In my last electric bill from ComEd, there was the usual statement stuffer. In it, there was a small Y2K readiness statement with a paragraph that read:

"Throughout 1999, ComEd will proceed with contingency planning efforts, including particpation in a nation-wide NERC-sponsored electric utility Y2K readiness drill on September 9, and our own internal drills..."

My initial thought was, why are they doing a drill on 9/9/99, a date that is supposed to be a possible problem date?

Has anyone else heard of this utility drill?

Thanks for the info!

-- Dale R. (dale@spicreative.com), August 31, 1999

Answers

Yup, it's true. Picked 9/9/99 just like they picked 4/9/99 (99th day) to run a well orchastrated drill. In April they all picked up the phones at the same time and declared that since they had a dial tone, it was a huge success. This time they will probably all set their watches ahead, yell "happy new year!" and surmize that the computers still work, declare it a massive success. The press will have their spin cords pulled and everyone will do the polly spin dance in celebration.

-- Bill (tinfoil@deserthat.com), August 31, 1999.

Dale,

I received that stuffer as well, I liked the 800 number to call to report outages.

I hope the phones are working...

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Here's a link:

NERC DRILLS

-- sandi (sandihere@mailcity.com), August 31, 1999.

Yea, the next great non-event.

I can just see it now. The last great polly attack:::

9/9/99 and nothing happened!

Another Bad Prediction...

Face it, no problem.

When are you TINFOILS ever going to learn?

...

Well, I just made up my mind. I'll be back on 1999-09-12. Most of the crap should be on the bottom by then.

Tick... Tock... <:00=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Working in 2000, that is.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Sysman:

While I agree that 9/9/99 is meaningless in terms of programming errors, this does NOT mean that the NERC drill is equally meaningless. Nor does the julian 99999 on April 9 being a non-event, mean that the NERC drills on that data were meaningless either.

Bill up there is doing the pessimists no favors by making them look as stupid as he does, as sandi's links amply demonstrate. Yeah, I think NERC's selection of those dates was a combination of grandstanding (if no problems) and CYA (if there were problems) and probably detracts from the drills themselves. But it should be pretty obvious that contingency plans that are not practiced, aren't much better than no plans at all.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), August 31, 1999.

Howdy Flint,

Long time, no chat.

I think it's interesting that you and I often think alike, considering some of the remarks here that suggest you on one side of the scale, and me on the other.

I don't know where to go with this from here. Can I but you a beer?

Tick... Tock... <:00=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

That's BUY you a beer! <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Flint, you old wet blanket you. Betcha you're a blast a parties, probably run around telling everyone the hosts are pouring cheap booze, and that the appetizers are were on sale at Sam's Club.

The drill in April was a setup from the word go. They were told what to report before the drill and all but admitted in was a publicity stunt. Have not seen any reason why this one won't be the same.

Last October my local utility admitted that while they hoped to be able to test each system independently, they would not be able to test all remediated systems together. They only hoped they could test them separately.

Recently, while loading up our car from Y2K shopping, a lady pulled up next to us, commented on our purchases and asked if we were preparing. She said she was doing the same, that her next door neighbor was a programmer for the power company, and told her to stock up as there was no way they were going to finish. While hardly concrete proof, the utility's quarterly reports state all the happy faced lawyer mumbo jumbo that all they rest do.

Call me suspicious of govt agencies, but the welfare of my family is the most important priority I have. If not for a sense of humor about this whole thing, I would be looking for a rubber room about now.

So everyone, all together: one, two, spin-spin-spin.....

-- Bill (tinfoil@deserthat.com), August 31, 1999.

Bill:

By now, I must conclude that you really do know what a drill is, and you are simply lying. I hate to draw that conclusion, but given that the links to what the drills were for, are right there in front of your face and you continue to lie, what else can I conclude.

