Blizzard approaching, what to do if power goes out?

[Bogertophis]

1979, 1989, 2011, 2021 - years TX has experienced single-digit temps. Compare it to a CAT 5 hurricane hitting Florida or a flood in a ten year flood zone - it might not happen this year, but it's going to happen eventually.

All of which means they (the utilities) should have been better prepared- this is disgraceful, what people are going thru now.

[Kam]

All of which means they (the utilities) should have been better prepared- this is disgraceful, what people are going thru now.

One would think. Oh yeah. Just just started snowing again.


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[Bogertophis]

One would think. Oh yeah. Just just started snowing again.


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I'll be getting "round 2" starting any time now...I got some exercise this afternoon, clearing the 6 1/2" of snow from my driveway- I didn't even notice it was 19* (at the most) lol. Of course I was dressed warmly, but still? Anyway, I figured this was easier than when it's even deeper, & I'm hoping they've over-estimated the amount we'll get this time- but we'll see?

Kam, do you have power now?

[Kam]

I'll be getting "round 2" starting any time now...I got some exercise this afternoon, clearing the 6 1/2" of snow from my driveway- I didn't even notice it was 19* (at the most) lol. Of course I was dressed warmly, but still? Anyway, I figured this was easier than when it's even deeper, & I'm hoping they've over-estimated the amount we'll get this time- but we'll see?

Kam, do you have power now?

Nooooope! We get it in intervals.


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[Bogertophis]

Nooooope! We get it in intervals.


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So sorry...hang in there.

[Kam]

So sorry...hang in there.

At this point I am just thanking GOD for keeping me alive.


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[Bogertophis]

You were right, Kam, that some neighborhoods got priority treatment. This article explains a little more about what went wrong. So sorry for what y'all are going thru, pls. stay safe!

excerpt > > >
"Rolling blackouts didn't go as planned. ERCOT ordered local power companies to institute periodic shutoffs to keep the grid from shutting down altogether. But because there was already so little power to go around - and neighborhoods with hospitals, fire stations and water treatment plants were prioritized for energy - it was hard to evenly rotate the blackouts, according to the Wall Street Journal. That meant some homes were without power for extended periods of time, while others never lost it all."

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https://weather.com/news/news/2021-0..._ven=hp-slot-3

Why Winter Storm Uri Caused Millions of Power Outages in Texas

By Jan Wesner Childs

8 hours ago


At a Glance

• More than 3 million homes and businesses were still without power Tuesday.
• Officials say power plant equipment froze.
• And increased demand only made things worse.

Millions of people across Texas are shivering without electricity through one of the worst cold spells and largest snowfalls in the state's history.
But how did the state that produces more energy than any other end up without enough power to go around?
Here's what we know so far:
-At least 1 in 10 power plants in Texas were offline Tuesday, according to WFAA. There are 680 plants statewide. "We have seen nothing like this honestly in Texas, that has covered the state like the storm has. It increased demand to an extreme, extraordinary height, and then the storm also made it difficult for the supply to be provided," Bill Magness, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the state's power flow, told WFAA-TV in an interview Tuesday.
-The problem started Sunday night, when Winter Storm Uri moved in and temperatures plummeted to the single digits. "Beginning around 11:00 p.m., multiple generating units began tripping off-line in rapid progression due to the severe cold weather," Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at ERCOT, told WFAA. Key equipment froze, natural gas supplies were limited and, after daylight, solar farms were blocked out by cloud cover and snow, Magness said.
(MORE: Here's When the South Will Finally Thaw After Record-Smashing Cold, Snow and Ice)
-The record breaking weather led to record breaking demand for power, which strained the grid even more. By Monday morning, two million homes and businesses were without power across Texas. That number continued to go up throughout the day as temperatures went down. By the end of the day, there were more than 4.1 million outages being reported. More than 3 million remained without power by early Tuesday evening. And since each outage only represents a single utility customer, that number represents millions more people who were directly affected.


-Rolling blackouts didn't go as planned. ERCOT ordered local power companies to institute periodic shutoffs to keep the grid from shutting down altogether. But because there was already so little power to go around - and neighborhoods with hospitals, fire stations and water treatment plants were prioritized for energy - it was hard to evenly rotate the blackouts, according to the Wall Street Journal. That meant some homes were without power for extended periods of time, while others never lost it all.

Advertisement

-As of 2020, Texas got most of its power from natural gas-fueled plants, followed by wind turbines, coal and nuclear, the Journal reported. All were affected by the cold weather, Woodfin told Bloomberg. While it was widely reported that crippled wind turbines were largely to blame for the blackouts, Woodfin said that was the least significant factor.



