"People didn't realize it was a major blackout."

Mr. Wright noted that the last two major blackouts, in 1965 and 1977, occurred under highly regulated systems.

Disruptions of this magnitude had not been seen in the subways since the last major blackout, in 1977, officials said.

A major blackout led to days and days of looting.

The next major blackout, in 1977, was limited to a much smaller area, primarily New York City.

And just like every major blackout, it raised a lot of questions about how the power-distribution system works.

But none would argue that we've eliminated the risk of another major blackout.

Trees falling on the line in 2003 caused a major blackout in Italy.

Human error is at least partly responsible for the major blackouts (affecting more than 500,000 people) that happen about three times each year.

New York is seen as a far different, and more orderly, place since the last major blackout, in 1977.