Ok, it's June 30. According to the NERC goal, every electric company should be done, with the exception of exceptions. ;-)

Here's the contest: I've been following the press releases just like most of the folks on this forum. I would like to compile a list of those electric companies that are announcing, through press releases or corporate webpages or 10Q statements or whatever, that they are "Y2k Ready". The top 5 contestants who contribute the most companies between now and July 10th, with references (do NOT post the press releases or statements; a simple reference to the source document will suffice), will win a limited edition euy2k.com T-Shirt.

There are (according to NERC and EEI figures) 3200 companies that generate and/or distribute power on the North American continent. My own rough count of readiness statements is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30.

The rules are simple:

1. To count for the purposes of this contest, the corporate statement MUST state that the company is currently Y2k Ready. Webpages and releases that say "Y2k Readiness Statement" that only provide an incomplete status do not count. The statement must clearly say that the company has achieved Y2k readiness.

2. ONLY original submissions count. If the first contestant posts company A,B,C, and D (for a total of four), the second contestant can't post A,B,C,D, and then their own findings of E,F, and G (for a total of 7).

3. Submissions must be made to THIS THREAD ONLY.

4. Decisions of the judges (me) are final and may be completely arbitrary. ;-) Deal with it.

(NOTE: I'm not going to quibble about what "readiness" means. I just want to know how many electric companies are making a public statement saying they are, as of 6/30/1999, Y2k ready.)

Again, contest ends July 10.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Answers

Bonneville Power has announced that they're Y2k-ready. See the link at www.bpa.gov/corporate/KCC/y2k/y2k0499x.htm

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Ditto for Dakota Electric, as noted in a newspaper article, found on the following web page: http://newslibrary.krmediastream.com/cgi-bin/newslib

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Ditto for Southern Company. Link found at www.southernco.com (the corporation's home page)

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Rick,

Sounds like we got a couple "sour grapes" or "sour pusses" logging in so far. Personally, I think this is a great idea. Gets a lot of people involved in watching the news and reporting back. We should get some very current information as a result of this contest. My hat's (not a hardhat) off to you!

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

You really don't get it Scott, do you?

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Whoops, looks like the sour pusses ran back under their rock. Good thing too. We're looking for serious answers here and no heckling, right? But gee, do you really think it could be as low as 30? You're starting to scare me now, just like a Steven King novel. BTW, I'm sure my own utility, Conectiv, isn't going to say they are ready yet. I'll keep looking though. :-)

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Rick,

What if the utility says they are 100% mission-critical systems ready? Does that count? Or does it have to be 100% Y2K ready with zero caveats?

Roleigh

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Roleigh,

Caveats are fine. *Any* statement that says, in essence, "As of June 30 (or earlier) we have completed our program and are reporting that we are ready for Y2k."

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Roleigh, The Y2K Ready utilities that I am aware of are talking about mission critical, that's all you need for readiness. The Y2K Ready companies are still rolling out non-mission critical desktop software upgrades and the like. In fact, I doubt any large company has completed everything, utility, banking, or otherwise.

Rick, Having everyone post the "good news" to this thread is an excellent idea, it puts it all in one place. Can we put all the bad news in one thread as well? Just kidding...;)

I will refrain from the contest since NRC should be reporting soon on the nukes, and NERC will provide a final report on Y2K status of the utilites to the DOE and others this month.

Regards,

Regards, FactFinder

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Not looking for any t-shirts, but I did start this thread at EY..

