More than 600 million people in India got their power back Wednesday after three electricity grids collapsed, effecting 20 of 28 states in the world's second most populous country. The nightmare scenario has left some asking: Could what happened in India happen here?
The exact reasons for the India outages are not yet known, but Indian Power Secretary P. Uma Shankar tells the Wall Street Journal that the blackout could have resulted from some states drawing more than their quota of power from the grid. Most experts agree that it’s unlikely a power loss of that magnitude could happen on U.S. soil, however, the power grid has not had a major overhaul since the 1970’s. Most of the U.S. grid was put in place between the 1930s and 1970s. At minimum, its 40 years old.
On "Real News" Wednesday the panel broke down the vulnerabilities in U.S. electric infrastructure, and whether it is a cause that can bring a bipartisan call to government to act: