US Utilities 100 Percent Ready for Y2K Bug WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans can go to bed on New Year's Eve confident that the millennium bug won't disrupt their electric lights and power, the Clinton Administration said on Thursday.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson declared that the nation's electricity utilities were 100 percent ready for possible Y2K computer problems, and had contingency plans in place to keep power flowing smoothly.

Consumers who bought portable electric generators out of fear about power shortages linked to the millennium bug should consider returning them to the stores, he said.

``My advice to the American people is, you don't need to buy power generators. If you can get a good deal on a return, do it,'' Richardson said.

He spoke after touring Potomac Electric Power Co.'s (POM.N) control center in the Washington suburbs where the utility tracks its power and distribution to some 700,000 customers.

The Y2K problem stems from older computer programs that represent the year with only the last two digits. Experts have warned that some computers could read 2000 as 1900, which could cause system-wide crashes at the new year.

The U.S. utility industry has said for months it expected only minor problems at year-end, but prepared plans to maintain round-the-clock staffing in case of emergency brown-out and black-outs.

Richardson cautioned that while all American utilities are ready for Y2K computer problems, there still could be brief outages caused by severe winter storms or other non-Y2K accidents or mishaps.

``We simply cannot guarantee against any outages,'' Richardson said.

The administration pronounced all U.S. utilities ready after seven companies completed work this week on their contingency plans. Richardson did not identify the stragglers.

``Just three months ago, over a million people still weren't assured that their power companies were prepared for the rollover into the new millennium,'' Richardson said at a briefing.

``But today, with just 16 days until the year 2000, all customers across the country will be serviced by Y2K-ready power companies,'' he added.

On Wednesday, President Clinton said 99.9 percent of the government's mission-critical computer systems are ready. All but eight of the 6,175 critical systems were prepared.

James Hoecker, the head of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, urged consumers to refrain from filling up their gasoline tanks on New Year's Eve. That kind of last-minute action could disrupt gasoline supplies, he said.

Likewise, consumers should not keep extra gasoline or heating oil on hand in their basements or garages. ``There is no reason to store or hoard dangerous fuels,'' Hoecker said.

Hoecker, whose agency oversees utilities and pipelines, is part of the White House team that has overseen nationwide Y2K preparations.

Of more concern to administration officials is the potential for disruption in international energy supplies.

Richardson sought to reassure consumers by repeating that Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Kuwait have agreed to stand ready to pump extra oil if any unexpected international supply problems develop due to computers that control pipelines, ship navigation, refineries and other facilities.

In the worst case, the White House could open the spigot for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Richardson said.

The emergency stockpile contains, created after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, contains about 572 million barrels of oil in underground caverns.

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-- (I'mhere@today.com), December 16, 1999

Answers

If this were not so serious it would be top notch comedy or a Shakespearean tragedy.

This was heard on my radio news regarding Richardson Statement and I'm not making this up. Just LIsten to this one.

"If your power goes out on new years don't blame Y2K, it could be a car wreck or a storm which happens all the time"".

A car wreck!!!!! I swear on a bible!!

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 16, 1999.

Spin or Reality?
Reality or Spin?
Spin or Reality?
I suppose the .gov will be shortly returning millions of generators, 
also.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), December 16, 1999.

Lisa,

Good point.

The government is rushing around installing generators, some departments will switch off from the "grid" before rollover. However if any of YOU people hoard fuel or buy a generator you are doing something stupid.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 16, 1999.

I've decided it's because it's easier for .gov to commandeer them from retail stores than snatch them from homeowners.

There is no other explanation for this. This is insane.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), December 16, 1999.

I am not giving up my honda em 350--it delivers a full 300 watts of power on demand and quieter than a mesquito's buzz.

BTW, it would wreck havouc on retail outlets if thousands of folks now began returning generators en masse. Those were sales made--think of the bottom line getting screwed up because hundreds of millions of dollrs in returned generators were to flood back in to stores.

What a silly proposition made by our secretary of energy.

Should we return the cans of tuna also? How about flashlight batteries and the other whatnots?

-- Peace Farmer (peacefarmer@thefarm.veg), December 16, 1999.

Ms. Lisa,

FALL OUT OF MY CHAIR AND ROTFLMBO!!!!!

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 16, 1999.

