Energy Blame Game: Sound Familiar?

Officials in Athens Greece--home to the Summer Olympics in one month's time--are sounding alot like, well, officials in California three years ago when facing summertime blackouts:

A blackout hit Athens a month before the Olympics, but the government brushed off Monday's hour-long disruption as a glitch and said there was more than enough electricity to power the summer Games.

Trains, trolley buses and the subway system ground to a halt between 1 p.m. (6 a.m. EDT) and 2 p.m., and the city's fire department received more than 500 calls to rescue people trapped in elevators. By evening, power had returned to more than 99 percent of Athens.

The government promised an investigation into the cause of the blackout. Asked by reporters who was to blame, Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said: "We have set up a committee to look into the issue."...

Local media speculated that a surge in air conditioner use during a heat wave over the last few days may have triggered the blackout and blamed state electricity utility PPC for mismanaging the network.

But a source in PPC pointed the finger at miscalculations by the Hellenic Transmission System Operator (DESMIE), the agency responsible for maintaining a balance between production and consumption of electricity.

The source said large parts of the network were hit by a domino-like shutdown as DESMIE tried to cope with the high demand for electricity. Officials at DESMIE said they would issue a statement later.

The blackout also disrupted the water supply and stranded trains. Passengers were forced to walk along tracks and walkways to get to the nearest stations.

Olympic officials are confident that their venues will not be impacted--probably because they have set up a separate system--but if the City around them is in darkness, will it matter if they're able to keep time on the 100-meter dash?