Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

Electrical industry well on the way to Y2K compliance

There is little likelihood of a disruption to Victoria’s electricity supply over the millennium period due to Year 2000 computer failure, according to a detailed report into the Y2K readiness of the State’s electricity industry commissioned by the Office of the Regulator-General.

This conclusion is based on the assumption that the Victorian Electricity Industry completes the outstanding elements of their Year 2000 programs by September 1999.

The report found a high state of readiness for the Year 2000 or "millennium" bug. The process of making plant and equipment in the electricity supply chain Year 2000 ready was assessed to be 92% complete at the end of June with the remaining 8% expected to have been completed by the end of July.

Although no significant problems were expected as a result of the date change to the Year 2000, the report said it would be prudent to have back-up contingency plans in place, such as increased levels of manning and vigilance, to cover the residual risk of Year 2000 component failure.

The completeness of such contingency plans was also assessed. This varied across the industry but was found to average 48% overall at the end of June, with forward estimates of completion dates for these to be completed within the next three months.

The study found that, although more work remains to be done, the quality of the industry’s readiness preparations and the rates of progress achieved to date provide a basis for confidence that a high degree of actual preparedness will be achieved by September 1999.

The study has concluded that, provided the Victorian industry effectively completes the implementation of its Y2K compliance programs, the incidence of interruption to electricity supply over the Millennium Period should be no different to normal.

The Regulator-General, Dr Tamblyn, said that the work towards Y2K preparedness that had been done by the industry to date had been soundly based and consistent with world’s best practice.

"However," Dr Tamblyn said, "gaps still remain in the completeness of the Victorian industry’s readiness programs and contingency plans for the Year 2000 computer problem, and the report’s conclusion is dependent on these gaps being closed.

"The responsibility for closing the gaps rests with each of the businesses themselves and, with the commitment we have seen at board level during the assessment, it is reasonable to expect it can be achieved.

"It will also be important to ensure that the contingency plans of the individual businesses are integrated into a properly co-ordinated industry-wide contingency plan.

"The monitoring of that work and further public reporting on its progress will be undertaken by this Office."

Dr Tamblyn said there was no need for domestic electricity customers to do anything different or to change their electricity consumption behavior. In particular, there is no need to switch appliances off and then on again over the December 31–January 1 period.

Business users should adopt whatever risk reduction measures they would regard as prudent to deal with the normal level of fluctuations in electricity supplies.

Copies of the full report or an abbreviated Executive Summary may be obtained by telephoning the Office of the Regulator General on (03) 9651 0222 or by visiting their web site.

(News Release, Office of the Regulator-General, August 3, 1999)