U.S.-Canadian Task Force to Hold Public Meetings on August Power Blackout

WASHINGTON The U.S.-Canadian Power System Outage Task Force is holding a series of public meetings on the Task Force's Interim Report regarding the Aug. 14 blackout that affected an estimated 50 million people in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the Canadian province of Ontario. The report is available online at https://reports.energy.gov/.

On Nov. 19, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham presented the Interim Report and announced that, as part of Phase Two of the Task Force Investigation, a series of public forums in the affected areas of both countries would be held to give the public an opportunity to comment on the Interim Report's findings and present ideas for improving the reliability of our electric infrastructure and preventing future blackouts.

After this process, the Task Force will issue a final report containing recommendations for improving the electric system and for any appropriate follow-up.

Individuals will be allowed five minutes to present their concerns before the panel, which will include James W. Glotfelty, the Director of the newly formed Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution at the U.S. Department of Energy and Dr. Nawal Kamel, Special Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources in Canada.

Registration to speak begins at 8 a.m. The meetings will begin promptly at 9 a.m. with limited seating. A computer station for entering comments will also be available on-site.

The meetings will be held as follows:

-- Dec. 4, 2003

Renaissance Cleveland, 24 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio 44113

-- Dec. 5, 2003

Park Central Hotel, 870 Seventh Avenue, New York City, New York 10019

-- Dec. 8, 2003

Westin Harbor Castle, Corner of Queens Quay and Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario

The public may also submit comments and recommendations to the Task Force electronically or by mail. Electronic submissions may be sent to poweroutage(At)nrcan.gc.ca or blackout.report(At)hq.doe.gov.

Paper submissions may be sent by mail to:

-- Dr. Nawal Kamel, Special Adviser to the Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada, 21st Floor, 580 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4

-- Mr. James W. Glotfelty, Director, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20585

CONTACT: Tom Welch of the Energy Department, 202-586-580

U.S. Newswire via COMTEX