This Drill Summary has too much information in it to be able to post just parts. Even the "Lessons learned" summary numbers up to 21 and covers two pages. Perhaps it's just me, but compared to other NERC Summary releases I've read, this one seemed a little different -- more subdued. I was glad to see that the regions learned a lot, but I got the impression they learned a little more than they had expected to.

There are various improvements cited as being needed, varying from fixing metering discrepancies, relocating antennaes, purchasing new equipment, doing battery checks and having spares, to updating phone lists. The primary improvement needed, however, appeared to be in the personnel area and can be summed up in one word: Training.

ftp://ftp.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/y2k/April_9_Drill_Summary_Report.pdf

I hope I got the underscores in the URL correctly. If I didn't, this can also be accessed at:

ftp://ftp.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/y2k/

-- Anonymous, June 08, 1999

Answers

A few weeks ago, I went to a "speakers' forum" type of seminar about Y2K, featuring people from gov't, utilities, newspapers, and police agencies. When the time came for the speaker from Consumer's Energy (Michigan), I expected to hear about percentage of Y2K budget spent, percentage of mission-critical work done, etc. Instead, what the audience was given was a glowing report of how the April 9 testing was a successful test of electricity distribution (and not the truth of how they actually tested communications), and how optimistic we should be about our electric company. Instead of an IT person, this man's job was listed as being in public relations, and the overall view of the panel was, "Just buy an extra loaf of bread or two, and keep your money in the bank." When will they quit patting us on the head as if we were children?

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

now now, Andy...;) Just kidding, good point. Y2K ingnorblis almost seeems to be a requirement for Y2K speakers, regardless of their positions...(i.e., whether they are pro or anti- Y2k. Personally, I am against the millenium, but what can one man do? Sigh....) Regards,

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999