Brown: More Regulation Key To Fixing 'Brittle' Calif. Power Grid
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The governor of California said Friday a massive power outage that left a wide swath of California in the dark is proof positive of the state's "brittle" power system.
KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports Gov. Jerry Brown is calling for more resources and tighter regulation to help ensure the lights stay on the next time an outage occurs.
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"Brittle power means it's easy to break," the governor said in a phone interview. "We're in this brave new world here, and we're going to have make the investments and the regulatory efforts."
Brown underscored how tightly interconnected the system currently is and what can be done to add redundancy.
And it's not only the state power grid that's vulnerable: the state water supply and other critical infrastructure still remains vulnerable to system overload, Brown said.
The outage, which extended as far south as Mexico and as far north as southern Orange County, affected a region home to 6 million people, though officials can't estimate just exactly how many had lost power, the Associated Press reported.
While the cause of the outage on Wednesday is still under investigation, Brown wants residents to stay vigilant of man-made threats as well.
"We are vulnerable, and people should never forget it," he said.
