Blackouts in Texas as Big Freeze Upends Energy Markets

[Boiler 46,086]

1 minute ago, CanAm1980 said:

 when you moved to Colorado did they ask you what type of AWD you drove as part of the driver's license exam?

The Driving test was very amusing. UK one is pretty serious, My Mother was the only one of my family to pass first time.

 

So I went to find out what I needed to do and they gave me a form to fill in which turned out to be the written test, got one wrong, I remember it was something to do with who had priority at 4 ways and biggest was not one of the answers.

 

So went back to do my road test, squirrel ran in front, so said afterwards well I guess that is my emergency brake test, blank response, so turned a couple of corners and we were back in the car park.

 

I did take the test in a truck, by definition 4WD.

 

I remember helping someone who had a big nail in their tire, massive SUV with very low profile tires and Texas number plate... Got enough in there so they could get back to civilisation.

 

I get it, same in UK, they had a freeze in the UK last week, 2 inches of snow, or as my Brother called it snowmageddon.

[Ban Hammer 13,530]

22 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I remember it was something to do with who had priority at 4 ways and biggest was not one of the answers.

I guess "her husband" wasn't the right answer either?  

[Lemonslice 4,967]

Quote

[...]

Here is the report that was compiled after this exact same thing happened in 2011

 

https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/08-16-11-report.pdf

 

They pinpointed exactly where things went wrong and how to make sure it didn’t happen again. A lot of the measures they recommend are comically cheap and easy, but none of it was done. This is negligence, not some ‘freak’ storm that nobody could have predicted.

[...]

 

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

51 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

 

I didn't have time to read it..

Let me guess, iced up windmills? 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

In Colorado we got down to -15F last week in Denver, there was an inversion, warmer in the Mountains.

 

There was not widespread failure of the system. But theses type of temperatures are not unknown, I have seen -40F so you incur the costs, now I do not know the details of Texas but it would appear that it may well be similar to where I grew up in the UK, you do not spend money on dealing with a generational event.

 

I do not think I ever drove a 4WD vehicle before I came to the US, pretty essential where I am. How many people in Texas have a set of winter tires for their vehicles?

 

  The Texans in Colorado sure don't. I always seem to get stuck behind one who is going 5 mph in an inch of snow. 

[Dashinka 24,786]

7 hours ago, Boiler said:

In Colorado we got down to -15F last week in Denver, there was an inversion, warmer in the Mountains.

 

There was not widespread failure of the system. But theses type of temperatures are not unknown, I have seen -40F so you incur the costs, now I do not know the details of Texas but it would appear that it may well be similar to where I grew up in the UK, you do not spend money on dealing with a generational event.

 

I do not think I ever drove a 4WD vehicle before I came to the US, pretty essential where I am. How many people in Texas have a set of winter tires for their vehicles?

4WD/AWDs are quite common here as well.  We got about eight inches of snow last night, and my wife had to go to work, it took a little longer than normal, but otherwise she had no issues.  The roads were back to normal in the afternoon with the road crews doing a great job.

[Dashinka 24,786]

8 hours ago, CanAm1980 said:

It looks like frozen wind blades weren't the biggest issue....

 

   
Extreme energy demand and overloaded frozen utility plants amid an unprecedented deep freeze in Texas are among the factors that led to nearly 4.5 millions customer without power in the Lone Star State on Tuesday, experts say.

Outages spread across Texas left millions in the dark and bitter cold amid single-degree temperatures and a winter storm that buried the state in snow and ice in recent days.

Power outages across Texas

"No matter which way you cut it, this is a massive failure for a grid and a state that holds up energy and electricity as a shining example," said Varun Rai, the director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

During a Tuesday press conference, representatives from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said there are 45,000 megawatts offline. Of that, 15,000 megawatts are wind and 30,000 are gas and coal. Between two and three million customers were without power as of early Tuesday evening.

 

First, some power plants may not have been operational due to routine maintenance, Cohan said. Peak demand typically occurs in the summer, so it's not unexpected for a coal or natural gas plant to be offline in an effort to tune up for the warmer months.

