[UTILITIES] 'could we also experience "Y2K babies" as well?'
'Opening Statement of Congresswoman Constance A. Morella
Chairwoman
Subcommittee on Technology
House Committee on Science
"MILLENNIUM SHORT CIRCUIT: Y2K EFFECT ON ENERGY UTILITIES"
Thursday, May 14 1998
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building
________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the eighth hearing on the Year 2000 computer problem by the Technology Subcommittee.
Today we are focusing on the effect of the computer glitch on, perhaps, the most fundamental necessity
of our modern society - electrical energy.
Energy provided by our electric utilities is a critical catalyst to the operations of virtually every sector of
our nation's economy.
If power shuts down, the rest of our society will shut down in its wake.
The Year 2000 problem, if left unaddressed, has the potential to short circuit our nation's power sources
and severely disrupt the delivery of energy to the American public through systematic power failures.
The fact is, we already know the consequences of power failures and the devastating impact they cause
to our economy and our quality of life.
Whenever a storm or a blizzard or a tornado knocks down power lines and cuts off electricity for a
period of time, we are experiencing a power failure.
As a result, we have experienced catastrophic business interruptions.
We have experienced safety hazards on the streets when traffic lights cease to operate.
We have experienced public transportation systems, such as subways, literally stop in their tracks.
We have experienced the dangers of civil unrest.
And we have even experienced a spike in the birthrate nine months after a blackout.
Which makes me wonder: Just as there have been "blackout babies," could we also experience "Y2K
babies" as well?
This afternoon's hearing may not answer that question directly, but we will seek to:
determine the business vulnerabilities, system risks, and safety issues presented by the Year
2000 computer problem on energy utilities;
discuss the strategies being employed to avoid interruptions in the normal delivery of power to
American homes and businesses; and,
review the potential Year 2000 impact on the delivery and distribution of our nation's current
electric supply grid and the contingency plans necessary should it fail.
I would also like to use this hearing to puncture some of the common myths regarding energy utilities -
like the misperception that the Year 2000 problem has the potential to cause a "China Syndrome"
scenario for a nuclear power plant, and other fallacies that only serve to incite the public into hysteria.
Today, I am very pleased that we have a very distinguished panel of witnesses before us.
I would like to welcome: Mr. Hugh L. Thompson, Jr., the Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory
Programs of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Ms. Kathleen M. Hirning, Chief Information Officer
of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Mr. John L. Laakso, Executive Director of the Texas
Public Utilities Commission; Mr. Kenneth P. Cohn, Computer Services Manager of Potomac Electric
Power Company (PEPCO) of Washington, D.C.; and, Mr. Richard Cowles, an utilities Year 2000 expert
and the creator of an Internet website on this issue.
At the conclusion of this hearing, I want us to have answered, to the extent that we can, the role, if any,
the Federal Government should play in reducing the risk associated with the Year 2000 problem, and
how Year 2000 compliance can be coordinated through the myriad of regulatory bodies that control
energy utilities.
I look forward to examining these issues with our witnesses today and I now turn to the Ranking
Member of the subcommittee, Mr. Barcia of Michigan, for his opening statement.
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