I posted this update on Beanfang's thread (Shearon Harris power plant) of yesterday:

Shearon Harris, Thursday: N&Observer (Thurs, Dec 16, 1999): The Shearon Harris nuclear plant is expected to be operating at full capacity by midday today after an electrical problem forced an unplanned outage early Tuesday. [Is this why we had a 5-minute outage at 2.40PM today, Thursday?]

...The NRC will investigate the incident...

...But Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the NRC in Atlanta, said the recent strings of shutdowns at Shearon Harris were probably just poor luck [THESE GUYS are the REGULATORS! Poor luck? How soon they forget that little piece of paper in the relay contacts! Well, that was January]

"It's just like a car," he said. "You can do everything right in terms of how you drive and maintain the car, but you may still have a flat tire or a pump can go out. At least until we go back and really look at it in detail it doesn't look like any of these shutdowns were related in any way."

-- W (me@home.now), December 16, 1999.

I just watched the "Group" led by Richardson on C-SPIN. One thing Richardson said was that "he believed that all gas and electrical services were Y2K COMPLIANT". The word "ready" was used 100's of times but "compliant" only once. He also stated that "top to bottom" testing had been done on all systems. I don't know if "top to bottom" testing is as thorough as "end to end" testing.

The media questions at the end were for the most part "soft-balls".

I couldn't shake the feeling that Richardson wanted to be somewhere else and that he was uncomfortable going on the record. The other members of the "group" made opening statements from a script..."We're Y2K ready and proud..."

So now I'm even more confused and am ready to start eating my preps so they don't get wasted on Y2K...

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), December 16, 1999.

Hey, after suffering through *decades* of unbelievably *rotten* Michigan electricity -- and losing tons of data, food, and damaged appliances, I now have three generators and run my computer off a big honkin' constant duty power conditioner/UPS.

If I go four days without electricity -- which would be nothing *new* -- my livestock would die (they like having water, and our well pump likes having electricity), I'd be unable to work, etc., etc., etc.

So tell me again why I should get rid of my generators.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 16, 1999.

It's *not* a perfectly acceptable practice if the terms of the sale are "no returns" or "all sales final", or "subject to restocking fee" (with you refusing to pay the 20% restocking fee), or if it's an expensive *non*-stock item that the merchant special-ordered for you.

While that last condition may not be *legally* enforcable, it would be *morally* reprehensible.

Not that I'd expect that to make any difference to *you*, troll.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 16, 1999.

Ack! This can only mean one thing: The Government needs more generators!

And they're running low on fuel in their projections.

-- No, stay away (from@my.generator), December 16, 1999.

Great,just when things are getting back to normal you have to go and scare up "shadylogic".

-- shadylogic (.@go.home), December 16, 1999.

I missed a troll, Ron?

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), December 16, 1999.

Sorry, didn't mean to scare up LadyLostIT. She was here but got deleted. Thought it was kind of ironic how she said to keep receipts and return supplies, then Richardson says the same thing about generators. Oh well..

-- (I'mhere@today.com), December 16, 1999.

When pray tell has a CAPITALIST Economy's Government ever cried "RETURN MERCHANDISE" ????? H E L L O, mcfly????????

Unbelievable simply and utterly unbelievable.

-- something_wicked_this..... (karlacalif@aol.com), December 16, 1999.

Consumers who bought portable electric generators out of fear about power shortages linked to the millennium bug should consider returning them to the stores, he said.

``My advice to the American people is, you don't need to buy power generators. If you can get a good deal on a return, do it,'' Richardson said ....

Richardson cautioned that while all American utilities are ready for Y2K computer problems, there STILL could be brief outages caused by severe winter storms or other non-Y2K accidents or mishaps.

What does Richardson mean by "brief"? Like that ice storm last January where Quebec and northern New York state were without power for a couple of weeks??? Is that what Richardson means by "brief"?

Am I getting this right? If you buy a generator because of Y2K concerns - you should return it.

BUT if you buy a generator because of weather concerns OR because you have a family member who has a medical problem requiring equipment dependent with an on-going electrical supply ... it's OK.

I sure wish these reporters asked more specific questions. This is a joke.

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), December 16, 1999.

So when Richardson said "ready" to try to fix on failure, Clinton heard "no problemo"?

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 16, 1999.