PRINTER'S NO. 2576
No. 386 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY RUBLEY, CRAHALLA, BALDWIN, BARD, BEBKO-JONES,
BUXTON, CORRIGAN, CRUZ, DENLINGER, DeWEESE, FABRIZIO,
FICHTER, FORCIER, GEIST, GODSHALL, GRUCELA, HARPER,
HENNESSEY, JAMES, LEH, LEVDANSKY, MAJOR, McCALL, MUSTIO,
ROHRER, SAINATO, SCHRODER, SHANER, E. Z. TAYLOR, WASHINGTON,
WATSON, WRIGHT, DALEY, SATHER, PICKETT, GOODMAN, FREEMAN,
BUNT, ROBERTS, KELLER, YOUNGBLOOD AND PHILLIPS,
SEPTEMBER 11, 2003
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
SEPTEMBER 11, 2003
A RESOLUTION
1 Commending the reliability of PJM Interconnection during the
2 August 14, 2003, electrical blackout in northeastern and
3 northcentral United States and in the province of Ontario,
4 Canada.
5 WHEREAS, PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission
6 organization (RTO) that coordinates the movement of more than
7 76,000 megawatts of generation capacity of wholesale electricity
8 through more than 20,000 miles of transmissions lines in all or
9 parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
10 Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia; and
11 WHEREAS, On August 14, 2003, at 4:11 p.m. a disturbance in
12 the Eastern Interconnection electric grid caused massive
13 electricity outages (blackouts) in the northeastern and
14 northcentral United States and in the province of Ontario,
15 Canada; and
1 WHEREAS, At that time, PJM customers were using 61,200
2 megawatts of power, and the disruption caused a loss of 4,500
3 megawatts within PJM's area: approximately 4,100 megawatts in
4 northern New Jersey, affecting 1 million retail customers, and
5 400 megawatts in northwestern Pennsylvania, affecting 100,000
6 retail customers; and
7 WHEREAS, Despite this disruption, 93% of the PJM area
8 remained unaffected by the outages that blanketed northeastern
9 and northcentral states in darkness, a success ratio
10 attributable to a design system that worked, automatic
11 safeguards which were in place and operators who were alert to
12 the cascading shutdowns in nearby grids; and
13 WHEREAS, PJM's president and chief executive officer, Phillip
14 G. Harris, intends to combine a thorough review of events
15 surrounding the August 14 electricity outages with an
16 examination of the reliability plans associated with the
17 evolution of energy markets in PJM service regions to formulate
18 a revised schedule for market integration; therefore be it
19 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commend PJM
20 Interconnection for its present design system, automatic
21 safeguards and alert operators which, in the aggregate,
22 minimized electrical disruption in Pennsylvania and surrounding
23 states on August 14, 2003.
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