According to the status report on sector-wise Y2K preparedness released recently by the Y2K Action Force, the performance of the power sector is very poor and may become a `major bottleneck'. A special group was set up under the chairmanship of Member (Planning), Central Electricity Authority, late last year to take stock of the Y2K problem in the sector and to suggest remedial measures. The group identified the major risk areas in embedded chips in power generation, transmission, protection and control systems.

In another report on Y2K preparedness in utility and service sectors in the country, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has also expressed its concern in this regard. ``Failure of a non-compliant power plant may trip the entire power grid,'' the NIC report points out. NIC worries that power failures, evenin small states, could shut down large chunks of the chronically power-short national grid.

The buck doesn't stop at this stage. Adds the Y2K Action Force report, ``The power sector will affect all other sectors.'' The NIC report goes on to add, ``As failures due to Y2K non-compliance cannot be rectified like normal failures, prolong(ed) failure of a sector (e.g. power) may snowball into affecting other sectors as well (e.g. transportation, manufacturing etc).'' Y2K failure in the power sector can lead to disruption in services, which may be difficult to handle, unless contingency planning is done in advance. Y2K failures are inherently different from natural disasters, which are localised and can be addressed by mobilising resources from other locations. Y2K failures are likely to be distributed and multiple in nature, for which our emergency systems are not prepared as of now.

The NIC report states, ``Contingency planning to tackle failures of utility sectors (has) become very critical and essential.Other organisations dependent on utilities also need to make their contingency plans to deal with possible disruption of utility services.''

There is a stark contrast between the Y2K compliance status of the state electricity boards (SEBs) and PSUs, though. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which supplies about 25 per cent of the nation's electric power (mostly in the north of the country), has implemented a thorough Y2K programme. In fact, it is now nearing completion in most respects. Even NHPC and PowerGrid have undertaken major initiatives and are in the process of completing re-mediation and testing activities. This was revealed last month during a national seminar on Y2K for power sector, which was organised by the Ministry of Power and NTPC to create awareness regarding embedded systems in the power sector and other related issues.

The record of the SEBs, which together supply 70 per cent of the nation's electric power, is much weaker and a cause for concern. The Action Force reportsays, ``A number of SEBs are only at the initial stages of creating awareness and making assessment.''

The WorldNetDaily.com, a popular Internet daily, has also recently reported on an internal United States state department memo, prepared by the American Embassy in New Delhi and addressed to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, which expresses concern on the Y2K preparedness in the Indian power sector. The memo states, ``Nowhere is the Y2K process complete, and contingency planning has barely begun. Most worrisome is the presently largely unknown vulnerability of the ocean shipping sector and the 70 per cent of the electrical power industry that is under the control of the state electricity boards, large parts of which only now are beginning basic inventories and assessments.''

That's alarming news, considering that inventory and assessment is the easiest part of the Y2K-proofing process. In a scenario like this, the Action Force has recommended spending bulk of the time in continuity planning,including back-up of communication systems for managing distribution networks, and testing. It has also recommended promoting Cupertino and the open sharing of information across the public sectors, SEBs and major power consumers. For entities as large as the SEBs, it takes years to do the re-mediation work, much less testing--and there are less than 200 days left before Y2K hits.