More blackouts are likely in Moscow's electricity system because of badly equipped substations, the head of a parliamentary probe into the recent major power outage in Moscow said on Friday.
Top deputy Vladimir Pekhtin quoted by Reuters said "electricity equipment stands on a lot of damaged foundations and constructions." Speaking of the Chagino substation in Moscow region whose failure is blamed for the blackout, he said, "there are substations in a worse condition than this one, so we can expect more trouble."
On May 25, several parts of Moscow and neighboring Tula and Kaluga regions were left without electricity. The head of Moscow's main electricity supplier (Mosenergo), Arkady Yevstafyev, left his office. Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the power monopoly Unified Energy System led by Anatoly Chubais over the outage.
Officials said the outage was caused by a fire at the aging Chagino substation and there was no evidence of a terrorist attack despite a claim by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev that it was the result of an attack by his men. |