Please note: Documents cited on this Web site may be offered in several formats. To view PDF documents, a free viewer is available for download from Adobe Acrobat.

Web Resources

• How Power Grids Work (from How Stuff Works)
• Electric Power Industry Overview (Energy Information Administration)
• US Power Grids (EERE Distributed Energy Resources)
• Other Major Power Outages
• Glossary of Terms (North American Electric Liability Council) [PDF Format: 163 KB/ 20 p.]
• Blackouts: Safety Information (American Red Cross)
• Industry Organizations
• Government Resources

Image courtesy of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Click image to enlarge.

Night view of Northeastern US and southern Canada showing concentrations of light seven hours after the beginning of the August 14, 2003, blackout.

View image 20 hours before power blackout.

Further Reading

Amy Abel and Larry Parker. Electricity: the Road to Restructuring (CRS Issue Brief for Congress) Updated August 12, 2003. 19 p. [PDF Format: 392 KB/ 19 p.]

Amy Abel. Government Activities To Protect the Electric Grid (CRS Report for Congress) October 20, 2004. 6 p. [PDF Format: 40 KB/ 6 p.]

Stoft, Steven. Power system economics : designing markets for electricity. Piscataway, NJ : IEEE Press ; New York : Wiley-Interscience, 2002. 468 p.    Catalog record

Jamison, Mark A. Industry structure and pricing : the new rivalry in infrastructure. Boston : Kluwer Academic, c2000. 207 p.    Catalog record

IEEE journals include many articles relating to electric power systems, including the following:

• William Sweet, "Restructuring the thin-stretched grid," in IEEE Spectrum, June 2000, pp. 43-49.
  Publisher's Abstract     Catalog record
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• Massoud Amin, "Toward self-healing energy infrastructure systems," in IEEE Computer Applications in Power, January 2001, pp. 20-28.
  Publisher's Abstract     Catalog record
  
  
• "Power system basics for business professionals in our industry," in IEEE Power & Energy, January-February 2003, pp. 16-20.
  Publisher's Abstract    Catalog record

Search the Library of Congress catalog for more resources

The following linked subject headings display entries from the Library of Congress Online Catalog that appear under the heading. The subject headings listed below are just a sample of the subject headings available on this topic. Additional works in the Library of Congress may be identified by searching the Online Catalog. Please be aware that during periods of heavy use you may encounter delays in accessing the catalog.

• demand-side management (electric utilities)
• distributed generation of electric power
• electric industries
• electric lines
• electric power
• electric power consumption
• electric power distribution
• electric power failures
• electric power plants

• electric power production
• electric power system stability
• electric power systems
• electric power transmission
• electric utilities
• energy policy
• emergency power supply
• interconnected electric utility systems
• total energy systems (on-site electric power production)

Electric power substation with power lines.

Subscription databases covering resources in business, economics, and industry are available to researchers onsite at the Library of Congress. Included in these resources is Standard and Poor's NetAdvantage, which includes the full text of the "Electric Utilities Industry Survey."

• Examples Of Major Bulk Electric System Power Outages (NERC)
• System Disturbances Reports (North American Electric Liability Council

• Electric Power Research Institute
  
  EPRI is a non-profit energy research consortium which conducts research for the electric power industry. The results of its activities are published in its journal EPRI Journal Online
• 
  
  
• North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC)
• 
  
  NERC is a not-for-profit corporation comprised of members from major segments of the electric industry including investor-owned utilities; federal power agencies; rural electric cooperatives; state, municipal and provincial utilities; independent power producers; power marketers; and end-use customers. NERC sets and monitors compliance with standards for the "the reliable operation and planning of the bulk electric system."

• Energy Information Administration (U.S. Dept. of Energy)

• Includes information and statistics related to electricity supply, demand, prices, future trends and details on generation facilities.

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

• FERC is an independent regulatory agency overseeing the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity, licenses and inspects private, municipal, and state hydroelectric projects; oversees environmental matters related to natural gas and hydroelectricity projects and major electricity policy initiatives; and administers accounting and financial reporting regulations and conduct of regulated companies.

• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

• Among this agency's responsibilities is the Distributed Energy and Reliability Program. The web site includes links to consumer information and the industrial technology program.

• THOMAS:Legislative Information on the Internet

• Search THOMAS for federal legislative information by bill number, Public Law number, subject, committee, or report number.

We wish to acknowledge the usefulness of the resources cited in Gary Price's The Resource Shelf (August 15, 2003) in preparing this guide.