Texas Power Grid Collapse 2021

[Little Raven]

I live with a couple of lizard-ladies who like it hot, so our thermostat never goes below 78 unless company is coming over. These days, my wife is setting it at 83 during the day, which is warm but tolerable.

[Blackhawk]

We set the window units (three of them total) to 72 during the day, and close all of the blinds and curtains that face the sun anytime the outside temp is forecast at 85+. At 90+, we close 'em all. That's just enough to keep the house hovering 79-80 degrees.

[em2nought]

We set the window units (three of them total) to 72 during the day, and close all of the blinds and curtains that face the sun anytime the outside temp is forecast at 85+. At 90+, we close 'em all. That's just enough to keep the house hovering 79-80 degrees.

Window units are really really inefficient. The next time a window unit goes out consider getting a mini-split to replace it.

[LordMortis]

I hear there's a once in generation weather event causing power problems in Texas.

[Isgrimnur]

I hear there's a once in generation weather event causing power problems in Texas.

Once a year, maybe.

[LordMortis]

Hope ally'all are doing OK. I'm used to power outages here. I seem to get several a month, but not actual power insecurity. Given how much power Texas generates, it's hard for me to understand why Ercot is now having annual events. It's not like weeks of 100+ weather is new there. I remember when I hired at my last company and had to fly down to San Antonio during 115 degree weather 25 years ago. I was not happy, being a cold weather creature but people were were working through it, they just had to work in quick shifts.

[Smoove_B]

Looking forward to hearing from all the TX elected officials on how they feel about this:

The Texas Division of Emergency Management will receive $60.6 million from the federal government to help utilities strengthen infrastructure on the state’s electricity grid.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it will award the funds so that Texas’ power grid might better withstand extreme weather events. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the grant program.

“These grants will help modernize the electric grid to reduce impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters while enhancing power sector reliability,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

State emergency officials will develop parameters for how to use the money. The funds could go toward programs such as trimming trees around power lines or improving how equipment functions in extreme heat or cold, for example.

[Smoove_B]

Haven't had one of these in a while:

Two U.S. electric grids may not have enough power to meet demand plus required reserves on Thursday as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave blanketing Texas and other U.S. Central states.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid for more than 26 million customers, urged residents to voluntarily conserve power on Thursday as it expects a "reserve capacity shortage with no market solution available."

...

AccuWeather forecast temperatures in Houston, the biggest city in Texas, would reach 107 degrees Fahrenheit (41.7 degrees Celsius) on Thursday. That compares with a normal high of 94 F (34 C) for this time of year.

ERCOT forecast demand would reach 84,928 megawatts (MW) on Thursday, just shy of its 85,435 MW record set Aug. 10.

Even though demand was not expected to hit a record, ERCOT forecast reserves would fall short because some power plants may not be available on Thursday.

[waitingtoconnect]

The hot weather on the east coast is all down to the portal to hell that is in the Oval Office of the Biden White House. It’s blowing hot air down to Texas. Duh.

If you left wing woke liberals don’t believe me ask Roger Stone.

https://sports.yahoo.com/trump-confidan ... 23063.html

[malchior]

Folks don't realize how hard it is to keep the grid up when it is running at the edge of capacity. One unexpected forced outage will make the whole thing tumble.

[waitingtoconnect]

The weirdos shooting it up also doesn’t help.

[malchior]

Texas grid has another close call again tonight.

The state’s power grid operator triggered its emergency operations on Wednesday evening, allowing it to call on all available power generation to stay ahead of demand — and bringing it a step closer to a worst-case scenario of ordering rotating power outages.

If the Electric Reliability Council of Texas takes that step, the location and duration of power outages would be controlled by individual electric utilities. For example, CPS Energy President and CEO Rudy Garza in San Antonio said last month when conditions looked tight that outages would last between 10 and 15 minutes for their customers.

Representatives for other utilities said the duration of power outages and whether they would rotate would depend on what they hear from ERCOT, which calculates how much demand must be reduced to keep the grid from failing.

