We are four months away from the year 2000, and there is still no consensus about what Y2K will bring. Over the last year I have had the opportunity to moderate various debates and briefings. There is still a wide divergence of opinion. Some experts believe this will be a relatively minor problem, while others believe that it will be a major disruption in our lives.
Why the wide divergence of opinion? Most people have the same set of facts, but they come to some strikingly different conclusions. I believe the watershed issue is the power grid. If you think the power grid will stay intact then you are likely to see Y2K as a minor disruption. If you think the power grid will fail, you are likely to see a scary scenario in the future. It’s just about as simple as that.
Each day we receive electrical power through an infrastructure which is a marvelous and complex creation. It includes some six thousand generating plants and five hundred thousand miles of bulk transmission cable.
The entire system is controlled by mainframe computers and divided into four electrical grids supplying Texas, the eastern states, the midwestern states, and the northwestern states. All are interconnected in Nebraska.
So what will happen to the power grid four months from now? Most experts believe that the grid will stay intact, but there might be regional power outages for awhile. By the way, Texas looks to be in good shape. But a few believe the power grid will fail and that is why they are planning for the worst case scenario. How you come down on that issue will determine what you think will happen four months from now.
I’m Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that’s my opinion.
© 1999 Probe Ministries International