Massive Blackout Prompts Changes at MISO

- Some engineers in Carmel are getting more power to watch the supply of electricity across the Midwest. The change comes in response to the big blackout that darkened almost a fourth of the entire country last year.

The August blackout's effects didn't reach Indianapolis, but it forced a little-known company in Carmel to make some changes.

It's like "mission control" for the country's power grid. All of the multi-colored lines on the computer screens at Midwest ISO are paths for electricity, crossing invisible state and corporate boundaries.

"We're actually monitoring the high voltage system from Michigan to Kentucky to Manitoba, and down through Kansas and everywhere in between," said David Zwergel, director of reliability.

A new grid display doesn't just show where the power is, but how much power is being used at any one time. The information is updated every few seconds. Officials expect the workers can keep outages isolated until the problems can be repaired.

More than 20 workers watch the grid around the clock at the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operations building. The facility has generated dozens of new jobs and invested several million dollars in the Carmel area. But keeping the lights on is what the center's really all about.

"There are a lot of things involved in sewing together a garment that had never been put together before,” said Patrick Wood, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"I mean, I think the utilities here have done a pretty good job of keeping the transmission system up and running, but we will make sure it's reliable from the overall perspective, so a system in another state or another area isn't going to have a negative impact on Indiana,” said James Torgerson, MISO chairman.

One of the lessons electric utility managers learned from the massive August 14th blackout was that state lines don't matter. Millions were left in the dark from New York to Michigan as power outages struck one city after another.

Control room workers can now look at these screens and know just how to find the trouble spots. Plus, the workers can keep them from spreading. The electrical switching system monitors the power flow that affects 120 million households.

If you live in Indiana, these are the people making sure the electricity stays on in your home.