U.K. Blackout: One Lightning Strike Sparks a Cascade of Probes
- Regulator kicks off inquiry on back of National Grid analysis
- Once-in-a-decade blackout disrupted hospitals, trains, homes
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The lightning strike that triggered Britain’s biggest blackout in more than a decade has also spawned a flurry of investigations by groups ranging from the government to railway operators.
National Grid Plc’s preliminary report published by the regulator Ofgem on Tuesday indicated that lightning was the initial cause for the Aug. 9 event. That quelled some of the early blame in the national press that the blackout was due to the variability of wind farms, a symbol of the country’s increasingly diversified electricity system.