The year 2000 is approaching, and many companies have only recently begun to deal with a problem that could wreak havoc on their systems.
But utility companies are not among that lot. Most, in fact, have been working on the problem for three to five years.
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The industry during that time has engaged in a massive, multi-million-dollar effort to take inventory of its equipment, evaluate products, systems, and suppliers, fix problems, and test everything they have fixed.
This kind of planning, however, is nothing new to executives of electric companies or telecommunications providers. In fact, they liken the Y2K bug to any other disaster that might befall them.
There are some differences, however. Warren Weston, who is leading the Year 2000 project for New England Electric Systems, said planning for a Y2K disaster requires a more horizontal approach than planning for other disasters. That is, you are looking at the same piece of equipment failing across the system.
One of the issues Weston and his staff of about 70 people is working on is taking equipment off line, performing tests on it, and putting it back into the system. By June 30, a Y2K contingency plan will be issued to the North American Electric Reliability Council, a nonprofit organization made up of electric industry representatives throughout the country, formed in the aftermath of the 1965 blackout that blanketed the Northeast and Ontario, Canada
After June 30, he said, the only remaining work will be contingency planning, in which he and his staff will develop solutions to the various problems that could occur on Jan. 1, 2000.
The planning cost is between $27 and $30 million, an amount Weston said is “well within our budget.”
Though the planning for the year 2000 has taken similar paths at many utilities, each has its own process. At Valley Resources, for instance, the staff has implemented ‘software protocols’ in which all software installation is done with an eye toward stamping out potential Y2K problems, said Paul Fioravanti, director of corporate communications and public affairs for the company.
The company is also testing by advancing its computers’ internal time clock and allowing them to reach 2000, Fioravanti said. It has also conducted a system-wide audit of hardware and software interfaces, printers, and output devices in search of Y2K problems.
And like other utility companies, Valley is reviewing its existing emergency plans to be sure that they too, will work on Jan. 1.
“We plan to take a look at various scenarios, hurricanes, acts of God. Essentially it’s a plan for the continuation of business in the face of adversity,” Fioravanti said.
The planning at Bell Atlantic has been ongoing for three years, said Tracey Kennedy, director of public relations for Bell Atlantic Rhode Island. Every person in the company, 130,000 people in 13 states from Maine to Virginia, has had to fill out a survey about the types of equipment he or she uses. It is part of an effort to take inventory of all the company machines, Kennedy said.
“Our goal is to make Jan. 1, 2000 just another day in the network for all Bell Atlantic Customers,” Kennedy said.
Bell Atlantic is doing what it can to help other companies prepare for the new year. At the request of the state of Rhode Island, it is participating in a series of forums, along with other utility companies, that is aimed to help business and the public become aware of the problem and what they need to do about it.
“As we get closer to the year 2000, I’m not sure panic is the proper word, but the people are much more aware and concerned.” she said. “We want to answer any questions about telecommunications processes.”
Three years ago, the company set a goal of being completely ready by June 30. It is now 90 percent complete, Kennedy added.
“We don’t anticipate any trouble meeting the June deadline that we set for ourselves,” she said, adding that the company has tested numerous contingencies. “Hopefully, we’ve hit on every possible thing that could go right or wrong.”
Eastern Utilities, which first recognized the Y2K problem in 1993 and has been working on it since 1995, expects no trouble come Jan. 1 – which happens to be a Saturday, and thus a light electricity day, which works in the electric companies favor.
“We’re not expecting any significant problems whatsoever,” said Todd McLeish, public information representative for Eastern.
All New England electric companies work on a shared grid. But McLeish noted that the nuts and bolts of the system – poles, wires, transformers – are unaffected by the problem. There could be some problems with relays and substations, he said, but that is no different from any other time.
He added, however, that the company will be fully staffed on Jan. 2, just as if the company were expecting a major storm.
“It is possible that there will be minor, scattered outages of a relatively short duration,” he said. “But that is true on any day.”
McLeish added that the company, like other utilities, also has to be sure that all of its internal systems, such as billing and customer services centers, will work properly. But he added that he does not expect any widespread problems there, either.
The company has spent $10 million preparing for the new year, $7 million of which has come from its own labor supply, as opposed to outside consultants. None of the costs of the preparations will be passed on to consumers, he said.
“This isn’t going to affect anybody’s rates,” McLeish said. “Nobody’s going to see a rate increase because of Y2K.”
