The failure in the article WAS a cascading event. The cause was indeed a software failure, that was triggered by a tree branch. That does not change the fact that the event was a cascading event.der Teufel wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:47 pm It's probably more accurate to say that grid failures CAN be cascading events. The article above says the real cause was a software bug that prevented operators from knowing they needed to redistribute the load.
The blackout's proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of FirstEnergy, an Akron, Ohio–based company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. What should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into the collapse of much of the Northeast regional electricity distribution system.