If power can go out in NY and the rest of the Northeast for 12-24 hours, it can go out in parts of Greece for 1-3 hours. It happens, especially when someone mismanages the system. Besides that, they have plans for keeping the games running smooth. Check out this info:
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He also noted that five additional electrical substations plan to go into operation next month to lower the chances of power spikes. Substations are electrical facilities where the voltage of incoming circuits is controlled and the current is distributed to other lines.
The Athens Olympic Organizing Committee, meanwhile, gave assurances that generators would allow the games to proceed even if there's another big outage. It said protections are in place for everything crucial to the games, including timers and broadcasting equipment.
"A similar incident would not affect the competition schedule and the broadcasting of the games," the committee said of the outage.
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However, Sioufas said, "the cut was not due a lack of power, but mainly due to mismanagement of the high-voltage grid."
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The power company has been maintaining high water reserves for its hydroelectric plants and plans to buy extra electricity from neighboring Bulgaria if needed during the games.
It also has a plan to redistribute power from the provinces to Athens — an action that was taken Monday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=7&u=/ap/20040712/ap_on_re_eu/greece_blackout