Spring ahead...fall back... We are all aware of this expression. It is rooted in our consciousness just as much as the A-B-Cs. But do we know of the changes coming in 2007? In 2006, Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins for most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of April. Time reverts to standard time at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday of October.

In the U.S., 2:00 a.m. was originally chosen as the changeover time because it was practical and minimized disruption. This was intended to provide a better match between the hours of daylight and the active hours of work and school. The "saved" daylight is spent on evening activities which get more daylight, rather than being "wasted" while people sleep past dawn.

DST is not observed in Hawaii or in Arizona. Indiana, which used to be split with a portion of the state observing DST and the other half not, is now whole. A state law was passed in 2005 that has the entire state of Indiana observing DST beginning in April 2006.

Beginning in 2007, DST is extended one month and begins for most of the United States on March 11th. The following chart provides you specific dates on when DST begins and ends from 2007 through 2015.

The new start and stop dates were set in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The U.S. Department of Energy is required to study the impact of the DST extension no later than nine months after the change takes effect. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete. Keeping this in mind, we may see future changes to the DST schedule.

The Collector System and ManageMed
Columbia Ultimate is committed to providing products and services that meet industry guidelines and requirements. In keeping with this commitment, version 2006.2 of The Collector System and version 3.0 of ManageMed will follow the new DST schedule defined by the US Department of Energy.

If you are on The Collector System version 2006.1 (or prior) or ManageMed 2.2 (or prior), your system will need to be updated to comply with the new DST schedule. To assure a smooth transition to the new schedule in 2007, simply contact Client Care and they will be happy to update your particular software version.

Contacting Client Care: clientcare@columbiaultimate.com, or 1-800-488-4420, option 1.