I just read a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000blH">Did anyone else see this about Florida Power? and have to vent. We've discussed this topic at least a dozen times ON THIS FORUM, and yet people HERE still don't get it (no offense Flagirl). Now, if people HERE still don't understand, what does J. Q. Public, and the media think? Mike Lang is right, turn on the spin. The April 10 headline will be "POWER GRID PASSES Y2K TEST", and everybody will say, "See, this whole Y2K thing is nothing!" <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 15, 1999

Answers

Damn. Did anyone else see this about Florida Power? . I'm going to bed! <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 15, 1999.

This is exactly Rick Cowles' complaint. At best, NERC didn't make the purpose of this exercise as clear as they should have. At worst, it's a deliberate effort to misrepresent what they're doing in order to create a very false impression.

NERC's failure to clarify this confusion is reprehensible.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), March 15, 1999.

Without going back to the previous thread, let's consider this:

Fla. power and Orlando Utilities are recommending that you be prepared for outages on 4/9. Great PR, for a couple of reasons:

• They emote sincere concern (for press and public consumption)
• It generates publicity that they would have never received - how many people, beyond this and a few other Y2K forums, even know that NERC is orchestrating a Y2K drill on 4/9/1999? (Thanks, Flint, for clarifying this...)

..and then when nothing happens (we know nothing is going to happen), everyone goes, "Whew! Made it!". The press laps it up, reports on a successful test by OUC and FPL, and the sheeple remain asleep at the wheel.

Look at what happened up in Toronto a few weeks back with Ontario Hydro's midnight test - same thing. They stopped the subways in advance of the test, had hospitals and emergency services on standby power, and wham, no bad things happened when they did the test. They knew nothing would happen, but it generated great publicity for an event no one would have known anything about. And it the publicity was framed in a context of "concern for the public".

-- Night (y2k_nightmare@my-dejanews.com), March 15, 1999.

There's no substantiation for this statement by Florida Power. Please get confirmation by URL or other reputable source before making assumptions on hearsay like this.

-- cite sources or keep your mouth shut (rumorkiller@get.real), March 15, 1999.

Rumorkiller - One can not always supply a URL from a TV news story. We do have several on the NERC test.

Night - That's my point. What makes this forum wonderful is the resources we have here. We can answer just about any question. However, the vast majority of the people aren't even on the internet, let alone hanging out in a Y2K forum. Who do they have to answer their questions? Who do they have to help them read between the happy-face lines, and find the real story? Most people watch the 6:00 news, and take it as gospel. And we all know what, if anything, the news is saying. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 15, 1999.

Look at what happened up in Toronto a few weeks back with Ontario Hydro's midnight test - same thing. They stopped the subways in advance of the test, had hospitals and emergency services on standby power, and wham, no bad things happened when they did the test. They knew nothing would happen, but it generated great publicity for an event no one would have known anything about. And it the publicity was framed in a context of "concern for the public".

As someone who lives in Toronto and was affected by the test, precisely what was wrong with them doing a live test of a compliant system? Would you suggest they not test at all? Would you suggest that hospitals and subways not have a contingency plan? Do you see this test as some sort of conspiracy? If so, why?

-- Toronto Bob (torontobob@cyb***.ca), March 15, 1999.

It does seem that Ontrio Hydro actually did something (i.e. rolled clocks forward) in some part of the power generation or distribution process. That would make it fundamentally different than NERC's April 9 performance.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), March 15, 1999.

Digging a bit further, it now seems unclear whether the Toronto test was real or simulated. From:

http://www.hydro.on.ca/OHNewSit.nsf/Public/NewsMar699

News From Ontario Hydro, March 7, 1999

Ontario Hydro has successfully completed a "Year 2000" (Y2K) test of its high voltage transmission system serving Toronto Hydro low voltage distribution facilities in the central and western part of Toronto.

The time shift test occurred last night at midnight as date-sensitive equipment controlled by the Manby Transformer Station on Kipling Avenue was rolled forward to January 1, 2000 without any interruption to electricity supply.

(So far, it seems like a test.)

"The success of this simulation reflects the tremendous amount of work our staff have been doing in testing our critical systems," explained Bill Imms, Director, Year 2000 Ontario Hydro External Liaison. "Managing the Y2K issue is a top priority for Ontario Hydro, and this test is a big step towards ensuring a seamless transition into the year 2000 and minimizing the potential for customer inconvenience."

(Now it seems like a simulation!)

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), March 15, 1999.

A simulation is the same as a test is it not? What definitions are you going by? If the dates are rolled forward ie simulating the year 2000 then your testing your systems ability to function at that time.

It would be interesting to see the results of Ontario Hydros test and how they went about coordinating thier date rollowver. Could prove usefull to anyone facing this problem curently.

nyc

-- nyc (nycnyc@hotmail.com), March 15, 1999.

FPL is buying out CMP in Maine.

-- Darlene (boomer@tdstelme.net), March 15, 1999.