Blackouts hit thousands as generators fail

Hundreds of thousands of people were hit by electricity blackouts yesterdaywhen seven power stations shut down. The unscheduled stoppages were regardedas an unprecedented sign of the fragility of Britain’s power infrastructure.

Operations were cancelled, people were stuck in lifts, traffic lights failedand fire engines were sent out on false alarms. Householders were unable touse any appliances or make phonecalls as the blackouts hit areas includingCleveland, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and London.

It was unclear last night why the power stations had failed. As the cutsescalated, the National Grid was forced to issue the most serious possiblewarning — “demand control imminent” — and urged suppliers to providelower-voltage electricity to meet demand.

Energy suppliers affected by the shutdown, including British Energy and EON,said that they could not reveal the reasons for the cuts, nor would they saywhen some disrupted stations might resume service, because disclosure couldaffect the wholesale price of electricity.