It’s not the grid, but how the grid is insulated. Investments to insulate like done in North are not made (for once in century type weather - not worth it).
National Emergency declared in Texas
- Thread starter JustinTyme
- Start date
Will Texas be accepting any federal funds or are they still on the verge of seceding?
Yup. Wind turbines all over cold weather areas have cold weather package upgrades - that’s because freezing temps are monthlong realities for those areas. Many in Texas lack them for just this reason. It sounds like refineries are shut too. Most of Texas doesn’t do cold well at all.
You guys would shudder at the state of the roads. We don’t really have plows in Austin, so it’s left up to heat from driving and the sun to clear roads. I need to drive back to my house this morning from my ex wife’s place in order to check on it (Ihave power, but my heater broke on Sun) and crank up the fireplace. The roads will be a rutted, icy mess until the sun starts hitting them. At least the worst of the cold is gone
The power outages are due to a bunch of infrastructure that wasn't built to handle this kind of weather. Both coal and gas fired plants in Texas have been unable to startup due to the weather as well as power lines down. Ice storms are not something people really prepare for in many places to be fair. But you do need power.
Correct. Our grid is currently giving priority to wind/solar generation and as a result, investment in natural gas and oil infrastructure has suffered.
I just read that wind is 43% of TX electric power source. It is running about half capacity.
- About half of wind turbines in Texas were inoperable on Sunday. Like Uggs, they don't function so well in moist winter conditions and freezing rain.
- You're probably thinking, "nbd...Texas is a powerhouse for fossil fuels, not renewable energy." But wind power is actually the fastest-growing source of energy in the state's power grid. It recently overtook coal as the state's No. 2 energy source after natural gas, and last week supplied 42% of total power.
Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state's electric grid operator says
Texas grid operators urge conservation as frozen wind turbines freeze up electric generation.
www.statesman.com
Why is it so windy in West Texas? Because Oklahoma sucks.I just read that wind is 43% of TX electric power source. It is running about half capacity.
- About half of wind turbines in Texas were inoperable on Sunday. Like Uggs, they don't function so well in moist winter conditions and freezing rain.
- You're probably thinking, "nbd...Texas is a powerhouse for fossil fuels, not renewable energy." But wind power is actually the fastest-growing source of energy in the state's power grid. It recently overtook coal as the state's No. 2 energy source after natural gas, and last week supplied 42% of total power.
Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state's electric grid operator says
Texas grid operators urge conservation as frozen wind turbines freeze up electric generation.www.statesman.com
Frozen wind turbines are one culprit in Texas’s power outages
Ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electricity demand.
That’s a good article - jibes with what my colleagues in transmission are telling me. Our projects are operating very well because we use top of the line turbines and have cold weather packagesFrozen wind turbines are one culprit in Texas’s power outages
Ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electricity demand.fortune.com
I don't think it is that high. From the US Dep of Energy, wind was 6% in 2010 and 18% in 2019 (latest numbers), with 17% yoy growth. So, certainly it is over 20% now. That is huge. Natural gas is 53%, coal 19%, nuclear 8%, and solar under 1% (numbers not equal 100% from rounding). Pretty balance, but when you lose 50% of 20% of one source, ouch.I just read that wind is 43% of TX electric power source. It is running about half capacity.
- About half of wind turbines in Texas were inoperable on Sunday. Like Uggs, they don't function so well in moist winter conditions and freezing rain.
- You're probably thinking, "nbd...Texas is a powerhouse for fossil fuels, not renewable energy." But wind power is actually the fastest-growing source of energy in the state's power grid. It recently overtook coal as the state's No. 2 energy source after natural gas, and last week supplied 42% of total power.
Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state's electric grid operator says
Texas grid operators urge conservation as frozen wind turbines freeze up electric generation.www.statesman.com
That said, it was 3F this morning. No wind, so the windchill was 3F!! Today, blackbody radiation emissivity is our friend. It is 9F now, but I took the dog for a walk (right down the middle of the road) and the tire ruts are already starting to melt and the asphalt/concrete is being exposed nicely. Will hit 25F today, so we should have quite a bit of double track melt. Many are without electric and water. Some without natural gas. Best wishes to all. Eric Stratton, I hope all is well up there. Both sister in laws in Dallas are without hot and cold water now (didn't insulate attic pipes). I read that Austin Water has had over 900 calls for broken house water pipes already, and we haven't hit the thaw. There is going to be a lot of ceiling drywall and slab jackhammering going on this weekend. All the city can do is go out and shut down their water main. My neighbor, 2 houses down, didn't do a good job insulating/heating her well head. It froze, so we are taking water up for her
Grocery stores only open at noon today, I'm told, as they have nobody to work (and they had rolling blackouts as well). The 7-11 across the street from me was basically empty. People buying anything/everything that is edible. Even those rolling grilled hot dogs from 1999 are gone!.
