National Guard ready to act on eve of 2000
Computers' confusion could endanger safety, experts tell lawmakers
By Amy Rinard
of the Journal Sentinel staff
October 07, 1998
Madison -- The Wisconsin National Guard is prepared to be mobilized on Dec. 31, 1999, to deal with potential power failures, water system shutdowns and other problems that could occur as computers click over to the year 2000.
And an attorney for a major electric utility said the company is encouraging its customers to look into alternative energy sources, including home generators, in anticipation of power failures as a result of the problem.
After a daylong hearing by an Assembly committee Tuesday on the so-called Y2K problem, it was clear no one really knows what will happen at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, 2000.
"The only thing we do know is that there will be problems," said Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Loganville), the chairwoman of the committee. "We don't know what will fail. It could affect a small area or a big area or the entire state."
Mari Nahn, an attorney with Madison-based Alliant Corp.-Wisconsin Power & Light Co., said power failures are likely, as are failures of municipal water systems.
Computer chips embedded in everything from pacemakers to coffee-makers have the potential to fail, and in many cases people don't even know they're there, Nahn said.
In the utility industry, embedded chips are used everywhere, she added.
Albers said she will introduce legislation in January to put the Wisconsin National Guard on standby on Dec. 31, 1999, to be ready to address any problems caused by computer shutdowns.
Those problems could include small or widespread power failures, the failure of municipal water or sewage systems and even the failure of security systems at prisons, Albers said.
The problem is a result of computers recognizing a year by its last two digits. Unless they are reprogrammed, many could stumble when they read the year as 00.
State and local governments, school districts, utilities, businesses and many households all over Wisconsin already are working to fix that computer glitch.
Despite those efforts, state officials and computer experts say problems are still likely to occur.
So Alberts said National Guard members could be called upon, for example, to help evacuate hospitals that lose power and heat or to help haul water to communities whose water systems have shut down.
"I don't want to scare the public, but when we start talking about mobilizing the National Guard, people should realize how serious this is," Albers said.
Col. Kerry Denson, deputy adjutant general for the Wisconsin Army National Guard, said the Guard has been planning for several months in preparation for Jan. 1, 2000.
"We're expecting Y2K problems. There are so many what-ifs that there certainly will be problems, and we're putting plans together," said Denson, who was not at Tuesday's hearing. "It's the same kind of planning we do in advance of a snowstorm or a tornado. When something happens, you always expect the Guard to respond. I never thought I'd be responding to a computer problem, but we'll be ready."
Denson said he expects to have a number of National Guard members on standby the night of Dec. 31, 1999, and he joked that those Guard volunteers may be the only sober people in Wisconsin on the biggest New Year's Eve in a millennium.
"We'll put people on standby and bring in additional soldiers if we need them," he said.
The Guard already has started taking an inventory of all its emergency generators and expects to have a crew assigned to each generator that night in the event power goes out somewhere and those generators are needed, Denson said.
"The National Guard is not going to go out and fix your computer. We're going to go out and deal with the consequences of your computer failing," Denson said.
Rep. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee), a member of the Assembly's committee on the problem, said he believed legislation authorizing the mobilization of the Wisconsin National Guard on Dec. 31, 1999, is needed and will be approved by the Legislature as a precautionary measure.
"It's pretty up in the air what will happen at 12:01 a.m., but the possibilities are endless," he said. "I don't think people realize how big of a problem this has the potential for being. This could be a real disaster, and we should have the National Guard out to deal with any problems."
Leonard P. Levine, professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said having troops on standby is "not unreasonable."
"It's a pretty strong move, but what I'm sure is going to happen is that an awful lot of people who are worried about infrastructure will take measures like this," said Levine, who did not attend Tuesday's hearing.
"Somewhere -- no one knows where -- something will fall apart. I truly believe that someone is going to die because of this problem. . . . I'm sure that one of these utilities is going to fail."
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