Resume Man's view of his own Utility to the end.greenspun.com : LUSENET : TB2K spinoff uncensored : One Thread |
TXU FACTS VS. STEVIE HELL-R
READ THE "30 YEAR EXPERT'S" SO-CALLED "EVALUATION" /OPINION (LEFT ON HIS WEB SITE LONG AFTER THE TEXAS UTILITIES POST BELOW).
WHO'S JUDGEMENT IS QUESTIONABLE?? TXU WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE LINE OR A "STEVE HELLER" WHO'S "EXPERTISE" ON UTILITY COMPANIES COMES FROM WHAT?? A FREAKING 1997 TALK AT A LUNCH OF A PROFESSIONAL I.T. GROUP THAT I, WROTE THE Y2K WEB SITE FOR AS A VOLUNTEER??
TAKE YOUR CHOICE: TXU VS: HELLER'S PAGE ON TEXAS UTILITES FROM HIS **"NEW"** y2K WEB SITE:
NOTE THE FREAKING DATE: (9/19/97) IN NON-KAPP-COMPLIANT ..*** TWO yy FORM***:
http://www.koyote.com/users/stheller/y2k70921.htm
A report on electric utilities and the Year 2000 problem
by Steve Heller
Susan and I went to a meeting of the Dallas-Fort Worth Data Administration Management Association Year 2000 users group today (9/19/97). The main speaker was Bob Schuster, the system test manager for the Year 2000 Information Technology project at Texas Utilities (TU). He was accompanied by John Carrier, the Y2K program manager for TU, which is the holding company for a number of electric utilities.
His presentation was interesting on a number of counts:
They are taking this situation very seriously and have a comprehensive plan for remediating and testing all of their business systems. The plan is well underway and they expect to be done by the end of next year, which allows all of 1999 for integration testing.
They originally planned to divide all programs into two groups: "assumed compliant" and "assumed non-compliant". The programs in the former group were those written from scratch after all the databases and other tools they used were compliant. Unfortunately, they discovered that there weren't any programs that could be assumed to be compliant, because even those programs that used only compliant tools had been written in such a way that they weren't compliant. An example of the latter was that the underlying database uses 4-digit years, but the programmer copied the year value to a 2-digit field and then did date arithmetic with it. Therefore, they have to treat all programs as being non-compliant.
They are going to be using windowing techniques (treating every two-digit year value xx from a certain year onward as meaning 19xx, and every two-digit date before that number as meaning 20xx). Although they recognize that it would be better to expand all the dates to use 4-digit years, they are taking this windowing approach because they have 66,000 files that contain two-digit year dates. If they were to expand the dates, they wouldn't be able to put the programs back in service as they were fixed, but would have to maintain two sets of programs and two sets of files until everything was done. They don't have enough resources to do that.
This group will not be able to fix anything that isn't Y2K related. Any other errors found in the code will be thrown back to the development groups for fixing, because they don't have enough time to do that.
They are not going to do any capacity testing to make sure that the programs will still be able to handle the load after making fixes to the year calculations, because they don't have enough time to do that.
But possibly the most interesting thing was what he did not mention: how they were doing with their embedded controller problems, which of course are the kinds of problems that would stop power from being produced or distributed. Here is a nearly verbatim rendition of the exchange that followed when I asked about this issue about half-way into the meeting:
Q: What are you doing about your embedded systems exposure?
A: We have just begun the assessment phase for our embedded systems exposure. Every piece of equipment that has a microprocessor in it will have to be tested and possibly fixed. We don't know how big a task this will be yet, because we haven't finished the assessment phase.
Q: But why didn't you start the embedded systems work first? What good will it do you if you get every business system fixed but you can't generate or distribute power?
A: We can't figure that out either.
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http://www.txu.com/contentwithtoc.asp?section=05&page=0501
Year 2000 FAQ - June, 1999
Q. What is the overall status of the TXU Year 2000 effort at the end of May? TXU's monthly report to the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) indicates that remediation and testing of mission critical items is at 93%.
Q. What is the readiness status, at the end of May, of TXU's fossil-fueled steam generating plants? Forty-seven (47) of TXU's fifty-three (53) fossil steam generating units have been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. The generating units are capable of producing 15,500 Megawatts, nearly 30% more than TXU's normal load requirements for the January 1st timeframe.
Work on the remaining six (6) units is scheduled to be complete by the end of June.
Q. What is the status of the facilities from which TXU purchases power? TXU has 1,164 Megawatts of generation under contract for purchased power. Based on the reports provided to NERC by the companies that operate these facilities, 816 Megawatts have been determined to be Y2K Ready. 270 Megawatts will be upgraded during a Fall scheduled overhaul. The contract on the remaining 78 Megawatts of purchased capacity will expired in September 1999.
