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WASHINGTON - An Ohio utility at the center of the investigation into last week's widespread blackout says its high-voltage line failures could not have triggered the event, claiming there were numerous unusual power swings elsewhere in the Midwest hours earlier. The claim could not be confirmed late Sunday by independent sources. Engineers at another Midwestern utility reported no such unusual grid fluctuations, said an official at that company, who spoke only on condition of anonymity. Officials at FirstEnergy Corp., the company whose power line problems have been cited as key in the blackout investigation, sought to go on the offensive...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Ohio utility under intense scrutiny in the biggest blackout in the nation's history said Sunday there were problems, including strange voltage fluctuations, in the Midwest power grid hours before its transmission lines failed. "What happened ... is much more complex than a few tripped power lines in our system," said Todd Schneider, a spokesman for FirstEnergy Corp., which went on the offensive Sunday after being targeted by investigators. He said that some of the unusual power conditions occurred "as early as noon" - more than three hours before FirstEnergy's high-voltage lines, which have been the focus...

The Talk Shows Sunday, August 17th, 2003 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI) and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): California gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante (D) and Bill Simon; and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and Michel R. Gent, president of the North American Electric Reliability Council. THIS WEEK (ABC): Reps. Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO) and W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA); and...

WASHINGTON (AP)--The failure of three transmission lines in northern Ohio was the likely trigger of the nation's biggest power blackout, a leading investigator said Saturday. Experts are working to understand why the disruption spread throughout the Northeast and Midwest and into Canada, and was not contained. ``We are fairly certain'' that the problem started in Ohio, said Michehl Gent, head of the North American Electric Reliability Council. ``We are now trying to determine why the situation was not brought under control.'' Gent said the transmission system was designed to isolate problems such as those apparently involving the three lines in...

Ohio Lines Failed Before Blackout By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA The events that led to Thursday's blackout began when several high-voltage transmission lines near Cleveland failed, investigators said yesterday. The utility that owns the lines said an alarm that should have alerted controllers to the shutdowns also failed. The line failures — including one triggered by contact with a tree — began at 3:06 p.m., 65 minutes before a wide swath of the United States and Canada lost power, said Michehl R. Gent, president of the North American Electric Reliability Council, the power industry group that is investigating the blackout. It is...

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- The effort to nail down the source of the massive blackout turned Saturday to northern Ohio, where the power system is operated by FirstEnergy Corp., the nation's fourth-largest investor owned utility.Akron-based FirstEnergy has 16 power plants and an annual revenue of more than $12 billion, with a service area that stretches from Ohio to New Jersey.The company is accustomed to scrutiny.Its Davis-Besse nuclear plant east of Toledo has been shut down since February 2002, when it was closed for maintenance. A month later, a leak was found that had allowed boric acid to eat nearly through...

AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. today provided additional information on the status of its electrical system before and during the widespread power outage in the Northeast U.S. and Southern Canada that began on Thursday afternoon, August 14, 2003. Immediately following the outage, FirstEnergy's primary concern was restoring service to its 1.4 million affected customers. With service restored, the company is accumulating data and evaluating the status of its electrical system prior to and during the outage event. While it will take time for FirstEnergy and all affected utilities to complete this process, the company can report the...