Link:http://cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9904/16/y2k_electricity/

FF, the GAO report does'nt look good, probably just a bunch of Government Hype, eh? You need to straighten these guys out:)

-- Anonymous, April 16, 1999

Answers

http://cnn fn.com/digitaljam/9904/16/y2k_electricity/

-- Anonymous, April 16, 1999

Bill, Thanks for the scoop on the GAO report, will take a look after I get Acrobat downloaded again - I cleaned up my hard drive, and deleted it I guess. I also noted Rick's comments, so I am very interested in reading it. Keep in mind this is a GAO report, e.g., a barf bag may not be adequate, I may need you guys to round up a dump truck for me...;)

Seriously, I will try to be open minded on this one, and give you my take based on working on y2k. Then everyone can then take my input, Rick's input, the GAO report, 75cents, and get a cup of coffee (unless you drink that floofie kinda coffee with flavors and names like "Starbucks", then you'll need to chip in a buck fifty or more).

Regards,

-- Anonymous, April 16, 1999

firstly, i think every one reading this forum agrees that the following statement is wrong. 'Because power utilities are dependent on embedded computer control systems -- that is, chips that are built into a computer's architecture and can't be replaced with different chips - the industry is particularly susceptible to Y2K-related failures.' the chips can be replaced, the question is can we find ALL the non compliant ones and replace them, is that correct. if my point is true, how much does writer of this article know about what they are writing. Second, point is where was the BAD news, i am sorry but i didn't see it. no where does it say in that article that there will be y2k problems, no where does it say any utilities will not be y2k compliant by the end of the year, you re all speculating. they say they wont be compliant by this date or that date, but no one has said they wont be compliant by 31/12/99, correct. graham

-- Anonymous, April 18, 1999

Bill Watt-

You may want to re-read that GAO report. It is using data from the January 11 report to DOE, which uses information that is current through November 30, 1998.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 1999

The GAO report released on April 6, 1999 highlights not neccassariarly (sp) problems with utilities meeting their schedule dates but more importantly the lack of control the federal government (the DOE) has over the commerical utility industry. The report clearly shows that many utilities will not meet their June, 1999 industry target completion date. The only problem is that this data is current as of the end of November, 1998. The data is for the NERC report is over four months old. So where does this leave us? Totally in the dark, along with the GAO and the DOE.

The next question is: Have the utilities improved their forecast dates? No one will know until the next quarterly NERC report is released. Some utility types on this forum suggest the next report will paint a much brighter picture. But what if it does not? What if the situation gets worse? If the situation worsens, we can then rely on the GAO to take a few months for analysis and recommendations. And then? An then before you know it it will be Y2K and we will be OBE (Overcome by Events)

My concern is with the Federal Government's lack of project management expertise concerning Y2K. The DOE should have given NERC specific and measureable project management criteria. They should have been required to report on a monthly basis all utilities forecasted completions dates for critical schedule activities. Oh well, we will just have to wait and see how things

-- Anonymous, April 20, 1999

The GAO report released on April 6, 1999 highlights not neccassariarly (sp) problems with utilities meeting their schedule dates but more importantly the lack of control the federal government (the DOE) has over the commerical utility industry. The report clearly shows that many utilities will not meet their June, 1999 industry target completion date. The only problem is that this data is current as of the end of November, 1998. The data is for the NERC report is over four months old. So where does this leave us? Totally in the dark, along with the GAO and the DOE.

The next question is: Have the utilities improved their forecast dates? No one will know until the next quarterly NERC report is released. Some utility types on this forum suggest the next report will paint a much brighter picture. But what if it does not? What if the situation gets worse? If the situation worsens, we can then rely on the GAO to take a few months for analysis and recommendations. And then? An then before you know it it will be Y2K and we will be OBE (Overcome by Events)

My concern is with the Federal Government's lack of project management expertise concerning Y2K. The DOE should have given NERC specific and measureable project management criteria. They should have been required to report on a monthly basis all utiliy forecasted completion dates for critical schedule activities. Oh well, we will just have to wait and see how things out.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 1999