Becky Gaylord
Plain Dealer Reporter

Saturday, August 16, 2003

The biggest blackout in U.S. history will pinch the nations economy only modestly, but for some Northeast Ohio manufacturers, the setbacks may linger for weeks.

The $10 trillion U.S. economy is so resilient that the power outages impact shouldnt shave significant growth from third-quarter output, economists predicted.

Federal tax refunds and consumer spending have fueled recent growth, and much of the productivity disrupted by the brief blackout can be made up through overtime and other measures, said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Bank in Pittsburgh. But the outages walloped some industries crucial to this region, such as steel and automotive. "For the individual companies that have problems, they are colossal," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics in Pepper Pike.

At Fords Casting Plant in Brook Park, which is the sole supplier of cast-iron engine blocks for Fords most profitable and popular trucks, the power outage caused molten metal to cool and solidify inside the furnace.

ù The only way to make the furnace operational again is to cut the metal out, which could take as long as a week, said Robert Bigge, technical director for the Iron Casting Research Institute in Columbus.

ù Officials at the plant probably figured the loss of power was temporary and learned otherwise too late to drain the furnace, he speculated.

ù Ford is still investigating the problem, said spokesman Ed Lewis, and it’s unclear how soon plants building the engines will run out of the cast-iron blocks made in Brook Park.

ù The plant, which has about 2,000 hourly workers, probably will be closed for “days ... possibly a week,” said Willie Hubbard, president of United Auto Workers Local 1250, which represents the complex.

ù At Republic Engineered Products in Lorain, the outage caused an explosion and fire that damaged a blast furnace, which creates molten iron. Republic might have to bring a second blast furnace into service, which could take three to five weeks, said Jim Kuntz, general manager of the Lorain operations.

ù Idling steel-making operations probably will lead to temporary layoffs in the basic oxygen process department, where molten iron is converted into steel, and in the casting department, where molten steel is hardened into shapes. About 250 workers are spread across those two areas, said John Willoughby, Republic’s vice president of human rela tions.

ù At steelmaker International Steel Group Inc., production was halted and won’t resume until Monday — and only if the power is back, said Bill Brake, general manager.

ù A cloud of orange, dust-laden steam hovered above ISG yesterday as the company started dumping about 1,250 tons of molten iron into two slag pits along the west side of the Cuya hoga River. The company took the steps because it couldn’t process the molten iron into steel, but it can break up and reuse the material later.

ù Luck sided with some manufacturers, however.

ù Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s chemical plant in Niagara Falls, N.Y., never lost power, said spokesman Keith Price. Generators backed up operations in Akron.

ù And while four of the company’s manufacturing plants in On tario and one in Buffalo lost power, they went down for just a few hours. Some tires in the presses will have to be scrapped. But, Price said, for Goodyear, the blackout was “pretty much a nonevent.”

ù Goodrich Corp. also got a break. The power disruption hit Cleveland and Ontario facilities that make landing gear for aircraft, but delivery times for those parts are flexible, said spokesman Gail Warner. “That one day will not harm our ability to meet deliveries.”

ù Automobile insurer Progressive Corp. counts good planning, not fate, for its smooth performance during the power crisis. Workers at the Mayfield headquarters didn’t miss a telephone call or online message, said spokeswoman Leslie Kolleda. The company used generator power for its major systems and switched calls out of Cleveland to other call centers around the country.

ù Cleveland banking company KeyCorp.’s backup systems also kicked in immediately, said Al Coppolo, an executive vice president. Telephone and Internet banking were unaffected, and call centers stayed up throughout the outage, he said. “There was absolutely no loss of data. No financial transactions were de´ layed.”

ù Some local companies, however, continued to be affected by rolling blackouts yesterday. Several, including Lincoln Electric, canceled shifts.

ù The outage strained retailers, hotels and restaurants around town, too. Sam Beniamen, owner of Samuel’s Produce, figured business at the West Side Market yesterday afternoon was down about 50 percent. “People thought that we would be closed.”

ù Many businesses said it’s too early to count the impact. “We’re not going to know until Monday for sure,” said Gary Klasen, spokesman for Eaton Corp., whose headquarters in down´ town Cleveland closed yesterday.

ù Some retailers and business owners found a silver lining in the blackout.

ù Scores of hungry people queued in front of Johnny’s Bistro Thursday night, as the eatery in downtown Cleveland fired up a large gas grill and cooked until the last light drained from the sky.

ù “It was a huge night,” said owner Joe Santosuosso. The turnout was twice that of a typical Thursday and “far exceeded our expectations.” Lured by the aroma, his customers included stranded office workers, tourists and about 20 Green Bay Packers football players in town for a game with the Browns.

ù Generators flew off the shelves at Home Depot Inc. and Target.

ù Lehman Hardware and Appli ance Inc., an hour’s drive south of Cleveland in tiny Kidron, also saw a blip in sales, said Glenda Lehman Ervin, marketing direc tor and daughter of the founder.

ù People wanted the kinds of products that don’t require electricity or batteries but that are easy to incorporate into a modern home: oil lamps, wind- up radios and hand-cranked flashlights.

ù “Electricity is unreliable,” Lehman said, and people realize after an outage that they need a backup plan. The store, which also serves local rural and Amish customers, got some calls from as far away as New York City.

ù “They’re not campers, but don’t want to be left in the dark.”

Chris Jensen, Peter Krouse, Mary Vanac and Marcia Pledger contributed to this story.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bgaylord@plaind.com, 216-999-5029