,After the Blackout: Achieving a Cleaner, More Reliable Electric System

After the Blackout: Achieving a Cleaner, More Reliable Electric System


 

Publication Date: September 2003

Publisher:

Author(s): Tony Dutzik; Rob Sargent

Research Area: Energy

Keywords: electricity generation; reliability

Type: Report

Abstract:

The Northeast blackout of 2003 showed yet again that today's cumbersome, centralized power grid linked to fossil fuel-fired and nuclear power plants is a costly, unreliable and environmentally destructive anachronism. After the Blackout, a paper issued three weeks after the blackout cut power to 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada, distills the lessons of the blackout and calls for the creation of a decentralized, resilient and consumer-focused electric system that taps the nation's ample potential for energy efficiency, clean renewable power, and distributed generation.