Yankee incompetence blew the circuit breaker?

Although the precise source of the massive power outage that affected 50 million people is still not known, it most probably originated in one of the northern border states of the U.S. or possibly in Canada. Attention, according to NPR, is being focussed on areas of the electrical transmission grid that circle around Lake Erie in Ohio or upstate New York.

As DU has numerous threads criticizing the South on various matters today, I wish to open a thread to criticize Northern incompetence at managing complex regional electrical transmission systems.

In the South, the Democratic administration of FDRoosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority, which was in effect, a 'socialized power grid' aimed at rural electrification for persons living in the Upper Piedmont and lower Appalachian regions. The TVA has been lauded, even in country music. The TVA power grid did not fail during this last outage, nor during numerous thunderstorms that have occurred in the region this summer. In addition, the large-corporate private-sector power systems owned by the Southern Company in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi have not failed. Also, numerous small electrical cooperatives located in rural areas have not experienced failures.

There are many good engineering schools in Dixie, including Georgia Tech, NC State and Vanderbilt. Could these schools perhaps send up a few engineers competent to fix some Northern incompetence on the shores of Lake Erie? :evilgrin:

If I were to say, "damn Yankees, hope they just sit there in their blackout and secede from the Union for electing Rick Santorum and Rudy Guiliani" (and I don't feel that way) there would be a huge uproar. It is far more accepted when the statement is reversed.