Second, some power plants may have failed to operate in the cold, Cohan said. "Plants are optimized to run under our typical and our extreme summer conditions but they aren't as well prepared and engineered for extreme cold," he said.

According to Rai, if plants operate for too long in too extreme of conditions, it could be too costly to operate as well as cause damage to the equipment, which could further exacerbate the outages for longer periods of time.

Third, some natural gas plants may not have been able to get adequate supply of gas to be converted into electricity, Cohan said. Unlike a coal plant that has an  ready stockpile, natural gas plants don't store as much on site, meaning any disruption at the supply source will lead to a disruption in turning on the lights.

Carey King, an assistant director and research scientist at the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, said it's possible that power outages at natural gas production sites lead to failures in the electric compressors that move the gas.

 

Are frozen wind turbines to blame?
Some have pointed to freezing on wind turbines as a potential cause of the widespread outages, arguing the renewable energy source was not reliable, but Cohan said these arguments were "a red herring."

According to Rai, there are times of the year when wind is an extremely important energy sources for Texas, powering half of the state's electricity supply.

However, this week, operators knew and planned for much less wind capacity, in the range of 1,000 to 3,000 megawatts, Cohan said.

So called "firm resources" such as gas, coal, and nuclear, failed to supply around 30,000 megawatts, which contributed to the bulk of the problem, Cohan said.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/02/16/texas-weather-power-outage-rolling-blackouts-leave-millions-dark/6764764002/

Yes, Texas and their electricity entities and regulators deserve the criticism for not being prepared.  Whether it was lack of wind, solar, or gas generation, this looks third world to most everyone.  Certainly the demands in Texas are different than here in MI where peak demands could occur at different times, but Texas had plenty of warning this was coming.

[TBoneTX 46,113]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:49 PM, CanAm1980 said:

some power plants may not have been operational due to routine maintenance, Cohan said. Peak demand typically occurs in the summer, so it's not unexpected for a coal or natural gas plant to be offline in an effort to tune up for the warmer months.

This may be, but I've heard zero reports of it.

[TBoneTX 46,113]

Interesting data analysis of the freeze and the question of the impact of the wind turbines:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2021/02/17/did-frozen-wind-turbines-impact-the-texas-freeze-heres-the-data-n1426208

[Neonred 3,647]

On 2/17/2021 at 4:30 AM, Dashinka said:

4WD/AWDs are quite common here as well.  We got about eight inches of snow last night, and my wife had to go to work, it took a little longer than normal, but otherwise she had no issues.  The roads were back to normal in the afternoon with the road crews doing a great job.

I ordered a new SUV about 6 months ago and I ordered it with AWD even though I will NEVER be driving it in snow or ice. 

My previous SUV came with AWD and I was surprised what a difference it made here in FL during the summer when we have horrendous rain storms and water on the road.  Also works great on the wet and slick boat launch ramps.

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

1 hour ago, Neonred said:

I ordered a new SUV about 6 months ago and I ordered it with AWD even though I will NEVER be driving it in snow or ice. 

My previous SUV came with AWD and I was surprised what a difference it made here in FL during the summer when we have horrendous rain storms and water on the road.  Also works great on the wet and slick boat launch ramps.

Yeah, I won't have anything but, even if I ever buy a passenger car. 

[TBoneTX 46,113]

https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/19/report-texas-electricity-provider-put-off-on-site-winter-inspections-due-to-covid-protocols/

[Bug&Bug 147]

Are you texans staying safe?

[Crazy Cat 42,263]

Made a trip to my closest WM today.  Once I got out of my neighborhood, the roads were fine......and WM was restocking eggs and Corona Extra just as I arrived.  It was a perfect shopping trip.  

[TBoneTX 46,113]

Aldi and Walgreens had bread products.  Three Krogers did not.  Zero excuse for that.

Deep freeze gone.  Low 60s felt magnificent.

Dishwarsher (Texas pronunciation/spelling) hasn't sprung a leak (yet) tonight.