All my Texas friends, take care and be safe out there. Tonight we should have the last blast with freezing rain coming in at 11PM, but then we'll see mid 30s tomorrow and 60s over the weekend.
Jeez good luck to all of you.I have family in the area of Dallas ft worth.God bless
I think you are right...wiki says 16% but I am pretty sure it is north of that. I'd go with 20%-ish.
Just saw some areas around Dallas and east can get a half inch of ice. It that happens expect a huge number of trees and power lines down. Some people won’t have power for a long time if that happens.
Had somewhat of a Christmas Miracle. I’ve had my heater down since Sunday am. It blows cool air only. Slept here with one of my boys Sunday night, but got down to 52 in the house after I turned the fireplace off. HVAC can’t get out here, so my older boy stayed with his sitter and I went over to ex-wife’s to stay with her and my little guy last night (older boy having aggression issues with his mom, so sitter offered to take him).
Anyway, sitter’s power goes out last night, though they just stoked the fire and had a good time. But I planned to get to my house, Jack the fire up and check on things before we all try to stay at mom’s tonight. I walk in and house is toasty. Maybe this is the heating element’s last gasp, but what a miracle. I may be hosting my older boy, sitter and 2 large dogs
Both ex-wife and I are tiny carve outs in local outages. We abut on the north and south sides a Walgreen’s that has vaccines. I have a feeling the utility is making sure vaccine centers stay powered
That was a rough night but all survived. Power came on at 6am for about 3 hours so we could get a little heat and cook some pasta. Our pipes are Frozen but having grown up in New England I remembered to fill the bathtubs with water just in case so we have water to boil when we get power. Being told rolling blackouts for next few days. The little ones are hanging in there but that won’t last. Everything I’m reading says frozen wind turbines to blame. Go figure, this state is literally swimming in oil. The ice in the swimming pool is now too thick to break up. Easily 2-3 in thick. Those in the pool equipment and pipe replacement business are going to be booming in a few weeks
Hope Austin area improves by EOD,! Here in FT Worth we have similar conditions....2 degrees currently and clear sunny skies. I have two Daughters who live within 10 miles of my place and had to pack up husbands and 4 dogs and stayed with me last evening. Their power has been off for 10 hours and still not available. The master water pumping station for my part of Tarrant County water failed yesterday and left thousands without water as well. Water will not be back on stream until tomorrow mid day. Thank God we all have our health and we have each other. I imagine that there will be a very deep dive into these catastrophic failures once this thing finishes by our various agencies.
Nice spin, but wrong. All of the infrastructure is built to the same historic standards. Not being able to start up is due to never expected weather. The same result would have occurred 20 years ago
bwifan
Well-Known Member
Texting with my friend in Austin ... man is it cold there. His home is not part of the rolling power so he has had no power now for awhile. Said his house is holding steady at 50 degrees still but man it looks cold there with the pictures he sent me ... My cousin in Arkansas is down to -5 temps last night with no power... incredible
Real bad in Houston area this morning. I know firsthand that the petrochem and chemical plants are struggling to come back on line. Many plants have experienced freezing & lack of power related issues, not to mention their people being able to get into work as many are iced in. No raw materials are moving right now and you can't ship any inventory stock out. One of the key waste water sites south of the City is not accepting so you can't run anything that creates a water waste stream. There is also another cold/ice system coming in tonight which may prolong the shutdowns. After that it begins to warm up but the damage has already been done.
Not too many manufacturers are fully back integrated and all it takes is someone key to your operation to have an upset. Some projections are a full week of downtime counting from this past Sunday since most of the plants came down ahead of the weather event. What a mess. Look for inflationary gas and chemical prices and their trickle up effect.
