connecting Niagara with Albany and New York. Almost simultaneously, connections with PJM were broken. The result of this chain reaction was the creation of several "islands" or relatively small networks isolated from the overall network. Some were deficient in generation and others had excess generation. The generators were typically unable to respond quickly enough to the changing load, resulting in massive shutdowns due to overloading of some units and overspeeding of others. The above events illustrate the potential instability problems associated with normally functioning protective devices. Fluctuating load and generation capacity on a power network alters the power distribution over the network lines and, in a complex network, the distribution resulting from such a fluctuation may be quite difficult to forecast. The more widely varying the network power distribution becomes, the more likely it is that lines may become momentarily overloaded with the potential for chain reactions similar to the Northeast blackout.
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