This is a Yahoo news story from Australia, but I can think of no reason why the same doesn't apply here. <:)=

Users' Y2K failures seen affecting power supply

SYDNEY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Wide spread computer system failure of significant electricity users due to the millennium bug could have an impact on electricity supply, the peak New South Wales (NSW) electricity body said on Friday.

``User equipment connected to the network must be compliant, as unnotified failures or sudden load changes can impact the network stability,'' electricity association of NSW executive manager Michael Sinclair told a Year 2000 compliance conference.

``It would have to be a significant, widespread failure,'' he said.

Sinclair stressed there was no evidence to suggest a millennium bug problem within the generation, transmission and distribution system would affect supply reliability in Australia's most populous state.

``There is no evidance to show that, because of a date compliant issue, the current levels of supply reliability will be affected,'' Sinclair said.

Sinclair earlier told the Y2K awareness conference that NSW currently enjoyed 99.98 percent supply reliability.

``I'm not guaranteeing because there can be any number of adverse impacts but a date compliant issue is not going to affect supply reliability,'' he said.

Sinclair said there were no computers running any critical electricity systems.

``Because of the maturity of the technology... there are no computers controlling critical electricity supply,'' he said.

The NSW power industry has spent about A$33 million on the Y2K compliance issue.

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), February 26, 1999

Answers

PS

``There is no evidance to show that, because of a date compliant issue, the current levels of supply reliability will be affected,''

I wonder what they spent that $33 million on?

<:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), February 26, 1999.

He contradicts himself a bit doesn't he.

-- Suburb (an@metroarea.com), February 26, 1999.

He doesn't necessarily contradict himself. They could have spent the money on billing and accounting systems.

-- (someone@somewhere.com), February 26, 1999.

He doesn't mention embedded systems, maybe some of that $33million went to finding and fixing them? Or maybe they got carried away and hired some outside firm for an outrageous amount to fix their non-existant computers ;-)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telsuplanet.net), February 26, 1999.

Tricia,

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), February 26, 1999.

sorry about aborted post, my keyboard just developed a life of its own!

Tricia - I'm sure it's going on right now. Replace compliant kit by identical compliant kit, charge for it. Install the bits you removed at the next site, charge for them again. Repeat for as long as possible.

Maybe I'm too cynical. Personally, I just hope that the bits are actually being checked for compliance and that the ripoff is secondary!

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), February 26, 1999.

I clicked through and read it. Am I the only one that finds this very very odd?

> ``Because of the maturity of the technology... there are no computers controlling critical electricity supply,'' he said.

Now wait a minute, then what does? Swinging ball style govenors? What does NSW use for SCADA? They have no PLCs in the plants?!? Are they still using "mature" 1920's equipment?!?

As for load, anytime there is a sudden large drastic change in load, particularily if it is a very inductive load, you can have all sorts of voltage regulation problems which can burn out all sorts of appliances. That much is quite true. Considering that Y2K happens at midnight when most industrial plants are idling this seems a bit unlikely however.

As for 99.98%, whenever somebody translates a SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) in to something with 4 places of accuracy, my BS detector triggers.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), February 26, 1999.

Ken,

"because of..." could mean they haven't made significant system upgrades in 25 years or so. I.E. they are running on 'obsolete' technolgies. Just a thought.

I know of a "mom and pop" telephone company who replaced the 'obsolete' mechanical switches with a 'state of the art' digital switch about 12 years ago (the old mechnical stuff had been around since 'before god') The digital switch is not compliant and they are trying to figure out if it can be upgraded or if it has to be replaced. The old timers could jerry rig their way around anything with the old stuff but you have to be an electrical engineer to figure out the 'new' stuff...

jh

-- john hebert (jt_hebert@hotmail.com), February 26, 1999.

"Considering that Y2K happens at midnight when most industrial plants are idling this seems a bit unlikely however."

But this unusual rollover, 1/1/2000, will be the BIGGEST power-user in history, with all the world's population partying it up wild with neon plus. Everything whirring in overdrive. Those who normally wouldn't be up at midnight WILL BE, if only to watch TV or to watch and see IF the power shorts out.

Also, looks like even at industrial plants, contingency plans are increasingly calling for workers to be present and pizza-ying at their desks at the stroke of Tick-Tock, "just in case." Electricity will be running full-blaze, unless rationed or already sputtering, on 1/1/2000 at MidNight.

Will be very interesting to see exactly where w'all be on That Spot In Time.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), February 26, 1999.

Got Juice? (Not champaign!)

Diane *Sigh*

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), February 27, 1999.