There's speculation that the power outage that occurred on Decemember 8, 1998 was due to Y2K and embedded chips being replaced. According to PG&E Week, November 1, 1998, page 3 is the following article:

"Company continues to improve transmission reliability in SF"

Corrective actions after Dec. 8 outage are detailed in report filed with....

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has taken extensive measures to minimize the likelihood of another incident that knocked out power to much of San Francisco and San Mateo counties last year, according to a report the company filed Oct. 20 with the California Public Utilities Commission.

The 81-page report describes the company's corrective actions as part of the CPUC's investigation into the power outage that occurred Dec. 8, 1998.

"The company shares the concerns expressed by others regarding the importance of a reliable electric system for the San Francisco area," says Bill Mazotti, vicepresident of gas and electric transmission. "Over the last 10 months, we have taken extensive measures to reduce the likelihood of another outage like the one on Dec. 8."

Company's actions include:

-Revising or adopting more than 23 separate work procedures for the electric transmission system

- Training more than 900 electric transmission construction, operations and maintenance workers to follow the new procedures.

- Developing an audit system to track how well the workers follow the new procedures.

- Improving its internal and external communications procedures.

- Implementing a key organizational improvement process called Operational Excellence.

- Seeking external expertise to help the company develop, organize and distribute work processes.

- Improving the reliability of its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and telecommunications equipment systems.

- Evaluating the feasibility of enhanced protective systems to limit the extent of outages.

- Participating in the California Independent System Operator's long-range study on electric supply in the San Francisco area.

- Agreeing to increase transmission capacity into San Francisco by reconducting lines on the peninsula.

Generally, the audits show full compliance with the corrective actions, but reveal other areas where further work is needed, according to the report, the trend is positive, though, with few operating and construction errors in 1999, as compared with 1998.

The Outage

On Dec. 8, a transmission construction crew upgrading a 115-kilovolt bus at San Mateo Substation failed to remove protective grounding rods before the bus section was energized. Then, a substation operator failed to engage the protective relays that signal the circuit breaker to open when there is a fault on the bus.

As electricity went to ground, substantial power fluctuations occurred, tripping Hunters Point and Potrero power plants off line and setting off transmission circuit breakers from San Mateo to San Francisco.

During March and June, the ISO and the Western Systems Coordinating Council made recommendations after their investigations. Of the 35 recommendations in these reports, the company has implemented 31 so far. The company has worked closely with the ISO on all these recommendations, says Rod Maslowski, manager of electric transmission planning and operations.

The Consumer Services Division of the CPUC, City and County of San Francisco and the Office of Ratepayer Advocates also submitted reports as part of this investigation, recommending corrective actions.

"The company's corrective actions have been substantial, but the overall effort is still a work in progress," says Maslowski.

He says the reason so many different procedures have been adopted or revised is due to the complex nature of operating an electric transmission system.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 04, 1999

Answers

Gee it only took a year to bring the truth out. I work in San Mateo County and remember P.G. & E., had a hell of a time in locating the problem, as well as fixing it. This past weekend I listen to Bill Wottenberg (sic) the radio promotes him as the Worlds Smartest Man, this young man calls in w/the usual scientific question, and at the end Bill ask the man what he did for a living and the man said "Just got laid off at P.G. & E." Bill thought that was incredible, inasmuch as this man knew more than the average degree person, and told the man he need not worry about finding a new job. All I can say is follow the money folks.

-- Judy (Dodgeball@elc.com), November 04, 1999.

Judy,

I doubt that Wattenberg is really the worlds smartest man. Last time I heard him he was ridiculing people for preparing for Y2K. Time will tell.....

-- cavscout (hunkering@down.now), November 04, 1999.

cavscout--I agree with you on that. I have heard him many a time making fun of people who are preparing for Y2K. But, Mr. Wattenburg (sp?), lives in a very rural town called Quincy, CA (not too far from me), on top of a mountain. Don't kid yourself about him, he is a survivalist and was born and raised in the woods. Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 04, 1999.

This may be only part of the problem with Pacific Greed & Electric. I invite you to read my essay, "Connecting With PG&E," on my website. http://www.homestead.com/buttecounty2k for some info I've found on the utility's (literal) criminal actions. Fromthe index page click onto page 2 (at bottom) to go to topics and the PG&E piece. Also in the essay is a report forwarded to me about the Calif Senate's Y2K meeting with the utilities. Not very encouraging.

Please do check this out, and pass the word on to other PG&E customers, with the advice to buy more batteries soon.

-- johno (jobriy2k@yahoo.com), November 05, 1999.

Real greed is someone who sits at home getting a welfare check (the Cocoa Puff Crowd), and screams and yells that it isn't enough.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 05, 1999.