250
seCurity and PrivaCy in smart Grids
Although the software bug triggered this blackout, the U.S.-Canada
Power System Outage Task Force report
14
listed four major causes for
the blackout:
1. FirstEnergy (FE) and its reliability council “failed to assess
and understand the inadequacies of FEs system, particularly
with respect to voltage instability and the vulnerability of the
Cleveland-Akron area, and FE did not operate its system
with appropriate voltage criteria” (page 17).
2. FirstEnergy “did not recognize or understand the deteriorat-
ing condition of its system” (page 17).
3. FirstEnergy “failed to manage adequately tree growth in its
transmission rights-of-way” (page 17).
4. ere was “failure of the interconnected grids reliabil