All eyes were on the electric utility industry yesterday as itreadied for the first industry-wide test of the preparedness of itscomputer systems for the transition to the year 2000. At the sametime, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that eight majorelectric utilities still were either not Y2K ready or Y2K readywith limited exceptions. Also 16 municipal utilities and ruralcooperatives have yet to report on their Y2K progress to theAmerican Public Power Association and the National Rural ElectricCooperative Association.

“With just over 100 days, those suppliers that haven’t yetstepped up to the plate need to be especially aggressive to preparefor the rollover,” Richardson said in a prepared statement. “Allpower providers, regardless of their level of preparedness, mustcontinue to test all their systems to ensure consumers that theirlights will stay on into the next millennium.”

The eight Y2K-challenged utilities included Central LouisianaElectric Co.; City Public Service of San Antonio, TX; CogentrixEnergy Inc.; Lafayette Utilities System, Lafayette, LA; City ofLakeland, FL; Milford Operating Co.; Utility Board of Brownsville,TX; and Plains Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative,Albuquerque, NM. The utilities disclosed they were Y2K deficient inthe North American Electric Reliability Council’s (NERC) finalstatus report in August.

Following the NERC report, the Department of Energy (DOE) sentletters to the utilities not yet ready or ready with exceptions, aswell as to those municipal and cooperative utilities which have yetto report on the status of their readiness efforts.

Richardson said he also directed DOE to conduct an additional 20reviews of randomly-selected electric utilities during the next fewmonths to augment audits of 36 utilities that have been undertakenso far. The audits to date “generally confirm” the results ofindustry surveys, which are that the majority of utilities are Y2Kcompliant.

Richardson indicated he was cautiously optimistic that themajority of the more than 3,000 electric utility companies,municipal utilities and rural cooperatives are prepared, and saidhe would continue to press for full compliance.

As part of that effort, he participated in a Y2K drill at DOE’sBonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Vancouver, WA, yesterday.It was part of the industry-wide dress rehearsal for the Y2Ktransition that was to take place at midnight on Wednesday. Thedate rollover to 9/9/99 is key for Y2K testing because computerusers have used nines to mean end of input, which could shut downcomputer programs on that date, according to DOE. The drill wasintended to simulate as realistically as possible the exercise ofoperation, communications, administrative and contingency plans forthe Y2K transition, it said.

Immediately following the BPA test, Richardson will receivereports on the results of utility drills held elsewhere in thenation.

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