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Technology Stocks : Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (215)	3/14/1998 11:55:00 AM
From: David Schoenbach	Respond to of 618

I've been concerned about deregulation of electric utilities in California, and would appreciate any thoughts on what if any connection it has to Y2K. Some thoughts and questions: 1. Under deregulation, two quasi-governmental organizations have been formed in California: Independent Service Operator (ISO) and Power Exchange (PX), to serve a middle function between sellers and buyers of electricity. Does formation of these groups have any impact on who's responsible for reliable delivery of electricity? Do these groups have the resources to deal with Y2K? Can they be sued if they don't? 2. Software problems have been the cause of delays in switching to ISO and PX, which was originally scheduled for January 1, 1998, now for later this month. Is the new ISO/PX software going to be better or worse suited for Y2K compliance? 3. Under deregulation, California's "big three" electric utilities are divesting themselves of some or all of their power plants; and my electric company, PG&E, is about to close escrow on sale of three plants this month, with hopes of selling some others by the end of the year. After the sale(s), who is responsible for Y2K? Does the seller divest of all liability along with the assets? What if the buyers don't have as deep pockets for remediation (or to sue)? 4. Duke Energy is the purchaser of the three power plants being sold this month by PG&E. What's Duke's record for responsible approach to Y2K? What's PG&E's? Is there any significance in the fact that three of the directors of Duke are also directors of First Union Corp., which is trying to buy CoreStates, a Philadelphia bank in distress due to Y2K? phillynews.com:80/inquirer/98/Mar/04/business/CASS04.htm Could there be a strategy, spearheaded by one or more of these common directors, to buy big companies or plants in Y2K distress? Why - are they just betting it will go away, or do they have a plan for massive remediation efforts? 5. What are State and Federal governments doing about Y2K here in California? What's the California PUC doing to assure that Y2K doesn't cause significant disruption of electric service? What is the Federal DOE doing? Their Y2K web pages make reference only to fixing their own systems; are they providing no oversight to utility companies? It has been said that there's no payback for a successful Y2K project other than staying in business. If a company is getting out of a business anyway, as the big three California electric utilities are largely getting out of the power generation business, there may be simply no payback at all, from a corporate perspective. How can we assure that those we have entrusted don't simply walk away just before the lights may go out. Thanks, -David Schoenbach

To: John Mansfield who wrote (215)	3/14/1998 4:32:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 618

PCWEEK: Y2K in Embedded systems mentioned 'One thing Jones doesn't deal with is chips embedded within systems. Roleigh Martin, a consultant at a major Fortune 100 company, says Y2K bugs in embedded processors have been too long overlooked. These processors handle everything from running water sprinklers to opening cooling valves on electrical generators, Martin points out. Think of what might happen if a valve suddenly forgot to open one day. You can't debug this stuff. It's got to be tested system by system, and then each buggy chip needs to be replaced.' zdnet.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (215)	3/14/1998 4:39:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 618

UK: 'Eat and be merry but don't drink the water' 'Water companies are drawing up contingency plans to prevent supplies being hit by the date bug. Water and sewage treatment plants contain hundreds of embedded systems, controlling everything from hardware to the programmable logic controllers that supervise the plant's operations. "We may well find that one or two plants will have problems," said Dilwyn Jones,head of business systems for Dwr Cyrmu, which is looking at running its plants manually over the date change period. Should embedded systems fail, they could affect the quantity of water supply or the quality, said Jones. There are more than 70 parameters in European Union regulations concerning water quality.' computerweekly.co.uk