On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
Thus spake "Mahadevan Iyer" <miyer(_at_)eng(_dot_)uci(_dot_)edu>
At first glance, it seems sheer idiocy to use an open network like the
Internet to control critical matter-of-life-and-death public
infrastructure like power systems. What do you think?
Public power systems are not life-and-death. Anywhere that AC service
is even moderately important, the people responsible (assuming they're
competent) will have contingencies for power loss. Consider the ISPs
that *voluntarily* go off-grid when there's a power crisis in the SF
Bay. Hospitals also make an interesting study.
Food for thought (copied from Risks):
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Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 18:18:53 -0500
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <higgins(_at_)fnal(_dot_)gov>
Subject: Illinois man dies after utility cuts power
I found the following story at the *Chicago Sun-Times*.
<http://www.suntimes.com:80/output/news/vent12.html>
Man dies after ComEd cuts power
July 12, 2000
BY DAN ROZEK AND STEVE WARMBIR SUBURBAN REPORTERS
An elderly Aurora man who used an electrically powered oxygen system
to help him breathe died in his home several hours after ComEd shut
off the power because he was behind in his bills.
In Aurora, Illinois, Eric Shackelford, an 81-year-old man, used oxygen 24
hours a day to help him breathe; he suffered from "severe heart disease."
His daughter, Renia Thomas of Chicago, claims that the power cutoff shut
his oxygen down, and may bring a wrongful-death lawsuit against the power
company, Commonwealth Edison.
The story reports, however, that a roommate says Shackelford had two
oxygen systems, one of which did not depend on electrical power.
The RISKS relevance is in the dispute over record-keeping. The family
says that Shackelford's doctor had sent at least two letters to ComEd
asking that power not be shut off.
A ComEd spokesman, however, said the utility had never received enough
information to determine that Shackelford was entitled to be added to
a list of about 1,000 customers who needed continuous electric power
for medical equipment. ComEd files contain only one letter from a
doctor regarding Shackelford, ComEd spokesman Don Kirchoffner said.
"We would never, ever cut the power to anyone we thought was on life
support," Kirchoffner said. [...]
A final notice sent in June said
Shackelford should notify ComEd if he had medical equipment that
required electricity, and there's no record anyone contacted the
utility, Kirchoffner said. [...]
Kane County Coroner David Moore said it was unclear whether the power
shutdown caused or contributed to Shackelford's death.
It would be interesting to know more about the process by which a power
company keeps track of customers who are dependent on power. How do you
make such a process fail-safe?
Bill Higgins Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
<higgins(_at_)fnal(_dot_)gov>
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