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Conference Tuesday on utilities and Y2K
Last updated 08/19/1998, 09:01 a.m. MT
About 300 people who work with public utilities are expected to attend a conference focusing on utilities and the Year 2000 problem Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the Little America Hotel.
Gov. Mike Leavitt and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, are the scheduled keynote speakers at the conference, which will feature panel discussions on Y2K problems that could face power, water and sewage, natural gas and telecommunications providers.
If automated equipment dependent on technology-driven internal clocks or timers doesn't recognize the change from 1999 to 2000 because of a decades-old practice of only using the last two digits in date programming, the equipment could fail.
Whether that would shut down a dam, open the gates of a water treatment plant or disconnect utility customers because of billing errors, the consequences could be widespread, said John Horton of the Year 2000 Utility Forum, which is sponsoring the conference.
"All of us depend on the utilities," he said. "Even small failures could have big effects on us. . . . And we realize that if any one fails it is going to affect the others."
Leavitt in May launched The Governor's Coalition for Year 2000 Preparedness that seeks input and offers guidance on Y2K issues for Utah businesses. The coalition has an informational Web site at http://y2k.state.ut.us.
Bennett is an avid Y2K crusader and heads a Senate committee created in April to address computer-crippling Y2K technology problems.