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Dude, read the article. "An ERCOT director told Bloomberg that problems were widespread across generating sources, including coal, natural gas, and even nuclea
by kentonv 6y ago
Dude, 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.