[CTRL] Energy Department powers up for Y2K testing

[Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard]

 -Caveat Lector-

Energy Department powers up for Y2K testing
By Erich Luening
Staff, CNET News.com
September 7, 1999, 10:00 a.m. PT

With the new century just more than 100 days away, the Energy Department
plans tomorrow to start testing its computer systems for glitches related to
the Year 2000 technology problem.

On September 8, electric power plants across the country will prepare for
and monitor the date rollover at midnight. September 9, or 9/9/99, is  a key
date for Y2K testing because computer users have used nines to mean end of
input, which could shut down computers programs on this date. The drill is
intended to simulate as realistically as possible the exercise of operation,
communications, administration, and contingency plans for the Y2K
transition.

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is slated to take part in the dress
rehearsal for the Year 2000 technology glitch beginning tomorrow at the
Energy Department's Bonneville Power Administration in Vancouver,
Washington.

Some experts believe September 9, 1999--written as 9/9/99--could create
widespread computer problems similar to those that the Year 2000 date-change
problem could cause. Experts said 9/9/99 could be read as "9999," the code
that many computers use to stop a program.

But Federal officials are confident the upcoming date change will come and
go without any problems.

"This industry-wide drill is yet another way to test whether local utility
companies will have power after the clock strikes midnight at the end of the
year," Secretary Richardson said in a statement. "The nation's 3,200
electric utility companies and cooperatives need to do everything they can
to test their preparedness and ensure consumers a smooth transition into the
year 2000."

The Year 2000 problem, also known as the millennium bug, stems from an old
programming shortcut that used only the last two digits of the year. Many
computers now must be modified, or they may mistake the year 2000 for the
year 1900 and may not be able to function at all.
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