John, IMHO - There was some far more interesting stuff contained in that article ...
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<... the electric-power industry is planning to conduct a two-day drill in September, demonstrating how utilities would deploy extra staff, if needed, on New Year's Eve. The simulation also will test power companies' abilities to communicate with each other using backup radios should telephone service be interrupted.>
The way the Washington Post reports on the Sept drill sure sounds a lot less serious than the way NERC actually describes it. Good reason for that. They described the April drill [NERC: "Initial drill will focus on personnel and communications."]
... NOT what's coming up in September.
SEPT 9: NATIONWIDE TEST OF ENTIRE NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
"The September 9, 1999 drill is expected to be a dress rehearsal for rollover from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. This drill may include reducing planned outages, modified committment of resources, redispatch of generation and transmission loading, cooperation with electric market participants, and staffing of all critical facilities. The goal would be to simulate system conditions and operating plans for the Y2K transition as closely as possible without increasing risks to personnel and equipment safety or system operating security."
NERC: ftp://www.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/y2k/drills.pdf
Good thing they're testing those back-up communication systems again. They didn't do too well IMHO first time around in April. Then again, I guess you could call that drill "successful" since it helped identify the weak links.
Message 8837831
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has scheduled a region-wide Y2K preparedness exercise on Sept. 1 that will involve the activation of emergency response teams in every local jurisdiction. COG plans to simulate several date-related computer failures, said Bruce Romer, Montgomery County's chief administrative officer. "This is not just about software and hardware," he said. "If Y2K results in an outage or a shortage, you need to be ready to deal with that from a non-computer perspective."
Smart move to do this one week BEFORE the nationwide power test.
LOL - My cousin is financial director for a major city in Fairfax county, bordering on Washington D.C. I've been the brunt of his jokes for past two years. Even as recently as this past Memorial Day picnic. He's been smirking that Y2K is no big deal. That their city government systems were Y2K compliant over a year ago. HA HA
Things should start to get pretty interesting this fall ...
DEPT OF DEFENSE - Y2K SUPPORT TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES
Memorandum from Deputy Secretary of Defense - Feb 22, 1999
"For purpose of this memorandum, the Y2K transition date period is defined to be from 1 September 1999 through 31 March 2000."
Message 8694926
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"Government and industry officials acknowledge that their contingency efforts, which assume worst-case scenarios, could breed a fear of severe social and economic disruptions at the year's end. As a result, many organizations, particularly federal agencies, have been reluctant to disclose their plans publicly ..."
washingtonpost.com
Cheryl
198 Days until 2000 - 75 Days until September |
