Garland, Texas -- Garland Power & Light (GP&L) has established a Y2K task force and has taken steps to address the Y2K readiness issue and ensure normal reliable service into and through the year 2000. The Garland Power & Light Y2K task force consists of representatives of all departments within GP&L, including Production, Transmission, Distribution, Operations and Administration.
GP&L's commitment toward Y2K resolution includes research and formulation of a readiness plan involving a series of steps that have all been completed and tested. GP&L equipment and assets considered mission critical were subjected to detailed review to verify proper functionality through and beyond the year 2000. Such equipment included, but is not limited to, certain electronic hardware, software, firmware, embedded processor based equipment, computers, SCADA and network equipment and more.
On October 13, a GP&L-wide Y2K drill of mission critical equipment and systems was conducted. All GP&L departments passed the test, and contingency and fail-over plans were successful as well.
"The success of the drill on October 13 is the direct result of extensive research, preparation and testing," said David Colwell, Project Manager. "The drill served as a rehearsal of GP&L personnel deployment strategies for December 31, 1999 with simulated problems added to test GP&L personnel on implementation of our Y2K contingency and fail-over plans. We are pleased with the results. We did not uncover any significant problems. We are confident that we have done all we can to prepare for the next millennium; Garland Power & Light is ready for the year 2000."
All Garland Power & Light assets suspected of being affected by Y2K were inventoried and tabulated into a Y2K equipment database. The inventory phase helped define the scope of work and resource requirements for this project. The database helped provide Y2K equipment information, as well as track the progress of Garland Power & Light's Y2K compliance efforts. All equipment was prioritized according to safety implications and criticality of functions performed. All safety related and mission critical equipment was evaluated for Y2K compliance before less critical systems were addressed.
Progress of such equipment was tracked separately to ensure completion within the allocated time. "We created date based milestones for Y2K compliance testing and problem resolution," said Colwell. "These date based milestones helped gauge the progress of our Y2K compliance efforts. Frequent reviews of project progress further indicated where additional resources were required and/or substitutes were needed." Evaluation plans and test logs were generated for all mission critical equipment. Test beds, software audits, system-wide testing and analysis were also planned and implemented.
Contingency and "fail-over" plans for mission critical equipment and supplies were created as well. In addition to internal preparedness, GP&L has contacted suppliers of goods and services, utilities and other City of Garland entities to ensure their readiness. "We realize that Y2K related failures of any entity that supplies Garland Power & Light with goods or services may lead to subsequent failure of some service within Garland Power & Light," said Colwell. "All efforts were made to verify the Y2K compliance of all such entities."
