
A ferry boat pulls into its dock at Weehawkin, N.J., against the New York skyline on Friday. With an electrical power blackout closing most public transportation, ferries still carried passengers to and from the city. Photo by AP
A massive power blackout retreated stubbornly Friday as power officials struggled to understand why the historic outage spread in minutes through the northeastern United States and southern Canada. Lights flicked on and air conditioners restarted for some, but new problems arose as the power system struggled back to life. There were growing indications the original problem began in Ohio, rather than New York or Canada, as some had thought. In Connecticut, Gov. John G. Rowland issued an emergency plea for residents to save power Friday morning after a state transmission line fizzled. "There presently is insufficient capacity to remain a reliable power supply," John Wiltse, a spokesman for the governor, said after a transmission line that feeds southwestern Connecticut went down around 5:45 a.m.