Press Release

Con Edison announced today that it has created an independent review board to oversee the company’s review of the events surrounding the power outages that occurred on Tuesday, July 6, 1999. The three-member board consists of highly respected industry experts who will review the events leading up to the outages, the performance of equipment and the response of company personnel. The board members are:

Dr. Allan Greenwood, Professor of Electric Power Engineering at Renssselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.).

Dr Greenwood is currently Phillip Sporn Professor of Engineering at RPI and former Chairman of its Electric Power Engineering Department. He has been a consultant to utilities and manufacturers on electric power technology for 40 years. His areas of expertise encompass power-switching equipment, power arcs and electric transients in power systems, on which he has written books and many papers. He is a fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Lionel O. Barthold, Chairman and Principal Consultant, Power Technologies.

Mr. Barthold is a consultant who specializes in electric power system behavior and has written extensively on this subject. He held a variety of engineering positions at General Electric, including Technical Director of GE’s Project EHV, an 800kV research center and test line. Mr. Barthold established Power Technologies, Inc. in 1969 and has previously served as President and Chairman of the Board. He is currently a consultant to PTI and several other firms. Mr. Barthold is a member of the National Academy of Engineers and a Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers as well as numerous other energy associations.

Gerald L. Wilson, Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).

Dr. Wilson, who received his undergraduate as well as graduate degrees from M.I.T., has been a member of the faculty since 1965. Dr. Wilson served as Dean of the School of Engineering at M.I.T. from 1981 to 1991. He has held many other prestigious positions during his tenure there and has written or co-authored 35 publications related to the fields of electromechanics and the electric power system area. Dr. Wilson has been involved in a number of research projects including the analysis of transformer saturation effects on EHV transmission system and the control of electric power systems under emergency conditions.

The review board members are expected to complete their analysis and provide recommendations by the end of September.