One of the reasons the report is long but not conclusive about
many issues is that it is report 1 of 2. The goal is to put out what information is currently available and the preliminary conclusions,
then invite public comment and suggestions about additional
research/forensic avenues.
Take a look back at Chapter 4 of the report. They go into fair detail about the immediate causes of the cascade, and indicate that there is no indication that this was a result of sabotage. Trust me, from the people I have talked to, malice has not been completely ruled out. It simply does not appear to have been a necessary component. Therefore, it is strongly discounted.
I'm looking forward to finishing my review of the report and seeing part 2 as it develops. Looks like there is some good network reliability research to be done in this arena.
Charley
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Charles Hamilton, PhD EIT Faculty Fellow
Department of Civil and Phone: 949.824.3752
Environmental Engineering FAX: 949.824.2117
University of California, Irvine Email: chamilto@uci.edu