[UTILITIES] 'Millennium bug warning to utilities
By Reuters
Special to CNET NEWS.COM
May 16, 1998, 6:30 p.m. PT
WASHINGTON--In an industry where a glitch can
leave people shivering in the dark, the nation's
electricity and fuel providers still don't know how
vulnerable they will be to Year 2000 malfunctions,
according to a federal regulator.
"The magnitude of the potential Year 2000 problem
in the regulated energy industries is not yet known,"
Kathleen Hirning, chief information officer with the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told a
House science subcommittee this week.
At the latest in a series of House hearings on the
outlook for computer failures in 2000, Hirning
outlined the complex inter-connected system of the
nation's power grid and its pipeline system for
moving natural gas and oil. "Energy companies use
computers to connect plants, refineries, district
offices, and major administrative and operational
systems that interface with large data centers,"
Hirning said at Thursday's session.
"Computers are also used to remotely control
transmission system breakers, coordinate power
generation schedules, compensate for large
transmission line breaks, and provide protection
against voltage, current and frequency fluctuations, "
she said.
A millennium mistake could affect the
microprocessors in the thousands of systems that
may be at one power plant, Hirning said. "Without
testing, the potential impact of Year 2000 errors
could cause some embedded systems to malfunction,
possibly resulting in a ripple effect across a portion
of the grid," she said.
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