ERCOT triggered the emergency operations at 7:25 p.m. Wednesday. An hour later, the grid appeared to be recovering and had a healthy margin between supply and demand.

[LawBeefaroni]

ERCOT keeps on winning....

Texas Energy Grid Paid Bitcoin Miner $31.7 Million to Stop Working Amid Heatwave

Les said the $31.7 million it received from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas’ independent energy operator, came out to around the value of 1,136 bitcoin. That’s worth around three times as much as the Bitcoin the company actually mined in August.

[malchior]

I'd bet some bitcoins that there is something shady there.

[Smoove_B]

It's only a 20% chance. Why bother?

ERCOT has canceled a program to boost power reserves for what could be a precarious winter for Texas’ electric grid after no energy companies volunteered to fire up their shuttered plants.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas had sought enough additional electricity generation to power about 600,000 homes to shore up reserves after it forecast a near 20% chance of reaching emergency conditions this winter.

However, the power grid operator canceled the program on Friday after it received offers for only enough power for 2,200 homes, all of which came from companies willing to shed electricity usage during emergency conditions.

[malchior]

Trying to 'take back' a failure sometimes is just reminding people...what a piece of utter shit they are.

[LordMortis]

I take you are about experience a once in a generation cold event?

[Smoove_B]

It really is depressing:

“Due to continued freezing temperatures, very high demand and unseasonably low wind, operating reserves for the Texas power grid are expected to be low Monday morning, Jan. 15, before sunrise,” the release stated, adding that “ERCOT is not experiencing emergency conditions at this time.”

At about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, as temperatures dipped into the teens and the windchill reached below zero at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, thousands of Oncor customers were without power, the company’s online outage map showed.

About 6,000 of those were from the Dallas-Fort Worth area as of 9 p.m., according to the online map.

Hundreds died the last time, but I guess that ultimately didn't matter.

[malchior]

They claim that they did far more winterization after that event. We'll see. I have my doubts but the fact that heating in the vast majority of homes in Texas is based on resistive heating is no help either.

[Unagi]

Trying to 'take back' a failure sometimes is just reminding people...what a piece of utter shit they are.

wait, this is real?

[coopasonic]

I take you are about experience a once in a generation cold event?

Once in a generation.. every winter for the past 3 years running. 3 straight days without ever going above freezing. Luckily there was limited precipitation. Still, today is the third day and roads are completely clear. I am the only person on any of my teams that came into the office. Currently 25 outside. Warmest it has been since Saturday. Not what someone in Dallas is used to.

On the plus side, no outages for us at all.

[LordMortis]

I wonder how my old company is doing. In the last decade we've had to send so many blankets and winter coats to Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. They've never been ready for it and much of Northern Mexico rely on Texas for power, which gets shut off when South Texas is having winter. One would think Mexico would seek a different arrangement after the last 15 years of literally being left in the cold.

[waitingtoconnect]

I take you are about experience a once in a generation cold event?

Once in a generation.. every winter for the past 3 years running. 3 straight days without ever going above freezing. Luckily there was limited precipitation. Still, today is the third day and roads are completely clear. I am the only person on any of my teams that came into the office. Currently 25 outside. Warmest it has been since Saturday. Not what someone in Dallas is used to.

On the plus side, no outages for us at all.

It’s all the fault of Joe Biden. Somehow.

[Kraken]

I take you are about experience a once in a generation cold event?

Once in a generation.. every winter for the past 3 years running. 3 straight days without ever going above freezing. Luckily there was limited precipitation. Still, today is the third day and roads are completely clear. I am the only person on any of my teams that came into the office. Currently 25 outside. Warmest it has been since Saturday. Not what someone in Dallas is used to.

On the plus side, no outages for us at all.

It’s all the fault of Joe Biden. Somehow.

Global warming is a Democrat hoax!

[Smoove_B]

Haven't bumped this thread in a while.

The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map.
Still nearly 1.9 million power outages.

Outage from Beryl, but the power company still doesn't have a way to communicate to the public what's happening.

