STORY:
Twelve Power Companies Not Y2K Ready

US Energy Department shows concern saying repairs may extend beyond January 1

US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said 12 power companies scattered throughout the country have passed an important deadline and may not be ready for the changeover to the Year 2000 or Y2K. The DOE also says another 16 utilities, all municipal or rural cooperatives, have not reported on their state of readiness and progress in fixing they computer Y2K bug.

According to the Associated Press, dozens of others power companies are not ready but have convinced the North American Electric Reliability Council - the country's overseer of power plants and power lines - that the problems can be fixed soon.

The Ameren Corporation, which serves 1.8 million customers in Missouri and Illinois is one of the larger companies identified by the Energy Department says the AP. Other companies included Tacoma Power, a municipal utility in Washington state that serves 143,000 customers; Cilcorp Inc. of Peoria, Ill., the parent of the Central Illinois Light Company.

The department listed the Central Louisiana Electric Company; City Public Service of San Antonio; Cogentrix Energy Inc. of Charlotte, N.C.; Lafayette (Louisiana) Utilities System; the city of Lakeland, Fla.; Milford (Mass.) Operating Company; the Utility Board of Brownsville, Tex., and the Plains Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative of Albuquerque, N.M.

In addition, the department listed four companies that the North American Electric Reliability Council said had since moved up into the "limited exception" category: Tacoma Power; the Platte River Power Authority of Fort Collins, Colo.; United American Energy Corporation of Woodcliff Lake, N.J.; and the Calenergy Company Inc., now known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings, of Omaha.

Spokesmen for some of the named companies tell the AP that they expected to be ready well before Dec. 31, citing new equipment that had not been tested, and economic and operational benefits to waiting until after summer as reasons for the delays.

Source: Associated Press

DATE: 09/09/99

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