On this first anniversary of the Canada-U.S. power system outage, I would like to take the opportunity to comment on what happened a year ago and on the progress that has been made in improving the reliability of our interconnected electricity system. The power outage of August 14, 2003, left 50 million people significantly inconvenienced and, in some cases, in serious distress. Communications were disrupted, industry shut down, traffic was snarled, elevators stopped, air conditioners quit, stores and businesses had to close, and hospitals and other vital institutions were forced to use back-up generation. Emergency workers on both sides of the border worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of our citizens. The day after the power outage, the governments of Canada and the United States acted quickly to establish the Canada-U.S. Power System Outage Task Force. The mandate of the Task Force was to identify the causes of the outage and to make recommendations to improve electricity reliability. After extensive research, the Task Force released its Interim Report on the power outage in the fall of 2003. The report indicated that the outage started in Ohio and then cascaded into other U.S. states as well as Ontario. This cascading effect underscored the fact that our electricity systems are linked, and that Canada and the United States, industry, provinces and states must cooperate to ensure these systems are reliable. The Final Report of the Task Force, released on April 5, 2004, contains recommendations for improving the reliability of our electricity systems and reducing blackout risk. Good practices already exist in Canada, and provide a solid base upon which to build. Before the Final Report was issued, both our governments, the North American Electric Reliability Council and the electricity industry acted to address direct causes of the power outage, make institutional changes to strengthen North America's reliability infrastructure, develop new reliability standards where needed, and improve monitoring and ensure compliance with these standards. More work still needs to be done, and the Task Force will continue for another year to oversee implementation of the recommendations. Conservation measures and the increased use of renewable and alternative energy sources will continue to be important ways to meet our future electricity needs. The Government of Canada is working cooperatively with the provinces and territories, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy, to ensure that residential and business consumers, and the economies of our two countries, continue to benefit from our linked systems. I must commend the members of the Task Force for their level of commitment. Governments, government agencies, provinces, states and the electricity industry all worked toward a shared goal. The Government of Canada will continue the remarkable bilateral Canada-U.S. effort with all of our industry and government partners, north and south of the border, to sustain a robust and reliable electricity system that meets the needs of all Canadians. For more information, media may contact: Tim ChurchOffice of the Minister Natural Resources CanadaOttawa(613) 996-2007 Ghyslain CharronMedia RelationsNatural Resources CanadaOttawa(613) 992-4447 The following media backgrounder is also available: First Anniversary of the Power Outage
