I've got a rather perplexed look on my face (nothing new about that) after reading on PRNewswire that Washington Water Power has 9 of 12 hydro-electric generating facilities that have passed Y2K simulations. I'm not going to speculate on exactly what that means except to say it takes confidence to be making such a bold statement so soon before the "digits hit the fan."

My question is this: are the aspects of remediation easier at hydroelectric plants than fossil and nuclear plants? Or if WWP is right about being ready by year's end, are they just ahead of the industry curve? Thanks.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 1998

Answers

Additionally, the curious might want to check out Washington Water Power's web page, http://www.wwp.com. Pay particular attention to their letters to the local public service commission and their Q&A section. It's bolder than most. See ya.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 1998

Charles, I can claim no direct expertise in the electric utility industry, but from a purely logical IT perspective, the only part of being Y2K compliant (or "ready") that might be easier for hydroelectric plants is that they don't have to worry about whether their coal/natural gas deliveries will arrive post 1/1/2000. The water is going to run regardless!

I did read WWP's Y2K information, and do want to say that out of dozens of such sites I've read, WWP appears to be tackling their problems in a more professional manner than most. Too bad I don't live in the Northwest! This utility may just make it - with the proviso that others on the grid don't take them down with them. Even WWP admitted to that possibility, which I thought was very upfront of them. We tend to forget, amidst all the bad news, that in every industry there are going to be some companies doing things right, and out ahead of others. My impression is that WWP may well be one those. If so, their managers deserve a big hug!

-- Anonymous, October 02, 1998

I have been a customer of WWP here in a small rural town in eastern Washington state. We have had three outages since July( one was due to a very intense storm that included a tornado!) The most recent outage was yesterday and lasted from about 3pm to 10:30pm. I was out of town til 8:30 and it was very eerie to come home to a totally BLACK town. It was a very good "test" of resources and reactions! The people across the street with a generator stuck out like a sore thumb-those are very noisy! The jail had power(generator)and the hospital had limited lights, but everywhere else was pitch black. Tomorrow(Monday) I will call WWP and ask some questions. My neighbor said they told her that the power would be back on by 10:30 and it was--so I'm not sure what that means--testing? I also heard that the blackout went further east about 40 miles,but that is not for sure. If I get any pertinent info concerning this, I'll post it here again.

-- Anonymous, October 26, 1998