Mississippi Power monitors blackout in Northeast

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Aug. 15, 2003
Kurt Brautigam, Mississippi Power spokesman, said the situation in the northeast is being examined closely.
Although the national electric grid allows for movement from one region of the country to another, he said there are also built-in safeguards that will eventually isolate a problem that may be making its way through the system.
From early news reports, he said the problem appeared to originate in a major equipment failure of some kind. He also said it will be interesting to see how quickly power is restored.
Had a major disruption happened closer to this region, Brautigam said, the state could have experienced similar power outages.