Not too many manufacturers are fully back integrated and all it takes is someone key to your operation to have an upset. Some projections are a full week of downtime counting from this past Sunday since most of the plants came down ahead of the weather event. What a mess. Look for inflationary gas and chemical prices and their trickle up effect.
Uhhh....I think what he was trying to say was that we aren't investing in NEW fossil fueled power generation and really only installing new wind/solar. It's not about starting anything up. You seem to be the one with the spin going on.
And if anyone really cares, here is what ERCOT reported for 2/13/21: of the approximately 32,000 MW of installed wind generation, only 3-4000 MW were produced. Peak load was 63,600 MW. Sunday peak demand was just over 69,000 MW which was a new winter record at that time. There just wasn't enough generation available to make up the defecit.
Getting another round of snow this evening. Hopefully though we are out of the constant low teens and single digit temps.
with that being said. We haven’t been hit with the rolling blackouts yet. Not even sure what tobelieve there as I have had friends without power for 30 hours. I have heard two things. First is power companies are doing it because their profit goes way down and second is the wind machines are frozen.
with that being said. We haven’t been hit with the rolling blackouts yet. Not even sure what tobelieve there as I have had friends without power for 30 hours. I have heard two things. First is power companies are doing it because their profit goes way down and second is the wind machines are frozen.
Bottomline, most truthful summation, all systems are failing. None were designed to operate in such extreme conditions that far south.
And what about all of the frozen pipelines and shut down Nuclear plants.
I assume the Nuclear is shut down because the water they need for cooling is frozen.
Or are you just concerned with wind?
The big fear is if temps go up a little it might turn into an ice storm which will cause havoc with power lines
I like gas. It works and keeps working, period. My TX friends are running their gas ovens and stoves to stay warm. Many have gas fireplaces, which work well if you have the right setup and fan. A gas generator is cool too.
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bwifan
Well-Known Member
Me thinks there will be a big market for genny's in Texas when this is all over...
Yes and we had one of those in the fall that put a good hit on the trees and power lines.
maybe. But this kind of storm hasn’t happened since 2009. Doing some research from where we are located showed about an every ten year storm
Not certain that that Yankee taste will make it here in Texas
I have only seen it once, at Central Market, a few years ago. I bought a six pack, and instantly wondered how I ever drank that stuff at PSU.
But, I'll be shopping for a generator soon. Can't get my tri-motor Cybertruck soon enough as well, as that can be used as a power source for many items (along with the electric ATV for zipping around in the snow)
Yeah, but a triple purpose item that can be used for the rare hurricanes/wind storms we get here in summer, as well as using it camping/ranching/tailgating/etc.
Residents asked to reduce natural gas usage as frozen pipes cause shortage across Midwest
Fulton residents are being asked to reduce their natural gas usage due to a massive spike in natural gas prices caused by frozen natural gas wells in Oklahoma and Texas. The City of Fulton held a special press briefing on Friday to urge residents to reduce their natural gas usage. The city said...
krcgtv.com
It's cold out there!
So I got lucky - HVAC guy came and found a pebble stuck in an intake that was causing all the trouble - maybe dislodged a bit last night allowing for my miracle. Anyway, 5 minutes of work and free of charge. I guess it helps that I bought a top of the line AC unit from them 4 years ago - probably could keep 3 houses cool, and a furnace.
Now just hoping I’m not targeted for an outage. We’ll have a crazy crew here tonight - me, my sitter, my older boy, a Rottweiler and a Great Dane - the dogs are great but clumsy.
The problem is all of the infrastructure is failing under the current situation. As far as your numbers, even during the best times, wind turbines are never expected to run at 100% capacity all of the time because the wind itself is not 100% everywhere all of the time. It's meant to be part of a grid. The more wind turbines you have, the more reliable it is (it's called statistics).
Also gas production is way down all over the country (for the last 10 years) because there's a glut (and prices have been low). This is not because we are relying too much on renewables (which is ludicrous). It's simple economics.
As others have said, the wind turbines could have been made more resistant to the cold weather but (in Texas) that would clearly have cost more and utilities don't spend money they don't have to. Also pipelines and other plants could have been made more weather resistant but that's an economic decision.
That is not snow and ice to those Bubbas, that is just hard water
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