Johnny from Airplane! pic.
NO one here was surprised. You’d have to understand how completely INCOMPETENT Entergy La is. We waited 8 days after Issac for power- while convoys of repair trucks sat idle waiting for instructions. We BROILED in 90+ degrees,lost all our food and complained. Other areas served by Cleco etc were back in service in a couple of days. Entergy + N.O. lazy maintenance led to this. My question is- since Mercedes Benz now underwrites the Dome-why didn’t that company make sure it was in 100% working order,complete check of everything. They can certainly afford it.
Can’t help but think of Nicolae Ceausescu and the constant power outages throughout the 1980s in Romania.
The cynical side of me says that the NFL sanctioned the partial and temporary sabatoge because it looked like a runaway game almost from the git go. They were probably afraid many on the East Coast would shut it off and get some sleep before work on Monday morning. Bud and Coke won’t pay full price for that.
Gotta keep those eyes on the tube to see the advertisements in order to collect the ad revenue.
Nothing will come of this ‘investigation’. It will be dropped and people will forget. Sandy Hook, Benghazi, the slain Navy Seals are but a memory already...
I kept thinking of Steve from Journey.
So let me get this straight there is an investigation on a blackout - which for my part should happen during half-time. Yet no investigation on BENGHAZI.
Beyonce’s sexy halftime performance must have blown a fuse;)
I think it was the spirit of Dandy Don singing ‘Turn out the lights, the party’s over.’
I lived near Jackson, MS for a few years and Entergy tore up my front yard. After they sent some half-a$$ed help to patch up the lawn, I threatened them with court. They finally paid up.
It was merely a carbon time out period.
***Beyonce’s sexy halftime performance must have blown a fuse;)***
I did not see it but from what I’ve heard it reminds me of the treasonous Jane Fonda in BARBARELLA destroying the sex machine with the vibs she created.
Only in the chocolat city.
The Superdome probably uses a ‘smart-meter’
Anyone who's worked in a warehouse/shop area knows that if you turn out the highbay lights, even for a moment, it'll be 20 minutes before they'll come back on. The bulbs have to cool off before they'll restart. That's one reason they're probably not installed in newer buildings.
I wonder if the reports that say a “power surge” was the problem are simply using that term becuase the people who know what happened think the rest of the populace is too ignorant to understand what actually happened.
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