Experts Say Power Will Stay On In Y2K, Concerns Linger:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990923/ts/utilities_yk_1.html

My favorite line: ``A prolonged nationwide blackout will almost certainly not occur ... but declarations of nationwide preparedness do not mean much if the power goes out in your town,'' said Sen. Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican, and chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.

What a bunch of wishy-washy language. What does "prolonged" mean, are they saying a short nationwide blackout might occur?.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), September 23, 1999

Answers

Man, it's tough to be first here lately! <:)=

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Electric power industry experts Thursday told Congress the lights will stay on when the new year starts, but even with repeated assurances, a lawmaker warned that localized outages may occur as a result of the millennium computer bug known as Y2K.

Before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, the lead Y2K watchdog in the Senate said the lights will probably not go out for most people when Jan. 1, 2000, comes, but noted ``lingering concerns'' about utilities which have failed to provide updates on fixing their computers.

``A prolonged nationwide blackout will almost certainly not occur ... but declarations of nationwide preparedness do not mean much if the power goes out in your town,'' said Sen. Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican, and chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.

Y2K refers to the bug in computer systems programmed to read only the last two years of a date. Experts are worried that widespread computer malfunctions will strike when these computers read the new year 2000 as 1900.

For months, and in most cases, years, electric power utilities have been working to make sure operations are not hindered during the millennial rollover.

Two continent-wide tests this year by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) drilled thousands of utility employees on back-up contingency plans.

Utilities reporting to NERC said they have fixed nearly all potential Y2K glitches.

Still, Bennett said there may be utilities with problems.

His committee found three particular areas of concern. The first is the fact 75 percent of electric utilities do not routinely share their Y2K readiness reports made to NERC with the general public.

``The industry should be more forthright in its disclosure to the public. NERC's August report to DOE (Department of Energy) contained a list of 250 bulk power producers that are Y2K ready, and by the process of elimination, those that are not ready,'' Bennett testified.

Bennett also noted that more than 200 of the approximately 1,000 public power companies did not take part in NERC's August survey. ``This is unacceptable and we should identify the non-participants,'' Bennett said.

Nuclear power plants also raised a worry, with Bennett noting 20 of the nation's 103 nuclear plants have projected Y2K readiness dates in the last quarter of this year.

The nuclear industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have said reactor safety operations will not be hit by Y2K.

A NERC official, speaking before the same energy and natural resources panel, echoed past statements from his organization that the power grid should pass Y2K unscathed.

``NERC believes that the electric power industry will operate reliably into the year 2000 with the resources that are Y2K ready today,'' said Michehl Gent, president of NERC.

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), September 23, 1999.

I say again: All Power Is Local

I love how there are these sweeping generalities and nothing specific. If they have studied the problem enough to know which countries are at risk of losing power, of course they know which states/regions/areas are at risk. They know that there are problems, and they know exactly where they are.

-- semper paratus (always@ready.here), September 23, 1999.

Sorry, Hamster, but every time I see your name, I get the urge to post this link. :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 24, 1999.