On November 20, 37 Gigawatt hours of excess wind were produced by wind turbines. That surplus occurred at night, when there is room to spare on the transmission

On November 20, 37 Gigawatt hours of excess wind were produced by wind turbines. That surplus occurred at night, when there is room to spare on the transmission lines running from West Texas to the urban centers in the East. If Texas had 3.7 million EVs they would have had their daily needs met with the wind electricity that was curtailed for lack of demand. Let that sink in. Surplus like that is nuclear power plant levels of electricity. Now, admittedly, November 20 had wind potential that was near record-breaking. Further, many nights of the week, wind is not producing at surplus levels -- and the idea of million EVs charging would unleash dozens of natural gas plans to fill their nightly needs. This problem of 'extra wind' plagues about 18 states covered by Southwest Power Pool and Midcontinent ISOs. Further, the cost savings in moving EV demand from wind-poor nights to wind-rich nights only saves about 1¢/kWh in wholesale electric costs. Accordingly, there isn't much of a price signal to get people to change their habits.