World Wide Web Coverage of the April 9 NERC Drill

Good piece, a must read!

-- pshannon (pshannon@sangersreview.com), May 06, 1999

Answers

Lane was having hot flashes over that drill before it even occurred; he still won't let it go and continues to criticize it from a position of ignorance.

For example, he says:

I nominate the following as the most informative, accurate and precise headline: "Plants conducting Y2K power drill: Operators test backup plans in case telephone lines go down" (20). That's it in a nutshell.

No, that's not it in a nutshell. Lane would have you believe that all they did was test their communications. In fact, they tested their ability to keep the power flowing even in the event of a complete failure of their SCADA systems -- which systems monitor all aspects of power flow through the grid. Their technicians had to calculate megawatt exchange and other parameters by manually reading values at substations -- and they did so successfully.

Go to my Web site's email page for a good description of the drill by a utility expert; then read what Dr. Kinsler (Phd in Electrical Engineering) has to say about power failures in general.

I'd be interested to see what Dan the Power Man has to say about that drill here.

(I also note that, as of the last time I checked, Rick Cowles had not taken Dan up on his offer of a debate about the latest NERC report ...)

-- Stephen M. Poole, CET (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), May 06, 1999.

Stephen:

While you make a good point, it doesn't address Lane Core's point very well. Yes, this was a communications drill, to make sure that power will flow without SCADA systems working.

But this was NOT a test of y2k remediation in any way. It's one thing to practice how you'll handle your car in case of a blowout. It's quite another to replace your bald tires.

Core is right that too many stories about this drill implied that they were testing their fixes, and proving that their remediation efforts had succeeded. That's just bad reporting, meaningful as the drill may have been.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 06, 1999.

Poole -- You're up to your usual "dirty tricks" agenda. Rick explained very succinctly why he wasn't debating Dan and (surprised you're not trumpeting this like your fellow manipulators at "Debunking Y2K") commented that he was actually fairly close to Dan's position, as he, Rick, understood it. Innuendo is easier.

And Flint is correct that you completely misread the simple point of Core's article. Hard to read when you've already decided what to say, though, isn't it?

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), May 06, 1999.

Thanks pshannon.

This is a good article. NERC urged the members to make sure all went well before attempting the drill. Even then there were problems.

NERC must have a powerful PR dept. Drill becomes test becomes ready. The evolution of spin.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), May 06, 1999.