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DATE RELATED PROBLEMS FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES - Real Life Examples
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"Nearly all ... accidents are the result of a sequence of events. We call it a cascade. It's never one thing. There's a chain of events, one after another." --- Michael Crichton, 'Airframe'
Here's some real life examples of Y2K related issues that have been discovered in the electric utility industry. Some have happened during actual Y2K testing; others are incidental events that have direct correlation to Y2K issues.
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SUNSET FOR THE BRITISH EMPIRE?
Source: Electric Power Research Institute Proceedings from Embedded Systems Workshop, Proceedings dated 10/4/1997)
Y2K testing was conducted on a generator temperature control system at a power plant in the United Kingdom. To test for Y2K compliance, the control system clock was set to just prior to midnight, Dec. 31, 1999. Twenty seconds past midnight, the unit tripped on high generator temperature. It turns out the process value for the control valve for generator cooling is integrated over time for smoothing and when the time moved past midnight from '99 to '00, the PV was integrated over infinity. The valve closed (fail safe), tripping the unit on high generator temperature. If this were an isolated incident, the industry would evolve through the year 2000 with little difficulty. However, the algorithms used in this control system are common throughout Europe and most systems are vulnerable to the problem. Loss of numerous generating units simultaneously in the United Kingdom could be devastating to the country.
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WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
Source: NRC/NEI Meeting, 10/7/97)
During the major mid-west flooding a few years back, Nebraska Public Power District was forced to shutdown Cooper Nuclear Station - not because of a threat to the plant from the flooding, but because local emergency response teams would have been unable to respond to a nuclear emergency during the flood situation. Carry this out to the global Y2K implications, like loss of telecommunications and loss of offsite power. Bottom line - if local and state emergency response isn't working, eg. simple stuff like 911 plus nuclear emergency response communication et.al., the plants have to shut down.
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THE BILL IS IN THE MAIL
Source: Email from company staffer
Basin Electric ITRON meter reader decks and associated upload/download equipment won't jump over to Jan 1, 2000. ITRON told Basin Electric the handhelds and the up/download stations won't make it. BE was notified of this while asking ITRON about their version of automatic metter reading (AMR).
The ITRON set-up was purchased back in the late 80's or early 1990's, and it consists of electronic handheld units and docking stations that meter readers upload in the morning and download when they come back in from reading their routes. BE hasn't yet decided on anything AMR, but will first need to get new handhelds and up/download stations. ITRON has indicated that the units can be updated, but the technology is old, so strategic decisions have to be made whether to fix or replace with more current technology.
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