Previously released information:
Q. What is the readiness status, at the end of April, of Texas Utilities' fossil-fueled steam generating plants? Forty (40) of Texas Utilities' fifty-three (53) fossil-fueled steam generating units have been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. Testing on the remaining thirteen (13) units is scheduled to be completed by June 1999.
Q. What is readiness status of Texas Utilities' quick start combustion turbines? All fifteen (15) identical combustion turbines in TU's generation fleet have been determined to be Y2K Ready. These combustion turbines make up approximately 4 % of TU's generation capabilities.
Q. How much of Texas Utilities generation equipment is Y2K Ready? Texas Utilities already has over 13,000 Megawatts of generating equipment ready for the Year 2000. TU's normal load requirement for the January 1st timeframe is approximately 12,000 Megawatts. By the end June, nearly 20,000 Megawatts of generating equipment is scheduled to be Y2K Ready.
Q. What is the status of Texas Utilities mission critical business applications such as finance and accounting, procurement and inventory systems, customer information systems and personnel systems? TU's core mission critical business systems have been tested and certified compliant for the span of century. Enhancements to these systems will continue to be tested and verified compliant until the application code is frozen from additional changes later this year.
Q. What is the status of TU's mainframe computer hardware? TU's mainframe computer hardware has received all necessary upgrades to make it Y2K Ready. All hardware associated with TU's data center has been assessed as being Y2K Ready. Testing of the hardware and mainframe software is being planned for later this year to verify compliance.
Q. How much of the embedded system testing work is complete in your fossil-fueled steam generating plants? Thirty-three (33) of Texas Utilities' fossil-fueled steam generating plants have been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. Testing on the remaining twenty (20) units is planned for the spring overhaul season of 1999 with anticipated completion by June 1999.
Fifteen (15) fossil-fueled steam generating units have been tested for critical dates "on-line" while generating electricity. No significant problems have been identified during either "on-line" or "off-line" testing.
Q. Does Texas Utilities utilize quick start combustion turbines in its generation equipment and what is their status? TU has fifteen (15) identical combustion turbines in its generation fleet. These combustion turbines make up approximately 4 % of TU's generation capabilities. Five (5) of the fifteen (15) CT's have been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. The remaining units are scheduled to be tested and verified Y2K Ready by the end of April 1999.
Q. What remediation work has been identified as a result of assessment and testing of equipment in the Transmission Business Unit? The current transmission system control and data acquisition software and hardware (SCADA) has been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. However, a new system is scheduled to be fully operational by the Fall of 1999. This new system is currently undergoing Y2K testing.
No remediation of transmission relay systems has been necessary. Testing has shown all protective relay systems to be Y2K Ready. Some upgrades to Digital Fault Recording (DFR) equipment have been performed to improve data flow and to increase TU's ability to analyze transmission faults. These systems were Y2K Ready prior to the upgrade and remain Y2K Ready.
Q. What remediation work has been identified as a result of assessment and testing of equipment in the Lone Star Gas distribution system? The gas system control and data acquisition software (SCADA) has been tested and determined to be Y2K compliant. There are a small number of Remote Terminal Units (RTU's) that interface with SCADA that will be upgraded. This work is scheduled for completion by June 1999.
Q. What remediation work has been identified as a result of the assessment and testing of equipment in the TU Electric distribution system? The TU Electric system control and date acquisition software and hardware has been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. There are no mission critical field devices scheduled for replacement. Software upgrades are planned for various diagnostic systems. Some meters are also being upgraded. All work is scheduled for completion by June 1999.
Q. What remediation work has been identified as a result of the assessment and testing of equipment in the Pipeline Business Unit? The two gas control application systems are being upgraded; one to eliminate potential Y2K impacts and the other due to obsolescence. Approximately 10% of the electronic flow meters will be upgraded. Fourteen (14) Remote Terminal Units (RTU's) will be replaced. Firmware upgrades have also been installed on RTU's throughout the pipeline system to ensure Y2K readiness. In addition to device testing and remediation, integrated site testing is being performed at several key storage and mainline compression locations.
Approximately 95% of the testing work in the Pipeline Business Unit has been completed. The remaining testing work is scheduled to be complete by June 1999.
Q. What operational components of the Lone Star Pipeline and TUFCO systems are being reviewed for operational readiness, as part of your Year 2000 program? TU is carefully scrutinizing all aspects of the gas receipt, transmission, and delivery process. This includes service to industrial end-users and interconnecting pipelines.
