HECO to
simulate data failure
in Y2K test
There should be 'no impact
By Christine Donnelly
on customers' from the
communications test
Star-BulletinHawaiian Electric Co. is joining utilities across the country tonight in a drill to ensure that power keeps flowing to consumers even if the "Y2K bug" knocks out vital communications.
The simulation begins at midnight and should not cause electrical failures, said HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa.
"We've designed it so there will be no impact on our customers," he said, explaining that the data communications system is being tested, not the actual power grid. Plus, the failures are simulated, not real.
HECO relies heavily on computerized communications among substations and power plants, with the data normally flowing automatically over microwave, fiber-optic and telephone lines.
The company will respond to the simulated loss of such communications by having crews at substations read the electronic data and relay it to Ward Avenue headquarters via mobile phones that are not Y2K-susceptible.
April 9 was chosen for this drill because it is the 99th day of 1999, a number some computer programs might read as an error message.
Electrical utilities nationwide are conducting similar tests tonight as part of ongoing preparations for the Year 2000.
An industry group later will post results of the drills at www.nerc. com/~y2k/drills.html on the Internet.
The so-called "Y2K bug" stems from the fact that many older computers used only two digits to signify the year -- 99 for 1999, for example.
The computers may malfunction when faced with data coded 2000. Billions of dollars are being spent worldwide to correct the problem.
