Energy management systems are computers within the electric control centers within the electric reliability regions across North America. These computers are used to operate transmission facilities and control generating units. Many of the control center software applications contain built-in time clocks used to run various power system monitoring, dispatch, and control functions. Many energy management systems are also dependent on time signal emissions from Global Positioning Satellites as a time reference. In addition to resolving Y2K problems within utility energy management systems, these supporting satellite systems outside of utility control must be Y2K compliant.
Telecommunications is another critical area.
Electric supply and delivery systems are highly dependent on microwave, telephone, frame relay, and radio communications systems. Therefore, the dependency of the electric supply on facilities leased from telephone companies and commercial communications network service providers is a crucial factor. Telecommunications systems are the nerve center of the electricity networks and it is important that we address the mutual dependencies of electric utility systems and the telecommunications industry. Utilities have similar mutual dependencies with natural gas pipelines. The final technical area of concern is in relay protection devices, which are used to rapidly isolate a portion of the transmission system that may be in trouble.