Source: Rocky Mountain News http://insidedenver.com/news/

Contingency plans for 2000 http://insidedenver.com/news/1128y2k1.shtml

State, industry leaders confident bugs are fixed, but have backup systems

By Jerd Smith and Joe Garner Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

As Colorado officials reassure the public that Y2K is nothing to worry about, an underground command center is ready just in case they're wrong.

On Dec. 31, the subterranean bunker will house state agency heads in charge of keeping prisons locked, streets safe, roads open and health care services mobilized.

With them will be people who can, in an instant, mobilize the National Guard, contact Public Service Co.'s control center and tie in with US West.

Backing up the folks at Golden's Camp George West will be a band of amateur radio operators who plan to keep the state emergency team in touch with the world no matter what.

Should something happen -- and of course, they say, it won't -- state officials plan to shift into high gear and summon Gov. Bill Owens from his New Year's festivities to take control of the command center.

Camp George West could operate for more than a month, says Sue Clark, director of operations for the state's emergency management center.

"We're preparing for this in much the same way that we would for a major winter storm," Clark says.

Though a new Gallup poll shows that Americans' level of concern over Y2K has dropped in recent months, no one is positive that all will go well. Just last week, in Vail, for instance, a generator involved in a Y2K test caught fire.

The Governor's Task Force on Year 2000 Readiness earlier this month declared Colorado's three-year, $35.8 million program to prepare for 2000 complete.

No one, however, wants to take any chances.

Between now and the end of the year thousands of people in banks, airlines, electric utilities, phone companies, hospitals, grocery stores, police stations and Internet offices will be working hard to prepare for the unforeseeable.

For Rocky Mountain Internet, one of the largest Internet service providers in Colorado, that means installing a massive diesel-powered electric generator. It could run for eight hours.

"That should be enough time to find more fuel if we need it New Year's Eve," the service's Stewart Scott said.

Yet he predicts a relatively trouble-free holiday.

"The Internet will be fine. A few key news sites, like CNN, or sites that are Y2K-specific, might get hammered," he said.

That's because most Internet equipment is so new it's already Y2K-compliant, Scott said.

A lot more people than you'd think will be on the job New Year's Eve.

Take downtown Denver for instance.

At the city's tallest high-rise, Republic Plaza, crews will be monitoring heating systems, elevators and fire-detection devices.

"We'll have 15 people on hand, with another 25 on call," said Richard Czoski, vice president of operations for the company that operates the Plaza.

Whether the lights stay on is perhaps the most critical issue.

Public Service Company of Colorado, which provides electricity to 1.2 million customers here, has spent more than $25 million since late 1996 to make sure everything functions.

On New Year's Eve the utility will have 300 extra people on hand to monitor operations and in case of a catastrophic power failure.

Several of its major Colorado power plants have been operating on clocks already set in the year 2000..

US West has been ramping up, assuming that its 2.6 million Colorado phone lines will be booked solid as people call friends and log onto the Internet.

William White, who oversees US West's Y2K program, says call volume could easily set records on New Year's Eve.

White says the phone company isn't worried about its system crashing, but it is worried that life-threatening emergency calls will be blocked by busy signals.

If a power failure occurs, US West has three days worth of backup power generation at several sites.

But White disagrees with public officials who have repeatedly warned of potential phone system failures.

"The chances are extremely high that your phone is going to work just fine," White said.

While public officials fret over phone networks and electricity, consumers are worried about cash and having enough of it.

Dave Davia, Y2K project manager at Norwest Bank, says the company's ATM network was Y2K-ready one year ago.

Davia and other bank officials said people should withdraw as much money as they normally would for a holiday weekend, but no more than that.

Across the state, police are gearing up for riots and out-of-control revelers.

The National Guard will be on standby and Denver police are canceling all leave and doubling the number of New Year's Eve patrols. In the event of an emergency, people are encouraged to go to their neighborhood fire and police stations.

Denver International Airport is expected to be quiet, with just one concourse open after 11 p.m.

State officials suggest that people store enough food, bottled water, medicine and batteries to last 72 hours in case a blizzard or other disaster strikes.

In response, grocery stores are hauling in extra bottled water, canned goods, particularly canned meats, flashlights and batteries, powdered milk and toilet tissue.

"We've not seen a stock-up pattern emerge yet," said Jeff Stroh, spokesman for Safeway Corp.

For many people, the fun begins during the daylight hours Dec. 31 as Y2K traverses world datelines.

If things start going wrong in New Zealand, for instance, Colorado will have a few hours to prepare for similar problems.

In Colorado, Camp George West will open for business in the morning, with all state workers required to report no later than 6 p.m. Dec. 31.

Everyone's hope is that 2000 arrives without a hitch.

"We hope everyone's out partying," said Rocky Mountain Internet's Stewart Scott. "We hope they're not all home on the Internet."