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http://news.excite.com/news/r/991119/21/y2k-utilities

Thirteen U.S. utilities may not be ready for Y2K Updated 9:43 PM ET November 19, 1999

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thirteen local electrical utilities around the United States have failed to report their readiness status for computer problems that could switch off the lights at the end of the year, the Energy Department said Friday. But the department said in a statement that bulk and local utilities serving 99.99 percent of the population were ready for the end of the year."

"Today we are releasing the names of 13 municipal utilities, serving 1,937 customers, that still have not reported on their Y2K readiness status," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said. "By releasing names, we're hoping to apply pressure."

"Y2K is shorthand for the Year 2000 computer bug, in which older computer programs that use only two digits to represent the year may fail to recognize 2000 or mistake it for 1900."

"Every sector of the U.S. economy has launched a major drive to correct the problem, which could potentially cause breakdowns in all areas of modern life controlled by computers, from traffic signals to electrical power."

"Richardson said his department had been working flat out "from Maine to Moscow" to prepare for Y2K. "The Energy Department is aggressively working in partnership with industry to assure Americans that their lights will stay on past midnight on New Year's Eve," he said."

"The utilities that have failed to report their status are:"

"--Electrical District No. 8, Maricopa County (Phoenix, Ariz.)"

"--Tuolumne County Public Power Agency (Sonora, Calif.)"

"--Declo Municipal Electric Department (Declo, Idaho)"

"--Albion Light & Water Plant (Albion, Idaho)"

"--Seward Electric Department (Seward, Kansas)"

"--Radium Light Department (Radium, Kansas)"

"--Isabel City Electric Department (Isabel, Kansas)"

"--City of Herndon (Herndon, Kansas)"

"--Town of Whalan (Whalan, Minn.)"

"--Mansfield Municipal Light System (Mansfield, Mo.)"

"--Elk Creek Light & Water Department (Elk Creek, Neb.)"

"--Holbrook Municipal Light Plant (Holbrook, Neb.)"

"--Custar Board of Public Affairs (Custar, Ohio)"

Well, I'm real glad to hear that "...their lights will stay on past midnight on New Year's Eve,". My question is HOW LONG past midnight? :-)

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), November 21, 1999

Answers

Response to Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

Odd, the Pentagon building with its frantic installation of solar operated generators isn't located in those areas.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 21, 1999.

Response to Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

How might this impact the grid?

-- Susan Barrett (sue59@bellsouth.net), November 21, 1999.

Response to Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

Deb, thank you for this post but I have a question. You started this thread with the following statement:

Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

In reading this article I could find nothing that suggested these utilities would go out. They simply have not filed their readiness reports and YOU made the quantum leap to say these utilities would go out. Please, in the future try not to bring this sort of misinformation onto the forum. It destroys our credibility, not to mention yours.

-- Lurking (here@and.there), November 21, 1999.

Response to Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

Oops, I really blundered this time. Sysops, please delete if you want...

These 13 utilities haven't reported their Y2K readiness, the report doesn't indicate that they're EXPECTED to fail.

I apologize for the inaccurate title and misleading assumption. (Pssst - Thanks "Here and There"!)

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), November 21, 1999.

Response to Utilities that are expected to go OUT:

It's more than 1,937 customers, is that an error?

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 21, 1999.

How many companies does it take to be "out" before it effects the grid as a whole.

-- Linda Arnold (adahi@muhlon.com), November 21, 1999.

This will not effect the grid system. These companies will be required to go "manual" on all their circuit reclosers in their substations come the new year. This will mean longer outage times should you live past a field recloser. The grid will not see a problem. The customers on these power systems named will see longer outage times.

-- TP (Powerlineman@power.com), November 21, 1999.

I need to know how to track down Electric District No. 8.

As far as I know, the Phoenix area is served by Arizona Public Service and the Salt River Project, both of whom are cooperating with both Federal and State Governments. I wonder whether this district is a small power distribution entity in some remote Valley location.

Any help in tracking this down would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), November 21, 1999.

K. Stevens,

Some low-tech ideas for tracking down the mysterious district:

* Contact the Department of Energy

* Contact your representative(s) in the State Legislature

* Contact a reference librarian

Even if none of these pan out, they will have resulted in some of our tax dollars having been spent on a worthwhile pursuit. 8^)

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), November 21, 1999.

K. Stevens - Exactly so, APS & SRP run the show in the Valley of the Sun. Utility No. 8 has to be next to insignificant but significant enough to make a list, how about that!!!

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), November 21, 1999.