Q. Relative to the Year 2000 program, what is being done to insure reliable gas flow on the Lone Star Pipeline and TUFCO systems? TU is reviewing all its operations (including Pipeline-related) for embedded systems that have microprocessors which use 'date' logic.
Q. Do you expect any problems with fuel delivery to Texas Utilities power plants as a result of Year 2000? Approximately 15% of our generation is produced by nuclear fuel, 40% by lignite coal, 35% by natural gas and the remainder is purchased power.
Our nuclear units will be refueled in 1999 and will not require refueling until late in the year 2000.
Assessment work thus far in our mining operation has not identified any equipment that is affected by the Y2K issue.
We are working with our gas suppliers to determine the reliability of their fuel supplies. We expect no problems and strict safety measures are in place.
Q. What work is being performed at Comanche Peak? Much of the work being accomplished at Comanche Peak is being performed in conjunction with the corporate-wide Year 2000 Project. Embedded systems relating to plant control, monitoring, and emergency response are being evaluated under a Y2K plan specifically established to meet the requirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Q. What is the status of work at Comanche Peak? At Comanche Peak, inventories have been taken and detailed assessments of Y2K compliance have been performed. Several systems have been tested to determine their Y2K readiness. As a result of the assessment and testing work, nineteen (19) design modifications to the plant have been planned. These projects will be completed during the refueling outage of Unit 2 in April 1999 with one exception. The remaining project will be completed during the refueling outage of Unit 1 in September 1999.
Q. How are business applications evaluated and tested? Business applications are segregated into various modules. The modules are evaluated for Y2K compliance, any needed remediation is performed, and then they are tested. The tests are based on set criteria which includes testing on several dates with known test data. Once the modules pass all tests, they are placed back into production as compliant products. Once all modules in a system have been proven compliant, the entire system is tested and certified.
Q. How much code is being changed at Texas Utilities plants and other operations facilities? The work being performed at Texas Utilities plants and other field operations facilities is primarily embedded system work. This work is being coordinated with vendors who supplied the equipment originally. If code changes are required, generally the vendor is performing the work and supplying a compliant product to Texas Utilities.
Q. Has Texas Utilities tested embedded systems? We have tested a number of embedded systems in our plants, in our transmission and distribution areas, and in our pipeline operations. The plant tests have been end-to-end tests with all systems working together. Thus far we have found very few systems where functionality is affected as their clocks roll through the critical dates. In some cases, we see some date stamping and trending errors (which technically makes them non-compliant) but system functionality is not affected. We intend to continue to test our critical systems.
Q. How much of the embedded system testing work is complete? Twenty-five (25) of Texas Utilities' fossil steam generating plants have been tested and determined to be Y2K Ready. Testing on the remaining twenty-seven (27) units is planned for the spring overhaul season of 1999 with anticipated completion by June 1999.
Six (6) steam generating units have been tested for critical dates "on-line" while generating electricity. The results of "on-line" testing have been identical to those obtained during off-line tests.
Approximately 60% of the testing work in the Pipeline business units has been completed. The remaining testing work is scheduled to recommence following the winter peak load period and to be complete by June 1999.
Testing on equipment in the transmission and distribution areas is substantially complete and all remaining work in scheduled for completion by June 1999.
Q. Does Texas Utilities use turbine monitors to diagnose turbine vibration and other turbine conditions? Texas Utilities uses turbine supervisory and monitoring systems on all our power plants. Some are compliant and others are not. We are testing and analyzing these systems in the same manner as our other embedded systems.
Q. How is power generation managed to prevent and/or address service interruptions? Texas Utilities employees work constantly to ensure there are no interruptions. Weather has a significant impact on the load requirements of the customers in the Texas Utilities system. In moderate weather conditions, system reserves are higher than in extreme conditions. Our planning target is that we have a minimum of 15% generation reserve at all times to meet changes in load and power delivery conditions.
Q. Are there significant remediation items relating to embedded systems that remain to be completed in 1999? Due to equipment overhaul schedules, some work is being extended into 1999. Controls systems on seventeen (17) generating stations are being upgraded. Two gas control systems are being upgraded in the pipeline area. The Company's 900 megahertz radio system is planned for upgrading. All work is scheduled for completion by June 1999. The design modifications to Comanche Peak are also planned for implementation as indicated in the Q&A listed above.
This is a massive undertaking that will require a huge amount of work to accomplish. But TU began work on this project early and is well positioned to meet the challenge. The company is working hard to make a smooth, trouble-free transition to the next millennium.
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