[Pyperkub]

Bonus points for climate change pushing all those Texans w/o power into wet bulb heat index territory

The heat index in Houston passed 100 degrees on Tuesday, according to a local weather observation station. The heat index measures how the body feels under both heat and humidity. The station at Hobby International Airport reported a heat index of 103 degrees. Air temperatures across the region are expected to climb into the mid 90s throughout the day and Wednesday.

When a person is unable to cool their body down amid prolonged heat, they are at risk for damage to the brain and other vital organs, as well as other heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and stroke.

“The lack of proper cooling combined with many people outdoors cleaning up after Beryl could produce dangerous heat conditions,” the National Weather Service in Houston said. Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather in the US, killing more than twice as many people each year as hurricanes and tornadoes combined.

Climate Change in action, delivering a massive double-whammy. Stay safe Texans.

[Dramatist]

And after about 38 hours our power is back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[em2nought]

And after about 38 hours our power is back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it took us four days after hurricane Irma in Florida. Took about two weeks before banks were opened again.

Bonus points for climate change pushing all those Texans w/o power into wet bulb heat index territory

Climate Change in action

With hurricane Irma, I just stayed in the shade until the power returned and did my outside clean up afterward. Let's hope Beryl is the last one for the year so climate change doesn't gain any ground on inflation and open borders as a primary voting motivator.

[Pyperkub]

And after about 38 hours our power is back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it took us four days after hurricane Irma in Florida. Took about two weeks before banks were opened again.

Bonus points for climate change pushing all those Texans w/o power into wet bulb heat index territory

Climate Change in action

With hurricane Irma, I just stayed in the shade until the power returned and did my outside clean up afterward. Let's hope Beryl is the last one for the year so climate change doesn't gain any ground on inflation and open borders as a primary voting motivator.

If wishes were fishes...

... Beryl just the 2nd named event of the year, and pretty early, but good luck.

(and no, shade doesn't do much at all when you're in wet-bulb temps)

[LordMortis]

If wishes were fishes...

then beggars would ride?

[LordMortis]

I can't find any sources to validate but I'm seeing social media posts from blue collar workers that Texas/ERCOT was busy trying to negotiate pay down, and refusing to pay travel expense to get people from out out state to help restore the grid and then refusing to pay after the work was done. If true, nice bridges you got there for your semi annual, once in a generation weather event.

[em2nought]

And after about 38 hours our power is back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it took us four days after hurricane Irma in Florida. Took about two weeks before banks were opened again.

Bonus points for climate change pushing all those Texans w/o power into wet bulb heat index territory

Climate Change in action

With hurricane Irma, I just stayed in the shade until the power returned and did my outside clean up afterward. Let's hope Beryl is the last one for the year so climate change doesn't gain any ground on inflation and open borders as a primary voting motivator.

If wishes were fishes...

... Beryl just the 2nd named event of the year, and pretty early, but good luck.

(and no, shade doesn't do much at all when you're in wet-bulb temps)

When I said "shade" I meant inside the house down on the 1st floor tile floor with all the plywood shutters still on the windows to block the sun, and under my handy dandy battery powered camping fan from Aldi.

[TheMix]

I can tell you that my employee said that there were lots of out-of-state crews that were standing/parked around not working. Because apparently the utility didn't bother setting up any kind of housing, food, etc.

He said folks on social media (without power) were pissed.

[LordMortis]

I can tell you that my employee said that there were lots of out-of-state crews that were standing/parked around not working. Because apparently the utility didn't bother setting up any kind of housing, food, etc.

That's the kind of reporting I'm hearing as well, but it's second hand to me and third hand to you from me. I'm hearing from the friends of the workers side, not from the people living there side. Basically being brought in from out of state without anything done the way the rest of the lower 48 do things especially with regard to how money is going to change hands or workers are going to be provided for, which meant workers not working.

[Pyperkub]

And after about 38 hours our power is back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think it took us four days after hurricane Irma in Florida. Took about two weeks before banks were opened again.

