WELLINGTON - One hundred Transpower staff, including the chief executive, will be on deck on New Year's Eve to make sure the national power system keeps working.
Dozens more staff will be working for other essential services such as power and phone companies and banks when the new century begins at
midnight on Friday.
Transpower said yesterday that any power problems caused by computer bugs were highly unlikely because it had spent $8 million and run two successful simulation tests.
Extra staff will work from 10 pm until about 4 am on New Year's Day, and a spokesman said the power system could be run manually in the "unlikely event" of computer problems.
Contact Energy, with big power stations and about 480,000 retail electricity customers, will also have a special team on for New Year.
It does not expect computer problems. A spokesman said any power failures on the night were more likely to be from a car knocking over a powerpole.
Telecom will have a special centre in Wellington to monitor its phone systems, with two shifts working from 10 pm on New Year's Eve to midnight on New Year's Day. It has spent more than $100 million and has had more than 200 people working on Y2K issues in the past few years.
The Reserve Bank will have a small emergency team on duty, to get feedback from the banks after midnight on the 24-hour banking system - Eftpos, money machines and credit card transactions.
Because of public holidays, banks will not open again until Wednesday, January 5, when they will settle transactions from December 31 onward. The final count on those interbank settlements will be made before opening on January 6.
The real concern is that if there is a computer meltdown in New Zealand, bank customers in the United States or elsewhere could make a run on their banks for cash, causing problems.
In New Zealand, there has been no sign of big cash withdrawals yet, a bank source said.
The Reserve Bank has about $2.5 billion more than normal in circulation or reserve - almost $1000 for each person.
- NZPA
