What Should We Learn From The Ontario Blackout of 2003.

The electricity blackout of 2003 was a reminder of how dependent we are on technology and how vulnerable we are to serious consequences of technology failures. Although advancements in technology have positive effects on our lives, we must include their possible failure in our emergency planning as we do for floods, fires, pandemics et cetera.

How do we mitigate the consequences of power failures? Making sure that we have battery operated lighting and other equipment, independent generators, and water and food supplies not requiring power to access or prepare, are obvious examples.

Although conservation efforts may not prevent an outage they would reduce the probability of one in part by reducing the load on transmission lines. More efficient appliances would also lessen demands on limited generators and fuel supplies during a blackout.

By building green generation capacity locally and linking it to essential services so that they could function off-grid would reduce the impact of a power failure. The added insurance of local power generation, especially during emergency situations, would make these electrical plants more economically attractive. More sources of power generation may help improve the operation of the electrical grid and reduce the risk of a system failure.

These factors provide us with additional reasons for developing green energy projects in addition to;
-They can stimulate the economy and reduce our carbon footprint.
-They would give back savings to mitigate the debt loads associated with stimulus spending.
-By helping to control utility costs they would contribute to keeping our local businesses competitive.-They would be one step in learning to live in the “Post Expansion Age”.

Fred Twilley