CONSUMER ENERGY COUNCIL OF AMERICA ADDRESSES NORTHEAST BLACKOUT

www.cecarf.org
For Immediate Release:
August 14, 2003

Contact: Ellen Berman or Peggy Welsh
202-659-0404

WASHINGTON, D.C.: "Today's Northeast outage has caused grievous harm to the nation's consumers, including loss of public services and productivity, negative public health consequences, and severe disruption to consumers' lives" says Ellen Berman, President of the Consumer Energy Council of America (CECA).

"The cascading power outages hitting the Northeast United States and Canada clearly demonstrate the fragile nature of the nation's electric transmission system. There is an urgent need to allocate resources and technological expertise to the task of upgrading our nation's transmission and distribution system. Only in this way will it be flexible enough to handle the increasing requirements of consumers as well as be fortified against future blackouts."

CECA recently conducted a major investigation of the nation's electric power system that identified significant weaknesses in the infrastructure. In its report, Positioning the Consumer for the Future: A Roadmap to an Optimal Electric Power System, released in April 2003, CECA predicted that blackouts such as today's would occur unless corrective actions are taken. CECA warned, "Failure to achieve the necessary improvements in the transmission infrastructure will do irrevocable harm to the nation's global competitiveness, its ability to meet societal and national security needs, and the ability to maintain an acceptable quality of life."

Ms. Berman continued, "The massive cost of this power failure will fall on the shoulders of consumers and businesses across our nation. In contrast, strategic investment in the transmission system will not only pay for itself in reducing future economic loss, but will do so while avoiding the serious disruptions of unexpected blackouts like the one today."

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CECA is the senior public interest organization in the United States focusing on the energy, telecommunications and other network industries that provide essential services to consumers. A leading national and international resource for policy information and analysis, CECA has three decades of experience building consensus among stakeholders and developing policy that serves the consumer's interest.