But in case your convictions were so shaky that you decided NOT to read the truth for fear of being contradicted, I'll try to help. These are DRILLS! OK? They aren't tests. The results are known, and pre-defined, because drills are practice sessions. These are like the fire drills you might have gone through in high school. The purpose is to practice getting out of the building safely and quickly, and to learn who to follow and where to go.

You sound like some misinformed student running through the halls yelling IT'S A FAKE, PEOPLE! THERE'S *NO FIRE*! IT'S A FAKE!

Hey Bill, let me clue you in. Everyone knew there wasn't any fire. Everyone knew it was a practice session. And NERC's drills are JUST THE SAME! OK? They are choreographed, practiced, deliberate practice sessions. They are NOT 'fake tests'. They are DRILLS. Sheesh.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), August 31, 1999.

Flint,

Jeez, once again we agree, it is a drill.

But, maybe I'll give you odds here, would you care to bet that the media headlines say something like "Y2K TEST successful?

3:1 and going up!

Tick... Tock... <:00=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Sysman:

Nope, I won't bet against you. The media are no smarter than Bill here. The difference is, Bill wants to call it a test so he can claim they're faking, and the media want to call it a test so they can claim compliance has been demonstrated.

But the media aren't all that monolithic. There were some major articles following the April drill (LA Times among others, as I recall) who accurately described it as a practice session so the utility employees would know just what to do in case of communications failures, and praised them for their effort to be better prepared just in case. So it wasn't a total confusion.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), August 31, 1999.

Hi Flint,

Sorry for the delay, lost greenspun.com here for about 1/2 hour...

"major articles following the April drill"

Yup, we've got most of 'em in the archive here. So, what's different this time? Isn't this still a "drill?"?

I've got to crash. Early day, but a 5 day weekend coming up!

I'll be back!

Tick... Tock... <:00=

PS ... Do you like Heineken Dark, Flint? <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 31, 1999.

Flint, take a valium or switch to decaf. You're going to burst a blood vessel in your head. In both of my posts, I refered to the NERC events as drills.

The tests I mentioned were the ones my local utility was hoping to run. My local utility was the one that said that they couldn't test their systems all together. I even started a new paragraph to separate those thoughts. Sorry if I confused you.

-- Bill (tinfoil@deserthat.com), September 01, 1999.

PS. If you want to chew on someone Flint, why don't you flame Drudge, he called it a "test"

FROM THE DRUDGE REPORT CONTENT COPIED FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

Y2K GRID TEST SET FOR NEXT MONTH

Not that anyone would have reason to doubt anything that comes out of the mouth of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, but the real test of the nation's electric utility systems and their Y2K compatibility should come during a scheduled massive "grid test" next month.

The U.S. and Canadian power systems are ready for the year 2000 with more than 99 percent of all their critical systems repaired and tested, the North American Electric Reliability Council announced on Tuesday.

"I can't declare total victory yet," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson told reporters, "but we are quite optimistic."

The NERC reported that 99 percent of all "critical elements'' in electric supply systems have been tested -- and have passed.

All sockets now turn to a giant nationwide test of America's electrical grids, now scheduled for 9/9/99.

A successful simultaneous test of all regional power grids may convince hardcore Y2K watchers that the lights may stay on when the clock strikes and the calendar flips.

But if the electricity does goes out that day, you may want to ask Bill Richardson if there are plans to offer tax credits on generators.

-- Bill (tinfoil@deserthat.com), September 01, 1999.

Well said, Flint. Bill, Drudge got it wrong.

-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), September 01, 1999.

Lane why are you siding with Flint? Your articles on the NERC test confirm exactly what Bill said.

Furthermore, if you believe

The NERC reported that 99 percent of all "critical elements'' in electric supply systems have been tested -- and have passed.

you have a vivid imagination. There is no way they could have "tested" 99% - unless they are using a very loose definition of critical.

-- a (a@a.a), September 01, 1999.

sorry. Meant to say "NERC drill".

-- a (a@a.a), September 01, 1999.