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There are links to grid dashboards elsewhere in the discussion. Wind generation went up to nearly 8GW whereas at times it was as low as 400MW. Hydro also ramped

There are links to grid dashboards elsewhere in the discussion. Wind generation went up to nearly 8GW whereas at times it was as low as 400MW. Hydro also ramped up significantly. As for switching off stuff - conservation is always good, but what they really need are for the guys with two-story-tall electric arc furnaces and the like to dial things back.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
Wind and hydro are more of a western thing, the eastern grid probably relies more on gas and coal as well as nuclear.
- doubleg72 4y ago
  Never heard of Niagara Falls huh?
  - dragontamer 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Sta... You know, it was only the largest battery in the world for like 30 years...
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    Wind, solar, and hydro account for 46% of western grid (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interconnection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interconnection). I can’t find similar numbers for the eastern grid, but hydro production by states, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/where-hydropower-is-generated.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/where-hydropo..., shows how hydro is more of a western thing, especially Washington state, but even Oregon and California are comparable to New York.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  The specific mix varies considerably by state. Table here, though it's not easy to summarize: <https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/electricity-sources-by-state/ https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/electricity-sources...> Coal ranges from a high of 93% in West Virginia (not terribly surprising), to nil in CT, DE, MA, NJ, NY, RI, and VT. Nuclear does contribute a lot, up to 50% (IL). New York's hydro, Niagara Falls notwithstanding, is still only 17% of total (though NY is a large energy producer). Vermont is 48.2% hydro, 28.3% wind, and 10.2% solar, though it would be the smallest producer in the north-east. Even the south-eastern states tend to use much less coal than I'd have thought. This page shows a graphical depiction of generation sources for states. It's still a bit muddled, but several Eastern states are among the highest in renewables usage, with Vermont leading the country: <https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/electricity-generation-by-state/ https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/electricity-generation-by-...> Original source is Visual Capitalist: <https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/road-to-decarbonization-united-states-electricity-mix/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/road-to-decarbonization-...> Jpeg: <https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Decarbonization-United-States-Electricity-Mix-1200.jpg https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/...>
defrost 4y ago
> what they really need are for the guys with two-story-tall electric arc furnaces and the like to dial things back. It'd be interesting to see sourced data comparing them to data centres and crypto farms on a mean monthly total usage basis.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago

Wind and hydro are more of a western thing, the eastern grid probably relies more on gas and coal as well as nuclear.

doubleg72 4y ago
Never heard of Niagara Falls huh?
- dragontamer 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Sta... You know, it was only the largest battery in the world for like 30 years...
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  Wind, solar, and hydro account for 46% of western grid (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interconnection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interconnection). I can’t find similar numbers for the eastern grid, but hydro production by states, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/where-hydropower-is-generated.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/where-hydropo..., shows how hydro is more of a western thing, especially Washington state, but even Oregon and California are comparable to New York.
dredmorbius 4y ago
The specific mix varies considerably by state. Table here, though it's not easy to summarize: <https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/electricity-sources-by-state/ https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/electricity-sources...> Coal ranges from a high of 93% in West Virginia (not terribly surprising), to nil in CT, DE, MA, NJ, NY, RI, and VT. Nuclear does contribute a lot, up to 50% (IL). New York's hydro, Niagara Falls notwithstanding, is still only 17% of total (though NY is a large energy producer). Vermont is 48.2% hydro, 28.3% wind, and 10.2% solar, though it would be the smallest producer in the north-east. Even the south-eastern states tend to use much less coal than I'd have thought. This page shows a graphical depiction of generation sources for states. It's still a bit muddled, but several Eastern states are among the highest in renewables usage, with Vermont leading the country: <https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/electricity-generation-by-state/ https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/electricity-generation-by-...> Original source is Visual Capitalist: <https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/road-to-decarbonization-united-states-electricity-mix/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/road-to-decarbonization-...> Jpeg: <https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Decarbonization-United-States-Electricity-Mix-1200.jpg https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/...>

defrost 4y ago

> what they really need are for the guys with two-story-tall electric arc furnaces and the like to dial things back. It'd be interesting to see sourced data comparing them to data centres and crypto farms on a mean monthly total usage basis.