September 2011 Southwest Blackout Event
On May 1, 2012, FERC and NERC issued a joint report on the September 8, 2011 Southwest Blackout Event. On the afternoon of September 8, 2011, an 11-minute system disturbance occurred in the Pacific Southwest, leading to cascading outages and leaving approximately 2.7 million customers without power. The outages affected parts of Arizona, southern California, and Baja California, Mexico. All of the San Diego area lost power, with nearly 1.5 million customers losing power, some for up to 12 hours. The disturbance occurred near rush hour, on a business day, snarling traffic for hours. Schools and businesses closed, some flights and public transportation were disrupted, water and sewage pumping stations lost power, and beaches were closed due to sewage spills. Millions went without air conditioning on a hot day.

The joint inquiry focused on determining the causes of the blackout and on the steps utilities could take to improve their performance in maintaining grid reliability.

 
  
  
  
AZOutage_Report_01MAY12.pdfFERC/NERC Staff Report on the September 8, 2011 Southwest Blackout Event 9/8/2011
Maher_letter_NERC_Comments_on_WECC_Prelim_report_09132012.pdfNERC Comments on WECC Preliminary Response to the "Arizona-Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011" Report 9/8/2011
PR_AZOutage01MAY12_News_Release.pdfNews Release - FERC-NERC September 2011 Outage Report Calls for Improved Planning 9/8/2011
REMG-Ltr_wth_attachement1-06-05-12.pdfD. Nevius letter to Regional Entity Executives - Follow up actions for September 8, 2011 Southwestern Blackout 9/8/2011
WECC Response to Sept 8 version08312012 (2).pdfWECC Preliminary Response to the "Arizona-Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011" Report 9/8/2011
WECC_July_26_2012.pdfGerry Cauley Response WECC - July 26, 2012 9/8/2011
WECC_Response_to_the_Arizona-Southern_California_Outages_on_September_8_2011_Repor.pdfWECC Response to the "Arizona-Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011" Report 9/8/2011