Although Postemski says the computer glitch won't directly cause any electrical problems, he says the hype surrounding the event and human errors could cause some problems on New Year's Eve. Sensing potential problems, some residents have already rushed out to buy gasoline-fired generators, believing that the lights could go out at midnight. People, when we have outages, bring the hibachi into the house. Clearly, a generator should be operated outside the home, but accidents can happen in the heat of the moment when someone is trying to get the power restored. Another problem is the nature of New Year's Eve.
Many people drink far more than they normally do.
Drivers who drink too much sometimes hit telephone poles and knock out the electricity. Officials are predicting that that will happen on New Year's Eve. Deborah Beauchamp, an NU spokeswoman, said that if the power goes out on New Year's Eve, consumers should look out the window and see if a car has crashed into a nearby tree. For sober drivers, the roads should not be a problem because the state transportation department reports that all 2,247 traffic lights on state roads are Y2K-compliant. The nonprofit North American Electric Reliability Council said in its final quarterly report to the U.S. Department of Energy that the lights will continue shining.