PG&E billing insert:

"Y2K Briefing"

Pacific Gas and Electric Company fully expects January 1, 2000, to be a day like any other day. We have assessed, tested and remediated thousands of pieces of equipment, and so far have found nothing that would hamper our ability to be Y2K-ready well before year-end.

Except for a very few systems going through final testing or implementation, we have completed the long process of making all of our software, hardware and embedded systems Year 2000 ready. Most, if not all, of the exceptions will be resolved this month, and we expect to easily meet the November 1 date for formally certifying our Year 2000 readiness to the California PUC. Next, we'll complete quality assurance reviews, conduct more "tabletop" drills and fine-tune our contingency plans.

We encourage you to make your own contingency plans, too, taking into account your special needs, as you would for any other potential emergency such as a storm or earthquake. Questions? Visit out Y2K website at www.pge.com/2000, or write to: Y2K Information Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 770000, Mail Code B290, San Francisco, CA 94177." Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 26, 1999

Answers

Fingers crossed, bardou!

(And hoping Intel and the rest of the Silicon Valley "biggies" have been leaning on PG&E... REAL hard!)

But then again... as a reminder... a sign I saw in the local Morman preparation store...

PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Company) says...

When the Hayward Fault snaps, expect to be without power, lights, gasoline, water & natural gas for 2 to 8 weeks... until services can be repaired!

Words to remember.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 26, 1999.

Great news, Diane. I think the power companies are ready, particularly in those areas with basically fair weather, like California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington State. Banks, too.

I'm mostly concerned about smaller manufacturing and distribution firms that have become increasingly dependent on computers more or less in a haphazard way. Also, I want to see the railroads operate before I'm ready to believe they are ready. Ditto with petroleum and Natural gas.

That local Mormon prep store...is it part of a chain with a name? We have a fairly large Mormon population but i've never heard of such a store.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), September 26, 1999.

The difference between this Y2K disclosure from all the others, is the fact that PG&E did not mention the readiness of their vendors this time. In previous disclaimers PG&E's John Greer is quoted as saying: "But there are no absolutes in this game. PG&E's Year 2000 readiness depends, in part, upon the readiness of all other organizations that make up PG&E's business chain." PG&E sent out over 2000 compliance questionnaires to all critical suppliers and business partners. PG&E Week, October 5, 1998 I have not seen nor heard about the progress their vendors have made in their remediation programs.

Several of the power plants here in California have been sold to other energy providers such as Duke Energy. They are in the process of selling some of their hydro power plants but that won't take place until next year. PG&E has been forced to sell their power plants due to deregulation here in California.

The electric grid is all tied together, and I hope all these happy good news briefings we have been getting is the truth.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 26, 1999.

The following is from "THE KIPLINGER CALIFORNIA LETTER" dated Sept. 15, 1999:

"Is California running low on its supply of electricity? Yes. State has pretty much reached its power-supply limits. That's because the state has been quite slow in building new plants...relying instead on electricity surpluses imported from other states.

Consumers can expect a roller-coaster ride on electric prices.

Industrial users will see more interruptions of power supplies. Electric power deregulation means higher prices in times of high demand. Businesses and others who opted for cuts in service to lower their bills will have to juggle their consumption of power during peak usage periods.

Help is on the way. 20 electric power plants are in the works. But it will be slow in coming. Only two of those power plants have received the needed approvals from the Calif. Energy Commission.

Meanwhile, things will be touch and go for electricity users. Power was interrupted five times last year as a result of Stage 2 alerts. A Stage 3 emergency would mean rolling brownouts or even power blackouts."

So.....PG&E is Y2K Ready-they just won't have any power to distribute. Either that or else Southern California Edison Company is the one really on the skids. Since the last I heard, Northern California has been unsucessful in their attempt to secede from Southern California, sounds like both power entities may have some other difficulties they are not disclosing to the populous.

-- Sharon L (sharonl@volcano.net), September 26, 1999.

"Even if our gas and electric systems perform flawlessly, we depend on the reliability of other entities in todays energy industry. To deliver power to our customers, we rely upon the California Independent System Operator (ISO) which controls the operation of the States electrical transmission system. The ISO depends on the proper operation of various transmission systems to which it is connected throughout the western part of the US and Canada. Also, the Power Exchange (PX) buys and sells power for us; it relies on many other power plants that must function properly to provide power needed at any time. We also rely upon gas suppliers, marketers and shippers in order to deliver gas to customers".

PG&E Website Sunday 9/25/99 15:11:00

Doesn't exactly give me the warm fuzzys but then I don't buy power, I make it....DCK

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), September 26, 1999.

March 16th, 1999 a PG&E rep reported at a local Board of Supervisors meeting I attended that they had spend - to date - about 30% of their Y2K budget.

From their 10Q

Our Year 2000 project is generally proceeding on schedule. The following table indicates our Year 2000 progress as of July 26, 1999.

Year 2000 Readiness of Mission-Critical Items... Certification occurs when mission-critical systems are formally determined to be Year 2000 ready. "Year 2000 ready" means that a system is suitable for continued use into the year 2000.

Remediation Testing Certification Completed Completed Completed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In-house software 100% 99% 99% Vendor software 100% 100% 100% Embedded systems 100% 100% 81% Computer hardware 100% 100% 100%

The percentages above reflect approximations based on a uniform reporting system that combines subsidiary results to provide a consistent, corporate- wide view and are derived using standard rounding conventions. Even where 100% is reported, there may be remaining items. Moreover, changes in inventories, or issues uncovered in subsequent phases for an item previously reported as completed, may lead to downward adjustments in percentages from period to period. Even after systems are certified, we are continuing various kinds of validation and quality assurance efforts, and may do so into the year 2000.

The Utility routinely reports Year 2000 progress to the CPUC, North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Utility has notified NERC and the NRC that it is Year 2000 ready, with limited exceptions.

As of June 30, 1999, we estimate total costs to address Year 2000 problems to be $223 million,...Through June 1999, we spent approximately $166 million, of which $91 million was capitalized.

[74%]

Based on our current schedule for the completion of Year 2000 tasks, we expect to secure Year 2000 readiness of our mission-critical systems by the end of the third quarter of 1999. However, as our current schedule is partially dependent on the efforts of third parties, their delays and other factors we are not able to predict, may cause our schedule to change.

[THIS IS INTERESTING...]

Although we expect our efforts and those of our external parties to be successful, given the complex interaction of today's computing and communications systems, we cannot be certain we will be completely successful. Accordingly, we have considered the most reasonably likely worst case Year 2000 scenarios that could affect us or the Utility, and we believe that they mainly involve public overreaction before and during the New Year period that could create localized telephone problems due to congestion, temporary gasoline shortages, and curtailment of natural gas usage by customers.

[So.... if they have any problems... its OUR fault. Did you have any doubt?]

In addition, it is reasonably likely that there will be minor technical failures such as localized telephone outages [this is PG&E, right?.. not PacBell... lotta emphasis on phone service, huh? Thought they already tested backup communications and loudly proclaimed everything hunkydory.].. and small isolated malfunctions in our computer systems that will be immediately repaired.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), September 26, 1999.

Let me try that chart again.. trying a block quote:

Year 2000 Readiness of Mission-Critical Items

Remediation Testing Certification Completed Completed Completed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In-house software 100% 99% 99% Vendor software 100% 100% 100% Embedded systems 100% 100% 81% Computer hardware 100% 100% 100%

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), September 26, 1999.

oh well... nevermind. See the link if you are interested.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), September 26, 1999.