[UTILITIES] 'Late Breaking Year 2000 News
Items:
May 1998
This page covers late breaking news about the Year 2000 in reverse
chronological order. The focus is mostly on news relevant to the Y2k
threat to core infrastructures or to the economy. These items are not
referred to in the longer written documents posted on other pages at this
web site. The date following the title is the date of posting, not the date
that the information was released at it's raw source.
Rick Cowles Testifies To Congress:
Estimates Only 60-70% Of Electric Utilities
Are Fully Aware Of The Magnitude Of The
Y2k Issue
05/16/1998: Rick Cowles, webmaster of euy2k.com and
author, Electric Utilities and Y2k, is the Director - Year 2000
Industry Solutions, TAVA/R.W. Beck, L.L.C. In his prepared
testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Science, Subcommittee on Technology, 2:00PM, May 14, 1998, he
summarizes the problem in his closing:
I think it's prudent to establish a boundary around the scope
of the problem and my perception of the electric industry's
commitment to address the Year 2000 computer. As of
March, 1998, there are 7,819 individual companies in the
U.S. that generate and/or distribute electricity. Earlier this
month, the Electric Power Research Institute, which
sponsors the only industry-wide effort aimed at addressing
the Year 2000 issue, held 3rd national meeting for electric
companies engaged in addressing the problem.
Approximately 70 companies were represented at that
meeting. On April 14th, at the annual American Power
Conference in Chicago, a Year 2000 panel session was held
- there were a total of 9 people in the audience, including the
4 industry representatives who made up the panel. In
reviewing these numbers, it's difficult to maintain a sense of
optimisim that the industry is using the concept of 'shared
experience' to expedite total industry Y2k remediation
efforts. Certain sectors of the industry - such as nuclear -
are utilizing this concept well, but as a whole, the Y2K
problem is being viewed as a competitive issue, which is
clearly an impediment to the free and open exchange of
information.
Addressing the Year 2000 computer problem within the
electric utility industry is not so much a matter of complexity,
but a matter of scale. Based on surveys I've conducted at all
levels of the industry, my best estimate is that only sixty to
seventy percent of the companies are fully aware of the
magnitude of the Y2k issue, and are marshalling the
necessary resources to address the issue. While the
technology issues surrounding Y2k are well understood in all
functional business areas of the electric utility industry, the
scope and breadth of the Y2K problem is just beginning to
be acknowledged.
...Can this challenge be met in the time remaining?
The title of the hearing is "Millenium Sort Circuit; The Y2K Effect on
Energy Utilities, May 14, 1998" and as of Friday, 5/15/1998 all but
Rick Cowles' testimony was posted at the Congressional
site--there was a problem with the diskette holding Rick's
testimony, for the time being it's available at Rick's site. The other
testimonies are at these locations:
Congresswoman Constance A. Morrella's Opening Statement |
Ralph Beedle | Kenneth Cohn | Kathleen Hirning | John Laakso |
Hugh Thompson
Hearing Charter | Witness List
Kathleen Hirning, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, in her testimony made several
important points. Most important is this sentence: "At the May 4-5,
1998 meeting of the NERC Board of Trustees, the NERC decided
-- at the request of the Department of Energy (DOE) -- to undertake
a survey of its members to assess the likelihood of a Year 2000
problem, to determine the amount of testing that has been done by
member utilities, and to report to DOE on its findings." Readers, the
minute this report is made to the DOE, we need to broadcast its'
findings. Everybody keep an eye out for this development and let
me know if you find out about it within 24 hours of its' release--this
will obviously be a public document that can't be hidden from the
public. Some of Hirning's other statements are:
...The U.S. electric power system includes thousands of
power generating plants and millions of consumers -- all tied
together by the electric power grids. One electric power
plant alone may have thousands of embedded systems.
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. Because of the interconnected nature of the grid, it is
important to test for malfunctions in interconnected systems
as much as feasible.
Embedded systems are used to control and monitor power
production and delivery equipment in electric utilities.
Computer controlled equipment includes many date-sensitive
components, from very small programmable logic controllers
to extensive network control systems. Many of the systems
that have a date function may pass through the critical date
without causing a fault. But they could later refuse to accept
a modified instruction or even a new date entry. Other
systems may have faults that could result in power outages.
