6 ms·
Texas’ power grid crumples under the cold
- minicoz 6y agoyup i have been freezing my a.. off here in htown
- mmglr 6y ago> Texas is unusual in that almost the entire state is part of a single grid that lacks extensive integration with those of the surrounding states. PNM in NM already has problems keeping the power running in that state. So I don't think peering with them will be of any help. I can't speak to OK, LA and AR. It's a shame that nuclear has become a political football. As a Texan I would like to see more investment in Nuclear.
- jimktrains2 6y agoIt is interesting. The us and canada are split into a handful (8 iirc) NERC zones. Texas is almost entirely its own zone, and coördinates with noöne else. I believe Quebec is entirely/mostly seperate as well, but coördinates with/is part of the rest of the north east's NERC subsidiary. The zones or groups of zones only connect to other zones via a handful of DC connections, as part of the point of the zones are to coordinate AC frequency and to prevent national cascade outages. I think Texas has 2 to the eastern interconnect and one to Mexico. (I'm no expert; I just did some research looking at data centers once.)
- tharkun__ 6y agoQuebec has a lot of hydro. Quebec is actually the one NA state/province where I personally do not mind the fact that insulation and how to heat your house are really inefficient and sucky if you compare to some parts of Europe for example. That's because the cost has already been paid mostly. As in people relocated, methane released from vegetation suddenly being submerged in water, animals displaced etc. I don't know the actual numbers behind the impact of flooding forest lands for hydro dams vs. burning coal but I would gather the longer the dam is usable the more favourable this equation becomes for hydro power. Any pointers to studies welcome. Quebec is exporting its power to the US and there were some projects in the process of approval recently. I don't remember how far down the powerlines were to extend but definitely not all the way to Texas. Possibly even terminating in Vermont already. Quebec is also prone to power outages in winter storms though I suspect that power transmission to the US would be much less affected by this than local distribution. Much easier to down a regular wooden above ground power line with trees growing all over it somewhere in Quebec proper vs downing a large metal power line going cross country in a basically 'clean shaven' corridor or through farmland.
- belval 6y agoQuebec has had a lot of incentive programs for better building insulation. I don't have any data but I'd be surprised if we weren't on top for energy efficiency.
- tharkun__ 6y agoWell then you should definitely be. We are not ;) That said yes there were lots of programs (which I also took advantage of like the reno Vert and what not) and it probably helped put us on the map especially in NA. But not compared to Europe. I have some friends in Germany who have a Passiv Haus for example. Walking around here I see a loooot of icicles drooping from roofs. So you know they're literally heating the snow off their roof.
- stephencanon 6y ago> there were some projects in the process of approval recently. I think you’re thinking of Northern Pass, which was rejected by New Hampshire in 2018.
- randmeerkat 6y agoFrom the article Texas seems to be having issues with coal and nuclear power right now too: “...But that doesn't explain the shortfalls in coal and nuclear, and the ERCOT executive wasn't willing to speculate.”
- inter_netuser 6y agoHow can that be? Why are nuclear plants unable to produce? Aren't they baseload plants and run at pretty much the same capacity most of the time?
- randmeerkat 6y agoMaybe the plants themselves are having issues with equipment freezing?
- MattRix 6y agoCorrect. Nuclear still requires water, and the water pumps/pipes are freezing because they weren’t properly weatherized.
- edbob 6y agoIn one of four nuclear plants in Texas, "According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the shutdown of the nuclear reactor was caused by a disruption in a feedwater pump to the reactor, and that caused the plant to trip automatically and shut down early Monday." https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why-a-nuclear-reactor-shut-down-in-texas-cold-snap-when-energy-was-needed-most https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why...
- commandlinefan 6y agoHasn’t CA had ongoing problems with power consumption and rolling blackouts too?
- mikerathbun 6y agoCurrently getting 5 minutes on 45 minutes off. San Antonio
- mariojv 6y agoSame here and it’s been getting worse (less power less frequently). CPS has said rolling outages could continue for 24 hours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5QU5rru9Rs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5QU5rru9Rs They also said that areas close to critical infrastructure (hospitals, fire stations, police stations) are being prioritized. Explains why some of my friends in town haven’t lost any power all day
- Havoc 6y agoSurprised they don’t have interconnects for emergencies at least. Seems like a strategic own goal
- exabrial 6y ago"Crumples" is a fairly tabloid fake news headline. Their grid hasn't imploded or vaporized. "Can't buy enough generation capacity" would be accurate.
- commandlinefan 6y agoWe’re not completely down either - they’re doing rolling blackouts to keep people from freezing.
- karmajunkie 6y agoexcept that in large swathes of the state the “rolling” blackouts have failed to roll, so they’re just regular blackouts. my parents have been without power now for nearly 24 hours. thankfully i was able to have my parents come stay at our house. many people aren’t so fortunate and their homes are nearing the freezing point.
- brundolf 6y agoYeah, of all the people I know I don't think a single person has experienced a proper rolling blackout. Nearly everyone is either a) fine, or b) hasn't had power in 12-24 hours. It's a mess.
- BenjiWiebe 6y agoHere in central kansas we had a 2hr blackout this morning.
- godtoldmetodoit 6y agoIt's not a rolling blackout in Austin. I haven't had power in over 24 hours, and that describes everybody else without power here. If you were lucky enough to be on a circuit with a hospital or fire station you have stayed up this entire time. 40% of Austin is offline and has been offline since 2 AM Monday. They can't roll the blackout because every other circuit has a critical facility of some sort on it. This is a fucking disaster.
- exabrial 6y agoAccurate headline: Over-investment in a single renewable energy source leads to mass rolling blackouts when unprecedented winter event occurs.
- kentonv 6y agoDude, read the article. "An ERCOT director told Bloomberg that problems were widespread across generating sources, including coal, natural gas, and even nuclear plants. In the past, severe cold has caused US supplies of natural gas to be constrained, as use in residential heating competes with its use in generating electricity. But that doesn't explain the shortfalls in coal and nuclear, and the ERCOT executive wasn't willing to speculate."
- inter_netuser 6y agowhy are nukes and coal affected? This makes no sense at all.
- tibbydudeza 6y agoThe generators can't work in this kind of cold weather.
- inter_netuser 6y agohow so? aren't these usually rather warm and must be cooled actively?
- kentonv 6y agoWe probably won't know the full story for a while. There are many providers and they may all have their own unique issues. But the general theme will probably be: Infrastructure in Texas isn't built to withstand freezes, and all kinds of things can go wrong when they happen. Keeping a generator running doesn't require just the generator staying warm (that's easy, as you note), but also the fuel supply lines, operations center, staff, etc. Like, maybe the staff literally can't get to the plant because there's a foot of snow on the ground and no snow plows in the state. Who knows... we'll find out in the coming weeks.
- inter_netuser 6y agoHow is it that nuclear is affected? >The shortfalls appear to be widespread, affecting everything from wind turbines to nuclear plants. One source of trouble may be an increased competition for natural gas, which is commonly used for heating in the United States.
- MattRix 6y agoNuclear relies on water and the water pipes/pumps are freezing because they are not properly winterized.
- edbob 6y agoIn one of four nuclear plants in Texas, "According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the shutdown of the nuclear reactor was caused by a disruption in a feedwater pump to the reactor, and that caused the plant to trip automatically and shut down early Monday." https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why-a-nuclear-reactor-shut-down-in-texas-cold-snap-when-energy-was-needed-most https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-and-why...
- Fjolsvith 6y agoYou could make some serious money right now with a commercial generator feeding electricity into the grid.