By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — While the NFL and officials in New York and New Jersey say they will do everything they can to prevent another power outage at the Super Bowl, energy experts warn it's almost impossible to guarantee the lights will stay on at any event, let alone the cold-weather championship game at MetLife Stadium in 2014.

University of Pittsburgh energy expert Dr. Gregory Reed said the cost of backing up every system at any stadium would be exorbitant, and the best that stadium operators can do is to examine the power systems before the contest and prepare for every eventuality.

Bill Squires, the former vice president and general manager of Giants Stadium, said the power issue will not only be a hot topic for the NFL and next year's Super Bowl host committee, but also for all stadium operators.

Neither Al Kelly, the president and chief executive of the organizing committee for next year's game, nor Public Service Gas & Electric, the utility that provides power to the stadium, wanted to comment on the 34-minute outage at the Superdome until a cause had been determined.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was sitting with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the game Sunday, and they talked about avoiding a repeat of the blackout at next year's game at the Meadowlands.

"This is clearly something that can be fixed, and it's clearly something that we can prepare for. And we will," Goodell said Monday.

Reed, the director of the university's Electric Power Initiative, associate director of its Center for Energy, and a professor of electric power engineering at Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering, said there is no way to guarantee against a blackout.