What Went Wrong With Texas’s Main Electric Grid and Could It Have Been Prevented?

Texas Monthly ^ | Andrea Zelinski

[EVO X]

Of course I am not sure I know of anyone who would having willingly drained their car battery just to keep the lights on in a distant town.”

The power from the car would feed the home. Any backup system has too isolate from the grid when it powers up. It is still an expensive proposition. A quick napkin calculation suggests a 15KWH Tesla Powerall installation comes in around ~$10K for all costs and subsidies. Tesla would have to redesign their cars to act like another Powerwall battery.

[beancounter13]

For clarification, I was also in the energy industry at one time, and I do not take this lightly. I merely point out the difference between a free-market assessment vs. a regulated environment. As conservatives, we tend to value free market do we not?

We had major issues in Texas, and it almost tripped the entire grid which as you noted would have been severe. It will obviously be studied, and improvements will happen. However, the grid has been restored, and the system is currently back to normal operations.

Things will continue to improve, and I continue to support the free market approach to energy over the regulated environment.

[beancounter13]

By maintaining the independence of the Texas Power Grid, I am not imposing governmental regulations on the free trade of electricity. I am merely fostering an environment where generating companies can build and operate electric generation capacity. Allowing that incubator to be opened to outside markets that can regulate and demand excess capacity would, over time, remove all generation capacity from the state. This is not something I can support.

At the same time, I think your last post proves that you are an open-borders globalist who sees no issue with trading regardless of the long-term consequences. You probably did not like the way President Trump put tariffs on Chinese products.

[aquila48]

“The power from the car would feed the home. Any backup system has too isolate from the grid when it powers up.”

I just did that using a transfer switch and a tri-fuel generator. You use the switch to choose between the utility and generator so only one can be used at the same time.

Works like a charm and you don’t have to mess with extension cords and with a large generator you can leave most circuits on.

[aquila48]

“By maintaining the independence of the Texas Power Grid, I am not imposing governmental regulations on the free trade of electricity.”

Of course you are - you’re forbidding the trading of electricity across state lines WITHIN THE UNITED States, not even a foreign country, unless you consider other states foreign countries.

” Allowing that incubator to be opened to outside markets that can regulate and demand excess capacity would, over time, remove all generation capacity from the state. This is not something I can support.”

Just the opposite would happen. It would create competition across state lines and the consumer would benefit and create a much less fragile system. If Texas can produce electricity at a lower price, they’ll get plenty of customers. You do believe in competition, right?

“At the same time, I think your last post proves that you are an open-borders globalist who sees no issue with trading regardless of the long-term consequences. You probably did not like the way President Trump put tariffs on Chinese products.”

I was definitely in favor of what Trump was doing. What we had with China was not free trade but stupid trade. For free trade to work it has to be free in both directions, and that was not the case with China (or with Mexico and Canada under NAFTA).

But we’re not even talking about trading between countries but within states of the US - and you object to that as well.

BTW, I’m still waiting for your solution to the current electricity problem in Texas. Why are you keeping it so secret from me?

[politicianslie]

Gives the lie that this has anything to do with wind power.

It’s sheer incompetence.

Any renewable should be counted as ZERO PERCENT available.

Therefore, real power plants should be mandated to be available as backup. That means coal, nuclear and properly designed gas turbines should be built ASAP.

Have these idiots figured out what the GRAND SOLAR MINIMUM IS? Probably not, but they will in the next few years. It isn't looking good for the idiots who believe the liberals.

[beancounter13]

You sound just like a member of the CCP. Every argument you make is one the CCP could equally make to Biden.

Let’s just agree to disagree. I would rather keep Texas separate and secure because as I am beginning to see it, much of the rest of the nation is looking more like a Banana Republic to me.

Does that make me Protectionist? Unabashedly so!

I do not want to see your rate-payer subsidized excess capacity put my generators out of business any more than I want to see the Chinese subsidized manufacturers put American manufacturers out of business. Fair Trade is one thing, but it needs to be fair.

[!1776!]

They were only getting that because it was costing them $8,950 to provide.

Wrong. They were getting that because the market was demanding that. That’s the way ERCOT works.

[aquila48]

You again forgot to tell me about your solution to Texas energy problem.

That must mean you are quite happy with the way things are.

I suggest you go through that exercise, even if you keep it to yourself. You will be surprised what you will learn about yourself and your preconceived notions.

Regarding China, today they are as far from communism as one can get. The most fundamental feature of communism is its hatred of private property and capitalism.

Well, the Chinese have learned their lesson. They have taken to capitalism with a vengeance and as for private property China will soon have more billionaires than the US.

It is no longer a communist nation. What it is, is a single party dictatorship, something we are well on the way to becoming.

I truly recommend you take a trip there, for no other reason than to remove the cobwebs from your eyes and to learn first hand about who your adversary is. You can consider it a reconnaissance mission into enemy territory.

Of course I know you won’t do it because you prefer living with your fantasies rather than deal with reality - after all, ignorance is bliss.

[Paul R.]

I’d like to thank many of the posters on this thread for adding a great deal of useful information to the discussion about what went wrong in TX. Of course that leads to further discussion of what corrections to make, and there is quite a bit of disagreement there, but at least most of the discussion has been civil and not devolved into useless insult hurling. Mostly...

