IOM Energy AKA Manx Gas

[Dave Hedgehog]

Latest from Jersey is that customers will be getting a letter over the next couple of days telling them what they need to do to get their gas back on.

[Banker]

Jersey still haven’t got gas supplies restored, imagine if it was January or over XMas period!, 

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2023/10/12/gas-outage-reputation-damage-to-the-island-is-large-says-jersey-hospitality-association/

[Fred the shred]

It seems to be taking an awful long time to sort the problem out if it is what Jo Cox said is correct , rogue code 🤣  really !

[Banker]

Looks like gas prices could be going up soon just as winter approaches 

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/uk-wholesale-gas-prices-rise-to-highest-level-since-february-12983758

[Roger Mexico]

16 hours ago, Fred the shred said:

It seems to be taking an awful long time to sort the problem out if it is what Jo Cox said is correct , rogue code 🤣  really !

Just been reported that the last customers have been told they can switch it back on.  Interestingly the reports say there are only about 4,500 customers there - domestic and commercial.  It shows how much they must rely on the Isle of Man for revenue.

[Manxman1234]

55 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Just been reported that the last customers have been told they can switch it back on.  Interestingly the reports say there are only about 4,500 customers there - domestic and commercial.  It shows how much they must rely on the Isle of Man for revenue.

Think most of GSY and Jsy are bottled gas and not on the mains 

[A fool and his money.....]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

Just been reported that the last customers have been told they can switch it back on.  Interestingly the reports say there are only about 4,500 customers there - domestic and commercial.  It shows how much they must rely on the Isle of Man for revenue.

A week long outage! They really are a bunch of buffoons aren't they, what with this and the billing debacle - not to mention running up huge debts with MU.

Scary really to think they are also in charge of distributing a potentially very explosive substance. I guess the ongoing investigation in Jersey will determine whether or not they are any more competent at that.

[Fred the shred]

The cost of leccy and oil must be cheaper than gas if so few people are on it, perhaps lesser standing charges or VAT .  Bottled gas would not be suitable for heating .   This company does not create any confidence in its performance.     Now the oil will be going up with the dreadful situation in Gaza .    It makes sense to have our own source of power be it solar, wind or water it is just the Government in charge of any of these sources makes me nervous, very nervous, especially as we are skint at the minute.      What progress is there on the gas field ?   Anyone know ?   It has gone very quiet.

[Amadeus]

51 minutes ago, A fool and his money..... said:

A week long outage! They really are a bunch of buffoons aren't they, what with this and the billing debacle - not to mention running up huge debts with MU.

Scary really to think they are also in charge of distributing a potentially very explosive substance. I guess the ongoing investigation in Jersey will determine whether or not they are any more competent at that.

IOMG had a chance to take over these greedy clowns and didn't take it. Next time manxgas screws up their cashflow they may want to rethink how they handle it. 

[Amadeus]

On 10/9/2023 at 12:50 PM, Two-lane said:

" Ms Cox said back-up systems had also failed.

"All of them failed at exactly the same time because of the code," she said.

"The chances of that happening is like winning the EuroMillions.""

Well, individual events happening by chance at the same time is like winning the lottery. If multiple systems have a common failure point, and that point fails, it is guaranteed that everything will shut down at the same time.

Maybe Cox knows that she is talking nonsense, but it's just a press release.

It would be sensible for software used in this situation to be developed to the same standard as military and avionics systems - where testing is not optional. But that kind of development is..... expensive.

[My son is a programmer who worked for a while at the Jaguar Cars Design Centre in England. He mentioned to me some problems with security on the buses (not the 107 from Barnet), and I suggested they should get people with avionics experience into the company. He said there was an ex-avionics engineer. He did not like the rigorous nature of that kind of work, so he joined a car company where standards were much more relaxed).

 

There's seemingly no limit to their incompetence and questions need to be asked if they are fit to be the supplier of such a crucial utility. Not just because of this latest screw up on that other island. 

[John Wright]

27 minutes ago, Fred the shred said:

The cost of leccy and oil must be cheaper than gas if so few people are on it, perhaps lesser standing charges or VAT .  Bottled gas would not be suitable for heating .   This company does not create any confidence in its performance.     Now the oil will be going up with the dreadful situation in Gaza .    It makes sense to have our own source of power be it solar, wind or water it is just the Government in charge of any of these sources makes me nervous, very nervous, especially as we are skint at the minute.      What progress is there on the gas field ?   Anyone know ?   It has gone very quiet.

Why is bottled gas not suitable for central heating? It was common practice, and still is, in rural parts of the island. A bank of 5x 5 feet high gas bottles. That’s how calor kosangas did it. Auto change over valves. They came around every couple of weeks and changed over the empty bottles. 

It’s what I have here, out in Spain. I have a galvanised gas cupboard. Contains 2 banks of 5 huge botttles, 10 bottles in total, with manual change over between banks. I last swapped out 5 bottles in February. There have been people here Match, April, June, August and September, plus all October. OK just cooking and hot water. In winter, heating on,  5 bottles lasts between 3 weeks and a month.

 

7 minutes ago, Amadeus said:

IOMG had a chance to take over these greedy clowns and didn't take it. Next time manxgas screws up their cashflow they may want to rethink how they handle it. 

Did they, when? The IoMG owned the gas installation in Ramsey, Peel, Castletown, Port Erin and Port St Mary, through the IoM Water & Gas Authority and couldn’t wait to get shut to Douglas Gas.

4 minutes ago, Amadeus said:

There's seemingly no limit to their incompetence and questions need to be asked if they are fit to be the supplier of such a crucial utility. Not just because of this latest screw up on that other island. 

Doesn’t the shut down, and slow restoration of supply demonstrate the exact opposite? Default to fail safe systems are in place, they worked, and reconnection with appropriate purging, which is necessarily a slow and staged process, took place.

[TheTeapot]

Why did the gas stop over there then? I don't think I've seen an explanation.

[John Wright]

7 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Why did the gas stop over there then? I don't think I've seen an explanation.

Yes, we have. They’re alleging a rogue computer code, just like NATS.

The back up systems were also affected, just like NATS.

Result, auto shut down, to stop any risk, just like NATS.

 

[Two-lane]

I mentioned above that critical systems should be designed and implemented to high standards. This will always involve design review meetings, held before the coding is started. They are deliverable items so need to be minuted/documented.

If a line or two of code brings down both the main and the backup systems, that is not a coding error - it is a system design error, which should have been caught in a design review.

Don't ask about the coder who may well have just implemented what was in the design document - ask to see the design review documentation.

And finally - I heard a scurrilous rumour that there was some kind of design review meeting for Laxey station where someone was making relevant criticisms, so Longworth kicked him/her out of the meeting.

 

[Two-lane]

17 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Yes, we have. They’re alleging a rogue computer code, just like NATS.

The back up systems were also affected, just like NATS.

Result, auto shut down, to stop any risk, just like NATS.

Page 9 is the summary:

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/NERL Major Incident Investigation Preliminary Report.pdf

The problem was more of a design - or lack of design - error, rather than a programming error.

Here are some useful phrases:

critical exception -> blue screen of death

safe mode -> computer turns off

[software development cycle -> In spite of Hollywood's best efforts, there is a lot more to software development than some starlet banging away at the keyboard, saving the universe. How they can do that with 1-inch long fingernails beats me]