Blackout compounded by heat, power demand
NEW YORK (AP) - Ten million people without power on one of the hottest, most humid nights of the year. How could it happen just three days after the chairman of Consolidated Edison said the utility was in its best shape in 15years?
Company spokesmen blamed Wednesday night s power failure on an electrical storm that damaged transmission lines and caused a transformer to explode. But no one had an explanation for the failure of devices designed to protect Con Ed equipment from lightning.
“We don’t know why they didn t work," Joyce Tucker. Con Ed assistant vice president said of the protective devices. “There will be autopsy after autopsy after autopsy."
High-ranking company officials, including chairman Charles F. Luce, said the blackout was compounded by the severe heat and the resulting power demands which prevented other power companies from helping.
At about 8.30 p.m., as the electrical storm moved through Westchester County, north of New York City, lightning hit and damaged important transmission lines which connected Con Ed to upstate utilities, Luce said. That prevented Con Ed from drawing power from those sources.
About an hour later, lightning struck a large power transformer near Buchanan, about one-half mile from a Con Ed nuclear generating plant, starting a fire, he said. The transformer later exploded.
Transformers are used to reduce the high voltages of electricity produced by power plants and make the power more suitable for consumer needs.
• State trooper Schultz said a column of flame shot 300 feet into the air.
A resulting explosion forced the nuclear plant to shut down, increasing the load for other power plants. Con Ed officials stressed that there was no
High yesterday I.ow this morning Temperature ll a m. today High today Low tonight High tomorrow Relative humidity ll a.rn Average high this date 106 Average low this date 82 Forecast for Yuma and vicinity: Warm and sunny this afternoon Some cloudiness Friday but mostly sunny with a chance of thundershowers over nearby mountains.
Sunset 7:48 damage to the plant and no danger to nearby residents. There were no reports of injuries in the explosion. Meanwhile, at Con Ed’s control center in Manhattan, employes struggled Cf) keep power flowing to customers throughout New York City and Westchester County.
"The operators found that because other lines also had been hit, other plants were not able to operate." Lute said early today in a sidewalk interview on a darkened street. “We tried to save the day by reducing voltage by five per cent, then by 8 per cent." Customers watching television were able to follow the utility’s attempts. TV pictures wiggled, then shortened somewhat. Then screens went blank and the lights went out.
"We made selective decisions to drop loads in certain areas." Luce said. "They hardly got started when the whole system went down."