DWP HEAD ISSUES APOLOGY BLACKOUT SHOWS SYSTEM WEAKNESSES.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

In a public apology to Los Angeles residents, Department of Water and Power officials said Thursday the massive blackout that disrupted the lives of 2 million people last week was the result of a series of mistakes that have exposed weaknesses in the system.

In a report to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council, DWP General Manager Ron Deaton estimated the power outage cost the utility more than $600,000 in damaged equipment and lost revenue. There was no estimate of the losses suffered by businesses and individuals because of the massive blackout.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Sept. 12, shutting down businesses, stalling elevators and causing massive traffic jams from the San Fernando Valley to South Los Angeles for more than an hour.

``On behalf of the LADWP, I apologize to the citizens of Los Angeles for any inconvenience this outage may have caused,'' Deaton wrote. ``It was an unfortunate event. ... It also gives us a humbling insight into the procedures that must be improved and helps us better prepare for a major disaster.''

Villaraigosa said he was troubled by the report's findings.

``I commend the department's employees for quickly restoring the power system, (but) I am deeply concerned about the multiple errors that led to such an event,'' said Villaraigosa, who had requested the report.

In its report, DWP said the outage occurred when a worker performing a modernization upgrade at the Toluca Lake facility accidentally cut two wires before power to them had been cut off. This caused a short-circuit and a cascading shutdown of power plants designed to protect the system from overloading.

The report said the problem began with inadequate plans that were given to the workers cutting the wires, as well as the process used to test the lines to determine when they can be safely cut.

All similar modernization work has been halted until new procedures are in place, the report said.

The report said the city needs to review all training programs, re- examine its design review of all engineering to provide for closer scrutiny, provide clearer drawings and instructions to workers, update communication between workers, and develop a better breaker system to keep power lines separate.

It also said the city needs to review the emergency communications process within the agency as well as with the Emergency Operations Center, large users and the public. It said the city should consider additional back-up power generation and traffic signal equipment that will continue to work in an outage.

But Councilman Tony Cardenas, chairman of the City Council's Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee overseeing the DWP, said the report is thin on details and solutions.

``We heard that when this happened, the field personnel asked for guidance and were told to fix it, without any idea if they knew what to do,'' Cardenas said.

``Apparently, they didn't because half the city was plunged into darkness. We were lucky that there were no injuries, but we have to make sure we have protocols in place (so) that it doesn't happen again.''

Brian D'Arcy, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 representing DWP workers, said problems at the utility also include a confusing contract-award process and the loss of skilled workers.

``What's kind of funny is the DWP is known for over-engineering everything,'' D'Arcy said. ``But the truth is this power outage could have as easily been caused by a rodent chewing through lines as from the power lines being cut because the lines are so close together.''

D'Arcy said the agency was trying to save money by having lines immediately adjacent to one another rather than in separate housings.

D'Arcy also said the outage demonstrated the need for the utility to have trained field inspectors, many of whom have left in recent years as the utility it has cut its work force.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

POWER OUTAGE PREVENTION

The DWP report offers a series of recommendations, including:

--Reviewing internal and external communication protocol and equipment.

--Evaluating procedures for communicating with customers, Emergency Operations Center, city officials and the news media.

--Reviewing emergency requirements, including backup power and traffic-signal equipment that can operate independently.

--Working with large business customers to develop mitigation systems.

--Implementing design review of all engineering work.

--Modifying training programs.

--Identifying vulnerable locations.

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POWER OUTAGE PREVENTION (see text)