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0011 PC

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Ok, couldn't resist. Good link Hoff, here's my list: Great link Hoffmeister, have some of mine their. Heres my list: ---- Dairyland Power Cooperative Prepared for Year 2000 (PR Newswire) Dairyland Power Cooperative announced today that it's systems that are critical to keeping the lights on are Y2K ready. - Jun 30 4:50 PM EDT ----------- O&R Completes Y2K 'Mission Critical' Computer Preparations (BusinessWire) Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. today reported to a variety of utility industry regulators that O&R's mission critical functions -- those operations that bring its customers electric and natural gas service -- are now Y2K-ready. - Jun 30 3:59 PM EDT --------------------- BGE is Y2K Ready (PR Newswire) The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., subsidiary of the Constellation Energy Group, today announced that 100 percent of its mission- critical systems for electric and gas production and delivery are ready for rollover of the millennium. - Jun 30 1:28 PM EDT --------------- Detroit Edison Tells Government Groups It's Y2K-Ready (PR Newswire) Detroit Edison -- After three years of painstaking work in connection with Year 2000 computer issues -- today sent letters to the North American Electric Reliability Council and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it has all mission-critical systems ready for the change to the new millennium. - Jun 30 10:49 AM EDT --------------- Minnesota Power's Electric System Y2K Ready (PR Newswire) Minnesota Power, Inc. announced today that it believes its mission- critical systems used to produce, deliver and transmit electricity are ready for date changes associated with Year 2000. - Jun 30 9:53 AM EDT ----------- Wisconsin Electric Mission Critical Systems Y2K Ready (PR Newswire) As planned, the systems Wisconsin Electric needs to meet customer demand on New Year's Eve 2000 are Y2K ready as of today. - Jun 30 9:32 AM EDT ---------------- SCE Is Y2K-Ready Ahead of Schedule (PR Newswire) Southern California Edison is ready for the next millennium. - Jun 29 12:52 PM EDT ------------ PEPCO utility says all critical systems Y2K ready (Reuters) WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Potomac Electric Power Co (NYSE: POM - news ), an electric utility serving the nation's capital and suburban Maryland, said Wednesday that all of its critical power plant and power delivery systems are Year 2000 ready. PEPCO informed the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) that 100 percent of its ``mission-critical'' systems are prepared for the millennial rollover. - Jun 23 6:16 PM EDT ------------- Jun-30-1999 NEW STORY Duquesne Light Reports on Successful Year 2000 Preparations -------------- Jun-30-1999 NEW STORY Indianapolis Power & Light Company is Ready for the Year 2000 ------------- Jun-30-1999 NEW STORY Unicom and ComEd Declare Year 2000 Readiness ---------------- Jun-29-1999 RG&E is Ready for Year 2000 ----------- Jun-23-1999 Pepco Power Plants and Energy Delivery Systems Y2K Ready ----------- Jun-22-1999 Alabama Power Prepared for Year 2000 ------------- Jun-22-1999 Georgia Power Prepared for Year 2000 -----------  O&R Completes Y2K 'Mission Critical' Computer Preparations; Reports to Regulators On Readiness, Contingency Plans --------  OG&E Electric Services Says It's Ready for Year 2000 ---------  GPU Energy Makes NERC Year 2000 Readiness Filing -----------

These are FYI, not linked, not verified to all say ready, not intended to be in the contest ;)

*** Hints to Contestants!

FactFinders suggested sources to more Y2K PR than you wanna know, careful though, things can get a bit "deep" here if you know what I mean ;)

http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/124139.html http://www.businesswire.com/energylink/

Regards,

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Ann McNitt, I think this will be a lot harder than the seemingly simple rules Rick has set. While Bonneville power may have announced y2k compliance, it, to my knowledge, has no power plants. It is purely a distribution system. I found 7 or 8 hydo power units of Washington Water Power which were probably compliant, several months back, and they belong to Bonneville distribution group, but their 4 coal/gas plants were not complaint. Time frame for this was February, or there abouts.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

Bob - Distribution and/or generation are OK; doesn't matter. If BPA says "ready", it's good for the contest.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

This comment has nothing to do with the contest, but rather comes from a sense of cautious disbelief on the part of the consumer. Detroit Edison announced only last December that they were just finished with assessment of their systems. If they're that good, maybe they should teach other electric companies how to do remediation and testing as quickly!

