From: dannyb@panix.com 
  
 In <407F4189.745D@worldnet.att.net> "Peter T. Daniels"  writes: 
 >> 
 >> Do you really, really, really, think that Con Ed would choose to cut off 
 >> Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center? 
  
 >No prob -- they knew they had emergency power. 
  
 hah. double hah. triple hah. The hospital complex was *royally screwed*. 
  
 If Con Ed had advance knowledge that they were going to need to shed load, 
 they'd have made a phone call to Presby 30 minutes ahead of time, asking 
 them to switch, right then and there, to onsite power. And Con Ed 
 would have made similar calls to a couple of dozen other places in 
 that region making the same request. 
  
 And also making an emergency request to people (and especially large 
 businesses and buildings with air conditioning loads) to shut down as much 
 as possible. Maybe the subway system... I'm not sure how their power gets 
 into that region. 
  
 That would have reduced the grid load by umpttity percent - possibly 
 enough to have prevented the blackout. 
  
 Con Ed didn't. They didn't have the luxury of advance knowledge. 
  
 Get over it. 
  
 >And it hasn't been called "Columbia Presbyterian" in years -- Columbia & 
 >Cornell merged their teaching hospitals long ago. 
  
 For some very loose definition of merged. And remember, also, we;re 
 talking years ago. 
  
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