This is what the government said 100 days
prior to the roll-over to the year 2000.

INVESTIGATING THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM:
THE 100 DAY REPORT

ELECTRIC UTILITIES

In addition to the computer systems
used for record keeping and billing,
it takes a high degree of automation
to operate the grid power control
Of greater concern to the electric
power industry are embedded
computers small electronic chips or
control devices. These chips are
used extensively in all parts of the
electric power industry, including
generating plants, transmission lines,
distribution systems, and power
control systems. Even though only a
small number of these embedded
devices will have a Y2K problem, it
is impossible to tell which will
malfunction until each chip has
been checked and tested a time-
consuming venture.

. . .

In general, nuclear facilities contain
very old analog technology and,
accordingly, have fewer Y2K issues
than the more digital and modern
fossil fuel facilities. Nevertheless,
assessments to date have revealed
varying degrees of problems in areas
such as plant process control, feed
water monitoring, refueling, turbine
control, and building security and
access control. These problems should
not affect plant safety but they could
cause electricity production problems.

Notwithstanding this reassuring fact,
the Committee continues to believe
that local outages are a distinct
possibility. Many electric utilities
will not complete their remediation
activities until later in the year.
This reduces their opportunity to
participate in industry readiness
exercises and limits their time to
address unexpected failures.

OIL AND GAS UTILITIES

The oil and gas sectors face a
variety of Y2K problems in their
administrative systems, as well as
in the microprocessors, controllers,
and other computer chips embedded in
the production, transportation and
distribution systems used in this
industry.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), March 04, 2001