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

FactFinder - Good reorganization. It makes good sense and is well organized. Rick - Thanks for the clarification on what should be included. I ran accross a site last year, which I may still be able to find again, which has a database of every power plant in the US. We have so many different entities and types of organizations, I know they are all important, but the list becomes more subjective, rather than objective, if there is no way to determine, say on a percentage basis, how many plants are fixed and checked. I guess that is an impossible task. So the best use for the results of something like this is an organized database, by entity, where an individual can look up those that may impact his local area and determine if they are among the "announced ready" entities. I have been looking at so much doom and gloom for so long, and have been a proponent of it, because I built many non-compliant petro-chem plants and pipelines, that it is good to see some good news for a change. We all need hope.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Direct e-mail to me from Keith Stapleton, y2k man at Sam Houston Electric Co-op (east Texas), July 1, 1999, "Thank you for your question. Sam Houston Electric's systems are y2k ready. The final update to SCADA is being made this week. SCADA is not critical to the delivery of electricity. It helps SHECO to operate more efficiently, however."

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

PECO (Philadelphia area) still has posted at http://www.peco.com/corp/corp_y2k_fr.html the following: "At PECO Energy, we are planning to have the majority of systems Year 2000 ready by the end of March, 1999, and all systems ready by November, 1999." No press releases yet, though I did get something in my last electric bill that I'll have to dig out again.

Lori S.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Duke Power (July 1st)

"We met our June 30 target date for readiness, an important milestone for our company," said William A. Coley, president of Duke Power. "We have identified, fixed and tested systems critical to our operations. In addition, we have contingency plans in place that will help us address Year 2000 issues, should they occur before, during and after January 1.

http://www.duke- energy.com/news/archive/1999/99070101.htm

Critt
Wilmington, North Carolina

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

SNOHOMISH COUNTY PUD IS Y2K READY This is from Snohomish County, WA.

June 30, 1999  Snohomish County PUD sent a declaration of Year 2000 readiness to the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) today meeting a June 30, 1999, deadline. The readiness target date was set by NERC for electric systems across the country to be Year 2000 ready. We are confident that Snohomish PUDs delivery of power and water will continue to operate safely and reliably on January 1, 2000, said Snohomish County PUDs general manager, Mark Schinman. Snohomish PUD has completed testing of its critical embedded devices, automated business systems and date-sensitive equipment required for delivery of power to its customers. Contingency plans for business operations have been developed and a thorough audit of the plans has been conducted.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

This from the Austin American Statesman:

"Austin Energy reported to the N.E.R.C. that they are ready to deliver reliable electricity on and after January 1, 2000.".

This from Lower Colorado River Authority website:

"The Lower Colorado River Authority yesterday (June 30) notified state and federal regulators that its critical electric generation and transmission systems are ready for date changes associated with the year 2000. This milestone is significant for the LCRA because the most difficult work is behind us. Now we can focus on testing contingency plans and on planning for the rollover event itself".

and this farther down the page:

"Transmission: In September, the LCRA will install a NEW energy management system that has been tested for Y2K readiness. The LCRA also has prepared the current system as a backup."

Sounds like they will have 3 months to work the bugs out of that new system. I still think the word "ready" leaves lots of room for problems.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Entergy announces that they are "Y2k ready" not y2k compliant.

http://www.entergy.com/news/1999/nr070199.htm

xBob

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

SaskPower is now Year 2000 Prepared: http://www.saskpower.com/Year2000/

-- Anonymous, July 05, 1999

Probably a majority of the citizens of the entire state of Nebraska receive their electricity from Lincoln Electric Service, Omaha Public Power District or Nebraska Public Power District. All three announced in the Lincoln Journal Star of July 7 that they are ready. This includes 2 Nuclear plants.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 1999

Both Florida Power and Florida Power and Light are reporting readiness. The Orlando Sentinel reported on July 1 that both companies are stating readiness. The page can be found at: www.orlandosentinel.com/news/y2k/s070199_y2k01_19.htm

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1999