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Yeah, Oncor isn’t great. They do just enough to keep the lights on for regular customers. But I’m pretty sure large data centers negotiate a higher level of ser

Yeah, Oncor isn’t great. They do just enough to keep the lights on for regular customers. But I’m pretty sure large data centers negotiate a higher level of service and purchase power at discounted rates. FB, for example, has a massive data center in the Alliance corridor — check out the link. Those trailer-sized units you see along the outside of the building are enormous diesel or natural gas generators — more than a hundred of them, each about the size of a locomotive. They even have their own electrical substation. The scale and redundancy of that place are unbelievable. https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9832754,-97.2573651,467m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTAwNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9832754,-97.2573651,467m/dat... So I’d imagine they could keep everything running for as long as necessary. I remember during the big winter outage a few years ago, they didn’t have any issues at all.

dylan604 1y ago
Each building has 2 large fuel tanks which is where I was expecting to see a fault in the plan. I wonder how redundant the fuel supply is. If building 1 is the only one on generator power and the fuel tanks start to run low, can they easily route more fuel from another building's tanks? Just how paranoid were they with the design?
- sleepyguy 1y ago
  When ever there is an extended power outage at a facility like this, tankers show up. I would not be surprised if there are contracts with Suncor distribution to have a steady flow of tankers supplying fuel to the facility. There are several fuel distribution hubs throughout the DFW area that supply the local markets including two major airports.
  - dylan604 1y ago
    That's a big assumption, and precisely why the tanks are on site. If snowpocalypse events make roads unsafe to drive, those tankers might not be there. There's always a way to think about how something else could go wrong. At some point, you just have to say it is good enough for the money willing to be spent.

dylan604 1y ago

Each building has 2 large fuel tanks which is where I was expecting to see a fault in the plan. I wonder how redundant the fuel supply is. If building 1 is the only one on generator power and the fuel tanks start to run low, can they easily route more fuel from another building's tanks? Just how paranoid were they with the design?

sleepyguy 1y ago
When ever there is an extended power outage at a facility like this, tankers show up. I would not be surprised if there are contracts with Suncor distribution to have a steady flow of tankers supplying fuel to the facility. There are several fuel distribution hubs throughout the DFW area that supply the local markets including two major airports.
- dylan604 1y ago
  That's a big assumption, and precisely why the tanks are on site. If snowpocalypse events make roads unsafe to drive, those tankers might not be there. There's always a way to think about how something else could go wrong. At some point, you just have to say it is good enough for the money willing to be spent.