While browsing through MEL's (Michigan Electronic Library) links for y2k I found an article in Y2k News that caught my attention. I've included a portion of the text below

****a snip here*** Washington Water Power Co. and the Bonneville Power Administration say they have taken steps to avoid massive computer malfunctions in the year 2000, the so-called Y2K problem.

However, there is a remote chance that a disturbance outside their system could trigger an event that surges through the transmission grid that links every utility in the Northwest.

The BPA controls much of that system. Officials there say they expect nothing of the sort.

"We might be more reliable than a normal day," said Brian Furumasu, one of Bonneville's Y2K project managers.

He said the federal agency has been moving its 500 systems through a five-step plan that should have everything in order by next March.

The unique challenge of Y2K, Furumasu said, is reinforcing a system that routinely handles random breakdowns to withstand the potential failure of several components simultaneously.

If possible, Furumasu said, Bonneville will reduce dependence on automation during the hours just before and after New Year's Eve 1999 and maintain extra generating reserves.

The bulk of Washington Water Power Co.'s generating plants are already operating in the 21st century.

Jeff Brune, the Spokane-based company's Y2K manager, said nine of 12 plants were pushed past Jan. 1, 2000, for testing, and left there.

"We saw no reason to bring them back," he said.

Brune said WWP plans to staff all of its major facilities New Year's Eve 1999 as part of its contingency plan, and will also have a monitor at Bonneville's operations centers.

*****End snip******

Mr. Brune went on to say that the West had an advantage over many other parts of the grid in that they were almost isolated from the rest of the nation and will have advance warning about what they will be facing. (I guess that if the plants in the East start going down, they'll have the sense and guts to isolate their portion of the grid until they know what they're dealing with??) I know that several people here were wondering if any of the utilities had actually tested their entire system by moving the system clocks past Jan 01, 2000. It appears that at least these two entities have done so. Here's hoping that we'll have more such news about other utilities to share in the coming months

All success Keith

-- Anonymous, November 16, 1998

Answers

I've been following the power situation in the Northwest for a little while now and I've heard representatives from both BPA and WWPG, including Mr. Furumasu. I hadn't heard them say they were already running in the next century, but their reports have been pretty straightforward and quite positive. If you go back a few weeks I posted a "PUC notes" statement on this BB which in some way encapsulated a meeting here in Oregon which included representatives from the Northwest.

Incidentally, there's an excellent article in the Oregonian today about the status of the utility companies here in the NW. There is only one factual error that I detected in the story regarding that PUC meeting and I've been in dialog with the writer already. If you wish to read the article, here it is:

http://www.oregonlive.com/technw/9811/tn98111601.html

The part of the story that mentions that there are 44 companies is in error. There are really 107 companies, which skews some of the data (in a negative way actually). Go back to my "PUC notes" and at the end and you'll see what I mean.

BTW The writer has e-mailed me back confirming my calculations.

Jeff

-- Anonymous, November 16, 1998

Jeff, one of the interesting lines in the article at the URL you gave was:

"Neither PGE nor PacifiCorp consistently produces enough power to serve all of its customers. So in the peak winter months they buy excess power from thermal plants in the Southwest to power heaters.."

That sounds like not only do PGE and PacifiCorp need to be compliant and up and running, but those "thermal plants in the Southwest" had better be, too. (Along with the interconnections intact for power transfer across the grid.) I'd say January, 2000, qualifies as a "peak winter month".

-- Anonymous, November 16, 1998

Help me understand something here. This utility has plants running now whose clocks are already past Jan., 2000. This must mean these plants can run independently from real time indefinitely. If most power plants could do that, why would we have a Y2K problem with power plants in the first place? If some of them had problems with dates beyond 1999, we could set them back to 1492 and allow Columbus to sail into the new millennium with them.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 1998