-Some say the bigger problem lies in Texas' power system as a whole. Texas is the only state that runs its own power grid without any federal oversight. It also doesn't require power equipment to be winterized against extended periods of below-freezing temperatures, like other states do, according to WFAA. David Tuttle, a research associate with the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, said the issue comes up every decade or so, but cost is always a question. "All of us would love to say, we want super reliable [electricity]," Tuttle told WFAA. "It would be millions to really bulletproof the system for that. How much do we want to pay to go protect ourselves with insurance policies for rare events?"


-Lawmakers are looking for answers. Texas State House Speaker Dade Phelan has asked for a joint hearing later this month on the power outages. Phelan said in a statement that the purpose would be to understand what went wrong and help prevent it from happening again.

[Kam]

You were right, Kam, that some neighborhoods got priority treatment. This article explains a little more about what went wrong. So sorry for what y'all are going thru, pls. stay safe!

excerpt > > >
"Rolling blackouts didn't go as planned. ERCOT ordered local power companies to institute periodic shutoffs to keep the grid from shutting down altogether. But because there was already so little power to go around - and neighborhoods with hospitals, fire stations and water treatment plants were prioritized for energy - it was hard to evenly rotate the blackouts, according to the Wall Street Journal. That meant some homes were without power for extended periods of time, while others never lost it all."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://weather.com/news/news/2021-0..._ven=hp-slot-3

Why Winter Storm Uri Caused Millions of Power Outages in Texas

By Jan Wesner Childs

8 hours ago


At a Glance

• More than 3 million homes and businesses were still without power Tuesday.
• Officials say power plant equipment froze.
• And increased demand only made things worse.

Millions of people across Texas are shivering without electricity through one of the worst cold spells and largest snowfalls in the state's history.
But how did the state that produces more energy than any other end up without enough power to go around?
Here's what we know so far:
-At least 1 in 10 power plants in Texas were offline Tuesday, according to WFAA. There are 680 plants statewide. "We have seen nothing like this honestly in Texas, that has covered the state like the storm has. It increased demand to an extreme, extraordinary height, and then the storm also made it difficult for the supply to be provided," Bill Magness, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the state's power flow, told WFAA-TV in an interview Tuesday.
-The problem started Sunday night, when Winter Storm Uri moved in and temperatures plummeted to the single digits. "Beginning around 11:00 p.m., multiple generating units began tripping off-line in rapid progression due to the severe cold weather," Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at ERCOT, told WFAA. Key equipment froze, natural gas supplies were limited and, after daylight, solar farms were blocked out by cloud cover and snow, Magness said.
(MORE: Here's When the South Will Finally Thaw After Record-Smashing Cold, Snow and Ice)
-The record breaking weather led to record breaking demand for power, which strained the grid even more. By Monday morning, two million homes and businesses were without power across Texas. That number continued to go up throughout the day as temperatures went down. By the end of the day, there were more than 4.1 million outages being reported. More than 3 million remained without power by early Tuesday evening. And since each outage only represents a single utility customer, that number represents millions more people who were directly affected.


-Rolling blackouts didn't go as planned. ERCOT ordered local power companies to institute periodic shutoffs to keep the grid from shutting down altogether. But because there was already so little power to go around - and neighborhoods with hospitals, fire stations and water treatment plants were prioritized for energy - it was hard to evenly rotate the blackouts, according to the Wall Street Journal. That meant some homes were without power for extended periods of time, while others never lost it all.

Advertisement

-As of 2020, Texas got most of its power from natural gas-fueled plants, followed by wind turbines, coal and nuclear, the Journal reported. All were affected by the cold weather, Woodfin told Bloomberg. While it was widely reported that crippled wind turbines were largely to blame for the blackouts, Woodfin said that was the least significant factor.



-Some say the bigger problem lies in Texas' power system as a whole. Texas is the only state that runs its own power grid without any federal oversight. It also doesn't require power equipment to be winterized against extended periods of below-freezing temperatures, like other states do, according to WFAA. David Tuttle, a research associate with the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, said the issue comes up every decade or so, but cost is always a question. "All of us would love to say, we want super reliable [electricity]," Tuttle told WFAA. "It would be millions to really bulletproof the system for that. How much do we want to pay to go protect ourselves with insurance policies for rare events?"


-Lawmakers are looking for answers. Texas State House Speaker Dade Phelan has asked for a joint hearing later this month on the power outages. Phelan said in a statement that the purpose would be to understand what went wrong and help prevent it from happening again.

Yeah a lot of people were/are pissed.


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[Bogertophis]

Yeah a lot of people were/are pissed.


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Who wouldn't be? But that article also mentions that TX is the only state without federal regulations of their power grid, & this is what can happen when an industry is allowed to cut corners. Hey, nobody likes "rules" but they do serve a purpose. Sounds like this will be hitting the fan.

[Kam]

Who wouldn't be? But that article also mentions that TX is the only state without federal regulations of their power grid, & this is what can happen when an industry is allowed to cut corners. Hey, nobody likes "rules" but they do serve a purpose. Sounds like this will be hitting the fan.

Yeah. ERCOT...and there are going to be some changes.


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