On Thursday the 23rd, there was a Y2K meeting at the Civic Center in Cheyenne. I was unable to attend. Here's the report from the local fishwrap:

{Fair Use - For Educational Purposes Only}

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE  Are you sure the phones will work? What about the power and fuel supply? Are people in Wyoming nice enough to gracefully handle Y2K problems? "Can I guarantee that nothing is going to fail? No," said Jackie Smith, public works director for the City of Cheyenne. But Smith, along with a group of twelve experts, took seats on the stage of the Cheyenne Civic Center Thursday night to hear the concerns of residents over the Year 2000 bug. Bob Rule of Cheyenne stood up to ask whether or not the phones would be working. A device that squeezes the many house lines into a few lines relies on power, and can only function on batteries for eight hours. That depends on how much use the box gets, according to the US West representative. The phone company can tell when those boxes get in trouble and will send a technician. Rule said he heard that it only takes six power companies to foul up their operation at the stroke of New Years Day to darken the entire western power grid. Has New Century Energies, the parent company to Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power, planned for that possible problem? Thats not exactly right, said Chris Clemens, the New Century Year 2000 Communications Manager. It takes about 20 to 30 simultaneous events to take down the grid, but one of the major elements is demand. The demand for electricity on Jan. 1 is about half the capacity of the grid, Clemens said. The power companies could lose up to half their plants and still meet that demand. Martin Larsen asked the panel, among other things, what the capacity of the Red Cross shelters was and whether or not the country had the moral capacity to survive something like a Y2K glitch without melting down. The Red Cross can handle between 5,000 and 6,000 people in two unheated shelters, according to the representative. Because its winter, they will find some way to heat them, though with that many people the shelter may heat itself. The Wyoming Emergency Management Agency representative said that in the many disasters hes been to across the country, people band together and help each other. Cheyenne has done no differently, he said.

--end of article--

The population of this county is a little over 75,000. 2 unheated shelters. Good plan. What good are unheated shelters in Cheyenne, Wyoming...where it's cold 9 months out of the year?!?!

-- Don Wegner (donfmwyo@earthlink.net), September 26, 1999

Answers

good grief, Don.....

i know there are NOT a whole lot of trees up there.....and so, probably not many people use woodstoves i'd guess

just how many people in your county (out of those 69,000 to 70,000 who can't fit in the shelters) are dependant on electric heat or piped in gas for heat? how many have tank propane for heat, and can they use it if the electricty goes

how many can YOU take in Don...... HA!

sure sounds like a mess to me

good luck : /

-- andrea (mebsmebs@hotmail.com), September 26, 1999.

In Cheyenne itself, natural gas is far and away the choice for heating. You're right...this is the "high plains" and there are no trees. Woodstoves and fireplaces are not popular here. The ventless gas fireplaces are popular. The outlying areas in the county depend on propane. The western part of the state has huge gas fields, but the vulnerability of these is, of course, still a big question mark. Same with coal, up north we have tons of coal, but it requires trains to move it. We have all kinds of resources here...as long as transportation can keep it going out.

How many can I handle? The klutz DGI members of my own family, who won't listen but will be visiting me, I'm sure!

-- Don Wegner (donfmwyo@earthlink.net), September 26, 1999.