Industry staffing levels?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Electric Utilities and Y2K : One Thread

I sent this question to Rick Cowles, and he asked me to post it here. So here goes....

I emailed a clip of the Chicago Tribune article on the Senate Y2K/power hearings (where Sen. Bennett suggested a 40% chance that the whole grid would collapse in 2000) to a recruiter friend of mine. He sent me a rather chilling reply:

> Power consumption is up and power reserves are dwindling. > Where are the NEW PLANTS? I have been overwhelmed for > the last 3 years with resumes from engineers, etc., etc. > from the power industry.

> Is the industry intentionally creating an eventual shortage > for it's overdependent users?

The implications are scary -- seems like the industry should be getting as many people as possible on board to set up and execute contingency plans, not downsizing. Or maybe I'm off- base here. Could power plants better cope with y2k given increased staffing? I'm imagining a human-in-the-loop scenario where technicians or engineers bypass confused systems, replacing them with eyes and hands.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1998

Answers

Does anyone know what it takes to build a power plant? I live in California, and forget building one here. By the time the EPA, and all the other government beauracrats get finished, it's almost impossible! Furthermore, with deregulation here in California, PG&E was forced to sell off some of it's power plants. Duke Energy purchased a few at auction. Some of the plants are steam generated and were built in the 50's. PG&E has one nuclear power plant in California, and I don't think any more nuclear plants have been built anywhere in the US in the past 20 years. So, with our energy needs growing larger every day and fewer power plants to manage the load, we can expect brown outs and blackouts without even a Y2K problem. I heard on the news today with the extreme heat in Chicago, they asked a major steel mill to shutdown production so the power could be used for air conditioners! Another concern that NASA has spoken of recently are the solar flare activities from the sun. They are worried about the flares knocking out communication satellites and the power grid. One such flare knocked out power in Canada a while back. It will be interesting to see what happens. In the mean time, stockup on candles, oil lamps, and warm clothing, we're going to be in for long winter nights, and hot summers with no air!

-- Anonymous, June 27, 1998

Moderation questions? read the FAQ