BRKG Rolling power outages underway in TX...

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Breeta

Breeta

Veteran Member
On. off. on. off... Is that how “rolling” blackouts work in Texas? Stay warm & hope your power stays on so you can sleep!
 
L

Luddite

Veteran Member
You're describing a nasty scenario. Every time the lights come on, ALL your electrical demands start at once.
Usually your heat pump and your neighbors heat pump cycle at different times. Extrapolate that out for your whole area.
Somebody in a control room is having Worst. Day. Ever.
 
jward

jward

passin' thru

The Associated Press
@AP
7m

Officials have launched rotating power outages in Texas, where falling temperatures led to a surge in electricity use. A utility tracking site reported over 1.3 million customers without power overnight as authorities worked to conserve energy.
Power cut across Texas as snow, ice blanket southern Plains
By JAMIE STENGLEan hour ago



1 of 17
A woman walks through falling snow in San Antonio, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Snow and ice blanketed large swaths of the U.S. on Sunday, prompting canceled flights, making driving perilous and reaching into areas as far south as Texas’ Gulf Coast, where snow and sleet were expected overnight. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DALLAS (AP) — A winter storm dropping snow and ice also sent temperatures plunging across the southern Plains, prompting a power emergency in Texas a day after conditions canceled flights and impacted traffic across large swaths of the U.S.
Rotating power outages were initiated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, early Monday morning, meaning thousands went without electricity for short periods as temperatures fell into the teens near Dallas and 20s (about minus 5 degrees Celsius) around Houston.
“We urge Texans to put safety first,” the council tweeted as it urged residents to reduce electricity use. ERCOT manages the flow of electric power in the state.

“Traffic lights and other infrastructure may be temporarily without power,” ERCOT said.
More than 1.3 million customers were in the dark as of 3 a.m. local time, according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking site.
Officials in Houston had warned people to prepare for outages and hazardous roads — conditions similar to what residents might see in the wake of a Category 5 hurricane.
Nearly 120 crashes, including a 10-car pileup on I-45, were reported Sunday, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña tweeted.
Significant ice and up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow were expected across parts of the southern Plains into Monday, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
“Typically, we just don’t have quite this much cold air in place that far south,” Chenard said.
The region had been gearing up for the winter weather for the better part of the weekend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all of the state’s 254 counties, and had warned on Saturday: “All of Texas is facing an extremely dangerous winter storm.”

Abbott, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson each activated National Guard units to assist state agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.
In a statement Sunday night, President Joe Biden also declared an emergency in Texas and ordered federal assistance to aid state and local response efforts. The declaration allows the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance, equipment and resources to those affected by the storm.

More than 760 flights were canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and at Dallas Love Field most of the nearly 200 flights for Southwest Airlines, the airport’s main carrier, were canceled on Sunday.
American Airlines said about 345 of their flights were canceled at DFW Airport, its hub, by early Sunday afternoon. The airline said the storm was also affecting their flights across the region, with operations reduced and canceled at airports across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Officials were discouraging travel in the wintry conditions.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said a portion of the Turner Turnpike was shut down due to a multi-vehicle accident, while the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said the southern corridor of Interstate 35 was mostly snow packed in the left lane and conditions were expected to deteriorate.
The National Weather Service said Sunday that the forecast through early Tuesday calls for 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) of snow in central Oklahoma, and 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) in an area extending from eastern Texas to the Ohio Valley in the Northeast.

In Memphis, Tennessee, snow started falling Sunday afternoon, and while main roads were still passable, lines formed during the day at grocery stores as people rushed to stock up.
In Mississippi, sleet in Jackson and other central parts of the state left roads and bridges slick. Bill Parker, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Jackson, said up to three-quarters of an inch (2 centimeters) of ice could accumulate in central Mississippi, bringing the possibility of power outages or falling tree limbs.

Parts of Kentucky and West Virginia still recovering from an ice storm last week are expected to get up to a quarter-inch (0.6 centimeters) of ice or up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, tens of thousands of people were without power after a winter storm blanketed the region with ice and snow and made travel treacherous.
Through the wintry conditions Sunday, florists stayed busy for Valentine’s Day.
In Fort Worth, Texas, Gordon Boswell Flowers’ general manager said delivery drivers worked to wrap up deliveries before the weather worsened.

