Professor analyzes Florida blackouts

An investigation is being led into how a single switch and a fire at a substation led to massive blackouts across Florida. Vijay Vittal, electrical engineering professor, says federal guidelines require electrical grids be able to maintain capacity even when one single system goes down, such as a substation, a protection needed to prevent cascading blackouts. But once the reactors shut down, as demand began exceeding power output, the lights started going out across the state. "Just the fire and the switch alone were probably not the cause of such a large outage," says Vittal.Article source: Florida Times-Union