Y2K bug: 100-years past-due power
                             bills sent 

                             By The Associated Press

                             Jacksonville (12/29/99) -- While waiting for the new
                             century to arrive, an estimated 5,000 Jacksonville
                             customers recently got an ultimatum over bills the local
                             electric utility said they should have paid 100 years ago. 

                                                  That's right, Y2K, the end of
                                                  century high tech scourge, has
                                                  struck in Jacksonville. 

                             Officials of the city's public utility--the Jacksonville
                             Electric Authority--on Tuesday announced no one's lights
                             will be turned off over past-due payments due by Jan. 3,
                             1900, as mistakenly printed on notices. 

                             Embarrassed JEA officials acknowledged in sending out
                             apology letters to affected customers, those payments
                             should be made by Jan. 3, 2000. 

                             The glitch came after the JEA spent three years trying to
                             prevent just this sort of Y2K problem in its electric and
                             water plants--and in its billings. 

                             "Our system promptly caught it," said JEA Managing
                             Director Walt Bussells. "It was not expected. It's a
                             mistake." 

                             "The bills we're sending out now are correct," Bussells
                             said, "and the bills that had the erroneous past-due date
                             notice, the billing amounts were correct." 

                             The recent billing error took place when an outdated
                             version of the utility's computer system--one that
                             normally is used to send messages in bills--was mistakenly
                             loaded for past-due dates in 2000. 

                             (Copyright 1999 by The Associated Press. All Rights
                             Reserved.)