“It is icy and snowing and they’re calling for more snow,” Cheri Kirkman said.
Despite the weather, she said they still had some people coming in to pick up gifts. “We’ve got plenty all made up, ready to go,” Kirkman said.
___
Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York City; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
Pretty rough as furnaces and other heating sources aren’t designed to cope with temps that cold not to mention a lack of insulation in the homes and then of course exposed water pipes that are going to freeze. I’m only at -6 right now with wind chills around -20 and I just threw another log on the fire.

Was reading about this on zerohedge and they were saying that nat gas and electric are being bid up like crazy down there and that people will be in shock when they see their gas and electric bills from Feb. I don’t know how that works as by me your kWH rates for electric are fixed but I assume there is a mechanism to pass on unexpected price increase due to ’acts of God.’
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
I'm somewhere below zero but doing fine here, of course. Like you, I can only imagine what this is doing to their infrastructure. :( Hopefully many of them saw the train coming and at least got their pipes wrapped.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
I'm looking at this in CA and contemplating the effects that the new building codes in this state would have in the situation playing out in the center of the country, particularly the ending of natural gas hook-ups.
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
We'd be fine here, as long as someone kept up the wood lot and chopping chores.

When in the city I always had short term plans to retrofit a room or outbuilding to heat with whatever was left me in an emergency... hopefully with all the electricity, heat and water denial of services people are finding their eyes open to the need to provide for themselves.

Much of fly over country has enough existing housing stock that there is probably no worries.

I like to think we're too smart to allow those new codes entry, and have in past pushed back successfully on some, but it's a matter of time before they control it, and us, all.
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
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DateMessageTypeStatus
Feb 15 2021 05:05:51 CSTERCOT issued a watch due to timeline deviation on HRUCWatchActive
Feb 15 2021 04:46:46 CSTERCOT has cancelled the following notice: ERCOT is taking manual actions for an severe thermal congestion.Operational InformationCancelled
Feb 15 2021 04:35:02 CSTCM-ASM-NOTF AS_TYPE: Non-Spin, DEPLOY_MW: 282.3, BEGIN_TIME: 2021-02-15 05:00:00, END_TIME: 2021-02-15 23:59:59, DURATION: 18 Hrs 59 Mins.;Market Message
Feb 15 2021 03:43:19 CSTERCOT Responsive Reserve Has Been DeployedOperational InformationActive
Feb 15 2021 03:35:02 CSTCM-ASM-NOTF AS_TYPE: Non-Spin, DEPLOY_MW: 282.1, BEGIN_TIME: 2021-02-15 04:00:00, END_TIME: 2021-02-15 23:59:59, DURATION: 19 Hrs 59 Mins.;Market Message
Feb 15 2021 02:50:49 CSTERCOT issued a Watch for a projected reserve capacity shortage with no market solution available for HE 04:00 24:00, which causes a high risk for an EEA event.WatchActive
Feb 15 2021 02:35:01 CSTCM-ASM-NOTF AS_TYPE: Non-Spin, DEPLOY_MW: 281.7, BEGIN_TIME: 2021-02-15 03:00:00, END_TIME: 2021-02-15 23:59:59, DURATION: 20 Hrs 59 Mins.;Market Message
Feb 15 2021 02:03:15 CSTERCOT Responsive Reserve Has Been RecalledOperational InformationCancelled
Feb 15 2021 01:35:01 CSTCM-ASM-NOTF AS_TYPE: Non-Spin, DEPLOY_MW: 281.8, BEGIN_TIME: 2021-02-15 02:00:00, END_TIME: 2021-02-15 23:59:59, DURATION: 21 Hrs 59 Mins.;Market Message
Feb 15 2021 01:25:40 CSTEEA Level 3 With Firm Load Shed: At 01:20, Rotating outages are in progress to maintain frequency. ERCOT is asking consumers and businesses to reduce electricity use.Emergency NoticeActive
Feb 15 2021 01:12:06 CSTEEA Level 2: At 01:07, ERCOT at EEA 2 - Reserves below 1, 750 MW. Load resources are being deployed. There may be a need to implement rotating outages. ERCOT is urging consumers and businesses to reduce electricity usage.Emergency NoticeActive

Public Notices (ercot.com)
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
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Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 3
ROTATING OUTAGES IN PROGRESS: Conservation Critical

1613389206966.png

ERCOT has issued an EEA level 3 because electric demand is very high right now, and supplies can’t keep up. Reserves have dropped below 1,000 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes; as a result, ERCOT has ordered transmission companies to reduce demand on the system.