Bonus points for climate change pushing all those Texans w/o power into wet bulb heat index territory

Climate Change in action

With hurricane Irma, I just stayed in the shade until the power returned and did my outside clean up afterward. Let's hope Beryl is the last one for the year so climate change doesn't gain any ground on inflation and open borders as a primary voting motivator.

If wishes were fishes...

... Beryl just the 2nd named event of the year, and pretty early, but good luck.

(and no, shade doesn't do much at all when you're in wet-bulb temps)

When I said "shade" I meant inside the house down on the 1st floor tile floor with all the plywood shutters still on the windows to block the sun, and under my handy dandy battery powered camping fan from Aldi.

I'm glad it's working for you, but by definition, fans don't do much with wet-bulb temps - the heat + humidity gets so bad that the body can't sweat/evaporate sweat to cool the body (thus, fan doesn't help, and the body completely breaks down because of it).

When ambient temperatures — the kind you read on most thermometers or weather apps — are below the body temperature, any extra warmth can radiate away. The surrounding air can also carry away heat. If these mechanisms don’t cool the body off enough, it starts to produce sweat, which cools the skin as it evaporates.

“If it’s dry enough, if the humidity is low enough, it’s an extremely efficient way of taking body heat away to the environment,” Williams said.

However, as humidity increases, the cooling effectiveness of sweating decreases since sweat doesn’t evaporate as readily. If heat and humidity rise in tandem, that increases the chances of the body’s temperature rising too. And if surrounding temperatures are hotter than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the body ends up absorbing heat from the environment.

Too much heat in the body can quickly lead to complications like heat exhaustion. This presents with symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, muscle cramps, clammy skin, and nausea. If the core body temperature rises past 104 degrees Fahrenheit, it can cause heat stroke, a life-threatening condition where organs shut down...

Medications can also have a massive impact on heat stressL

The added challenge is that the specific threshold where these complications set in can vary from person to person.

Older adults and young children tend to be more vulnerable to extreme heat. People with high blood pressure can experience adverse symptoms at lower temperatures than those with normal blood pressure. Medications like diuretics and psychotropic drugs can increase vulnerability to extremely hot weather. And the effects of heat can be cumulative

Psychotropic drugs include just about all of the anti-depressants (SSRI's in particular), FWIW.

[Alefroth]

I can tell you that my employee said that there were lots of out-of-state crews that were standing/parked around not working. Because apparently the utility didn't bother setting up any kind of housing, food, etc.

He said folks on social media (without power) were pissed.

I've heard from a retired linemen friend that out of state linemen were there, not able to even work, because no pay agreements had been worked out.

[TheMix]

I can tell you that my employee said that there were lots of out-of-state crews that were standing/parked around not working. Because apparently the utility didn't bother setting up any kind of housing, food, etc.

He said folks on social media (without power) were pissed.

I've heard from a retired linemen friend that out of state linemen were there, not able to even work, because no pay agreements had been worked out.

That would, obviously be even worse. And ridiculous. Especially if the Texas utilities asked for the help.

[Pyperkub]

Wow. It sounds like they Enron'ed Texas...

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... wsuit-uri/

Deadly blackouts that killed hundreds of people across Texas in 2021 —  which have been widely blamed on failures to properly insulate gas pipelines — may have had a more nefarious cause, a new lawsuit alleges.

Over the past three years, a wave of new data — and lawsuits — have made the case that the outages were, in fact, a result of market manipulation by some of Texas’s biggest fossil fuel companies.

[LordMortis]

Wow. It sounds like they Enron'ed Texas...

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... wsuit-uri/

Deadly blackouts that killed hundreds of people across Texas in 2021 —  which have been widely blamed on failures to properly insulate gas pipelines — may have had a more nefarious cause, a new lawsuit alleges.

Over the past three years, a wave of new data — and lawsuits — have made the case that the outages were, in fact, a result of market manipulation by some of Texas’s biggest fossil fuel companies.

What's sad is that this sound like it can't be true and yet the FF Companies give me exactly zero reasons to doubt the truth of the claim.

[GreenGoo]

Roll coal!