The Internet doesn't suit companies
that are vulnerable to security or financial risk (em
like electric transmission providers.
THE RUSH IS ON TO SET OASIS IN MOTION.
First proposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in its so-called electric "mega-NOPR" as "Real-time Information Networks" (RINs), and then codified in FERC Order 889 as the "Open-access, Same-time Information System" (OASIS), the idea is to bring the market for electric transmission capacity out into the sunshine.
But which factor should pose the greater concern: The approach taken by the RINs program designers in FERC Order 889, or the scope of the problem they attempted to solve in the first place? Both merit more serious thought despite the rush to implement OASIS, now set to begin on a test basis on December 2, and for commercial operation on January 3, 1997.
The Joint Transmission Services Information Network, an industry task force with 250 company members and nearly half the nation's transmission mileage, has awarded a contract to develop a system to carry capacity information and transact sales over the Internet. Each utility will have a "node" on OASIS that lists its available transmission capacity.1 A working prototype of an OASIS node is currently accessible at: http://www.tsin.com.
Nevertheless, is the Internet a safe and secure place for companies to do business? Probably not, at least not for companies with a great deal of safety vulnerability or financial risk. Electric transmission operations feature both of these characteristics.
The Internet: An Open Door?