As in New York, so also in Pennsylvania, the western half of Michigan, Ontario, all trying to “island” themselves from Ohio and its great energy sink. This process of islanding, or decoupling one’s local grid from the system as a whole, is not easy given the current organization and size of our interconnections. And though it was a wise protective measure (in 2003 islanding kept a great many power plants and power lines in New York State from being destroyed by massive swings in voltage), it also caused the blackout in that state.