Grid control is decentralized. Each utility or sometimes a
small group of utilities controls its own grid. However,
utilities are interconnected, and must coordinate their
activities to maintain reliability. Rules for such coordination
are set by ten regional reliability councils, which collectively
form the North American Electric Reliability Council
(NERC). At the May 4-5, 1998 meeting of the NERC Board
of Trustees, the NERC decided -- at the request of the
Department of Energy (DOE) -- to undertake a survey of its
members to assess the likelihood of a Year 2000 problem, to
determine the amount of testing that has been done by
member utilities, and to report to DOE on its findings.
Reliability in the Oil and Gas Industries
There is a similar situation in the oil and gas industries, i.e.,
interdependencies between the production facilities and
pipelines used for transporting and distributing oil and gas.
The pipeline industry is made up of producer, transmission,
and distributor sectors. Embedded systems occur in all
sectors. Some oil and gas production facilities, such as
offshore platforms may have ten thousand or more
embedded chips. Many may be subsurface and physically
difficult to access.
... Many of the Year 2000 considerations for the gas
industry are present in the oil industry, only in different form.
For example, meters to measure oil use transducers to
measure liquids. Oil SCADA systems require a shorter
response time for an oil leak compared to gas leaks, which
may be remediated by changing pressure. Unlike the electric
industry, the oil and gas industries are fragmented, and do
not have regional councils or control areas.
The Industry Response
The extent of completed Year 2000 work within the energy
industry is largely unknown. Compilation of this information
has been inadequate. Larger utilities and some industry
associations have promoted awareness of the Year 2000
issues and, in some cases, have begun to test and share
potential solutions. The state of awareness and planning of
smaller utilities and cooperatives is less certain.
...The Edison Electric Institute is working closely with the
EPRI program, on behalf of investor-owned electric utilities.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners' educational program has a session
scheduled in July to discuss Year 2000 issues. Year 2000
managers within the national oil, gas, and electric
associations are in frequent contact, and are working
together to address these issues. Several Year 2000
programs were initiated in the past year by industry
associations. Some state commissions and local utilities are
also working directly with national associations.
Last year the American Petroleum Institute (API) formed a
Year 2000 taskforce of representatives from industry. They
agreed to construct databases from various segments of the
industry. API has scheduled a meeting in July to discuss
Year 2000 compliance, information exchanges, and other
concerns. API also sponsored and disseminated a Year
2000 awareness research paper. The Interstate Natural Gas
Association of America has conducted a survey of their
member companies Year 2000 compliance status, and the
results are currently being analyzed. The Gas Research
Institute is surveying their member companies to help
formulate Year 2000 strategies.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Role
The Commission is, at the Chairman's direction, exploring
how to mount an effective Year 2000 outreach program. It
would be designed to encourage its regulated companies to
take responsible action to ensure that their energy systems
will continue to function on January 1, 2000 and beyond.
Without cooperative communication between industry
members and the federal government, understanding the
potential magnitude and complete implications of the problem
is difficult. We believe that information and cooperation are
the keys to addressing the Year 2000 conversion problem.
Cooperative communication is necessary in order to: (1)
quantify the nature of the problem; (2) ascertain the
development and testing of timely solutions; and (3) promote
operational contingency plans in case of potential loss of
power.
However, if one reads the rest of Hirning's statement, FERC as it is
empowered presently can do little more than raise awareness and
share what little information is passed to them. Her statement
above, in particularly the last two sentences above are critical if the
Federal Government aims to efficiently help alleviate this problem.
As it is now, it is obvious the government is operating in the dark
and is clueless.
Mary Mosquera, TechWeb, wrote about this hearing in her
5/15/1998 article, "Utilities' Y2K Problem Threatens Embedded
Systems." She writes:
The government's dilemma is it still does not have a fix on
the magnitude of the potential year 2000 problem among the
regulated energy industry, said Kathleen Hirning, chief
information officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. So far, the commission has only anecdotal data
on the effects that failed computers, software, or embedded
microprocessors will have on the production and delivery of
electricity, gas, and oil.
... In Texas, the larger utility companies have paint a rosy
picture about their year 2000-compliance efforts, said John
Laakso, executive director of the Texas Public Utility
Commission. But, Laakso added, there are still many
unknowns, especially when it comes to suppliers and
interconnections. While one vendor could report its systems
are compliant, there is no independent process in place to
confirm that.
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