Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 25/99) - Deep inside the Fort McPherson power plant, it's June 2000.

The computer system "thinks" it's summer because the NWT Power Corp. purposely changed the date.

The test is part of the utility's efforts to prepare for Y2K, the global computer problem that will make its presence felt at midnight, Dec. 31, 1999. Much of our technology might think its 1900 causing havoc.

Power corp. officials flipped the Fort McPherson system's programmable logic control -- the PLC which controls the power plant's diesel engine -- to the year 2000.

"It's been five months with no problems. They've passed into the next millennium," said David King, the Power Corp.'s electrical department manager.

The Power Corp. is spending over $1 million to get ready for Y2K. Of that million, about $850,000 will go to buy new computer software for the utility's control systems.

About $200,000, part of the $850,000, will go to upgrade the Power Corp.'s Jackfish plant control system.

Much of the technology would ultimately need replacing, said Power Corp. president Leon Courneya. In addition to the $850,000, the Power Corp. will spend between $400,000 and $500,000 in one-time additional spending on testing and contingency planning.

And when the Power Corp. thinks it has done everything it can, accounting firm KPMG will do a comprehensive audit on the utility's Y2K plan. The charge for the audit, about $40,000.

"We've managed to do a lot with existing staff," Courneya said.

"Much of our equipment is already Y2K compliant," King said. In some areas the Power Corp. has found non-compliance to be insignificant. King points to a control panel which, when tested, reads the year 100 instead of 2000. But that's where it ends, he said.

"It won't cause the lights to go out."

Courneya said part of the utility's tasks include prioritizing. Door locks at the Hay River offices are one example of a very low priority. "In our building, the doors automatically open and close depending on the day and time. If they don't work, we'll open the doors manually with keys."

Much higher up the list is getting extra fuel to the Jackfish site in case the diesel generators are needed.

As part of the contingency plan, Jackfish's diesel fuel tanks will be topped up. But the Y2K compliance effort found -- Power Corp. gets its fuel trucked from Hay River -- the tanks' computer systems only let the fuel flow at certain times.

Courneya said one of his biggest concerns will be communications. The Power Corp. is making sure its communications systems are Y2K compliant. The utility has also met with NorthwesTel. As well, the Power Corp. is a member of the Territorial Emergency Response Committee.

Despite all the time, effort and money being put into making sure the lights stay on in the North, the jurisdiction could be better off than just about anywhere in North America.

"We are used to being isolated. That puts us at an advantage," John Locke, Power Corp.'s systems information officer, said.

On the negative side, it's apt to be very cold across the North on Jan. 1.

Some systems in the south are so dependent on technology that there is no way they can be operated manually, King added.

Larger utilities south of 60 will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Y2K and there is no way they will cover all the bases, King said.

Many Northern communities have isolated diesel units powering their communities. This isolation means somebody else's non-compliance is less likely to effect them.

The Power Corp. system is not tied into anybody else's power grid.

And the North's technology is designed to be operated manually.

"I feel comfortable with everything we've done. On Jan. 1, 2000, I'd rather be in Hay River than Edmonton or Toronto or anywhere else," Courneya said.

Asked what would happen had the Power Corp. done nothing, King responded "we would have a very big problem."

Those problems would have ranged from an inability to control the utility's power plants to being unable to pay its employees.