BLACKOUT FALLOUT: As I write this at 4 pm, the lights seem to be back on in most of greater Cleveland -- at least intermittently -- but people are still boiling water or picking it up from the National Guard. And it looks like nobody got killed driving home through blacked-out intersections. But among the questions emerging from this incident, here's one for the top of the local list: Why wasn't backup power available for the City's own water pumping stations and traffic lights?

Hospitals were able to use their emergency backup systems. So did Hopkins Airport, which reportedly had air traffic control back in operation by 8 pm. So did most radio stations... but not the City's Divisions of Water and Traffic Engineering.

This is especially puzzling because the City has its own electric utility, complete with engineers, expert system operators and line crews. Cleveland Public Power has spent more than $50 million on expansion since 1990. In recent years, CPP has also invested a fair amount to improve the reliability of its older transmission stations and distribution lines. But as many customers learned last night, none of that really matters if the power you're distributing suddenly cuts off, and you have no alternative source to turn to.

Why CPP hasn't done something in the last twenty years to rebuild its own generating capacity is a topic for another day. But at the very least, you would think the City utility could have taken steps to create backup power for the City's own vital facilities.

Wouldn't you?