This is typically done through rotating outages, which are controlled, temporary interruptions of electric service. This type of demand reduction is only used as a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole.

In these situations, each utility is required to lower the demand on its system based on its percentage of the historic ERCOT peak demand. While each utility is responsible for determining how to implement the required demand reduction, most utilities use rotating outages for this purpose. Rotating outages primarily affect residential neighborhoods and small businesses and are typically limited to 10 to 45 minutes before being rotated to another location.

Conservation Tips

ERCOT is asking consumers to conserve energy to help lower electric demand. Consumers can help by taking the following steps, especially during peak demand periods:

more,

Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 3 ROTATING OUTAGES IN PROGRESS: Conservation Critical (ercot.com)
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
_______________
Texas - Looks like the grid operator is having control issues trying to manage the rolling blackouts.

ERCOT and local energy suppliers may be forced to extend the blackouts well beyond the original 15 to 45 minute local area duration.

Apparently entire localities are being removed from the grid?

DateMessageTypeStatus
Feb 15 2021 06:20:46 CSTDC Tie Curtailment Notice: The Laredo DC Tie is being curtailed, a DC Tie Curtailment Notice (DCTCN) is active due to an actual or anticipated emergency in its Control Area.DC Tie Curtailment NoticeActive
Feb 15 2021 06:20:20 CSTDC Tie Curtailment Notice: The Railroad DC Tie is being curtailed, a DC Tie Curtailment Notice (DCTCN) is active due to an actual or anticipated emergency in its Control Area.DC Tie Curtailment NoticeActive
Public Notices (ercot.com)
 
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SmithJ

SmithJ

Veteran Member
Red Baron said:
DateMessageTypeStatus
Feb 15 2021 06:20:46 CSTDC Tie Curtailment Notice: The Laredo DC Tie is being curtailed, a DC Tie Curtailment Notice (DCTCN) is active due to an actual or anticipated emergency in its Control Area.DC Tie Curtailment NoticeActive
Feb 15 2021 06:20:20 CSTDC Tie Curtailment Notice: The Railroad DC Tie is being curtailed, a DC Tie Curtailment Notice (DCTCN) is active due to an actual or anticipated emergency in its Control Area.DC Tie Curtailment NoticeActive
Public Notices (ercot.com)
Click to expand...
Cutting off electricity to Mexico
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
_______________
SmithJ said:
Cutting off electricity to Mexico
Click to expand...

Thanks, I don't know the geography down there.

Earlier I heard that Texas has been purchasing power from Mexico.

I wonder if technical control issues are resulting in difficulty coordinating with Mexico?
 
Marie

Marie

Veteran Member
Alot of the loss of control for the rolling blackouts, I'd imagine is because starting and stopping these actually creates a larger load when reenergising. Every furnace and all power draws will destabilize the startup I am sure.
 
SmithJ

SmithJ

Veteran Member
Red Baron said:
Thanks, I don't know the geography down there.

Earlier I heard that Texas has been purchasing power from Mexico.

I wonder if technical control issues are resulting in difficulty coordinating with Mexico?
Click to expand...
I would have thought they were doing it to cut outgoing power, but I haven’t seen anything.

I don‘t know if those are the only inter-connects to Mexico, but I do know they that’s where they tie in.

As I recall, Texas had 2 interconnects with Mexico and 2 with other US grids, and that’s all. Could be more now, I guess. Everything is getting more and more connected.
 
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Henry Bowman

Henry Bowman

Veteran Member
Yeah good idea to shut everything down from your main breaker and switch over to generators ( if you have them, if not this is a good reason to have one ) otherwise you are going to get spikes and heat pump/furnace/boilers/water heaters are going to get zapped along with other electronics .
 
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