Having worked many years as a Schedule C business but also many years in a corporate environment, and with training that makes me more a pragmatic than an ideologue, I have seen too many instances of both under and over regulation. Corporations WILL in too many cases cut corners and risk employee safety, public safety and / or the public good if they think they can get away with it. It is foolish, actually, but I’ve seen it over and over. Even what is happening with Big Tech censorship of conservatives is an example of corporate malfeasance of a little different sort. On the opposite side, regulators far too often act like they are royalty and / or sadistic enforcers obsessed with their own power, abusing even businesses who try to follow the rules.

Knowledgeable posters here and other sources tell us the Texas grid was seconds away from a complete collapse and it would take weeks or more to restore the grid from such a collapse. The consequences would be devastating. I also keep in mind that America’s enemies are surely studying the grid’s (or grids’) weaknesses, and we have a solar minimum to keep in mind.

I am not a Texan, but my brother is (for over 30 years, anyway!), and his reports help me realize just how serious the situation even without a complete grid collapse has been for some people, and for, in his case, some businesses.

Therefor I think we have to say that the above vulnerability is unacceptable, and in the end, if there is a conflict, pragmatism gets a bit of a lean over ideology. We may need a few out-of-the-box ideas, too, but regardless, winterization of the Texas’ grid and a guarantee of ample “hardened” grid reserves must commence in earnest, immediately.

[Paul R.]

The only other option would be to incentivize generators to build more capacity. That would inevitably include wind and solar.

1) Wind and solar already are incentivized. DE-subsidizing them would level the playing field. And in TX, reject the latest (and any new) Fed regs on fossil fuels as a direct threat to public safety. What are the Feds going to do, take over the power plants? (I'll grant you that after 8 years of Biden/Harris, they might, but I don't think they have the stones to do it quite yet.)

2) At present, TX still has sufficient baseline fossil fuel capacity, it's just that it isn't REALLY baseline capacity because it is not sufficiently winterized. 3) I wonder if some of these issues could be turned into binding public referenda...

[Paul R.]

I do not want to see your rate-payer subsidized excess capacity put my generators out of business

Fair enough, but, are any potential supplier states' subsidized rates actually low enough to do that?

If they are, and actual harm begins to occur to TX generators, place ads in other states thanking them for taxing their citizens to help supply TX with low rate electricity. That ought to stir up quite a hornets' nest. ;-)

[Paul R.]

It would take incredible battery capacity to store enough energy to make much difference. There are already serious questions of battery materials’ supply should electric cars be mandated for everyone.

However, living not too far away from TVA...

There are quite a few large man-made lakes in TX. I assume few if any provide any hydro-electric capacity, as I do not see hydro-electric on any tables or charts for the TX electric supply. I don’t know how deep those lakes are — the “drop” at the dam plus volume available essentially determines the output of a hydro-electric plant. But, that noted, Kentucky Lake is not very deep, even at the dam. (IIRC, tho’ it varies a lot, 70’ seems to be the typical figure, with some saying 75’. I know the locks maximum capacity is raising or lowering 75’.)

I am sure that just as with the TVA lakes, there are serious flood control considerations, and some of these are also water supply lakes, I believe(?), but, even so, are there any times when it would make sense for solar or wind power to be used to pump water back into some of these TX lakes for energy storage? Heck, Ameren Electric in Missouri has two relatively small lakes used together for just such a purpose:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taum_Sauk_Hydroelectric_Power_Station

Note how the economics of this work nicely, as explained at the link.

Of course... This does mean you do need some not quite idiot in charge to make sure the reservoir / dam / levee does not breech:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taum_Sauk_Hydroelectric_Power_Station#2005_upper_reservoir_failure

I can think of a few other problems to consider, and some serious new construction would be necessary.

But, since the lakes in TX are already there...

[Paul R.]

I did look at several of the TX lakes’ depths - they seem to range from 60’ to 110’ — should be plenty. That said, Toledo Bend Reservoir (TX / LA border) does have a hydroelectric plant, but a wimpy one, at only 92 MW capacity. I’m guessing power generation was not the primary purpose at the time of construction, and, demand was lower than today.

[EVO X]

I just did that using a transfer switch and a tri-fuel generator.

That is a heck of a lot cheaper than a backup battery and you have three different fuel types to choose from.

[semimojo]

They were getting that because the market was demanding that.

Those high rates were because the power company had to buy on the spot market to deliver power to their customers, so it did indeed cost them.

Someone selling on the spot market did reap a windfall but it wasn’t the company billing the consumer.

[Fury]

Great point and pumped storage works well.

- see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Power_Plant

Have a friend from college that works there. Pretty amazing the amount of water they divert behind the Lewiston Dam.

[beancounter13]

Wow. Your post is full of inaccuracies.

First, I do not need to explain my solution because Texas has been back to normal for a few days now. You can go to www.ERCOT.com and see for yourself. The load we received this past week was not even a ‘high load’ compared the daily load we have on a typical summer day. The only issue was the fact that several plants, including STP #1, went offline because of lack of winterization. That can be fixed going forward.

The situation is pretty much like the toilet paper situation was last year. Remember that? Those that were not prepared were definitely inconvenienced.

And for the record, I have been to China. I love the country.. At the same time, I recognize that free trade has to be fair. Free trade does not happen when one side gets subsidized and the other does not. I would rather return to the rate payer public utility model than I would allowing for interconnection to one of the other two connection grids in the U.S.

[beancounter13]

A shared connection, while leveling out the cyclical demand curve, will also level out the pricing curve. There won’t be any cheap power prices in the winter because excess capacity will flow north leaving the generators with the ability to be economically inefficient in their operations

At the same time, there won’t be any expensive power prices in the summer because we will simply draw excess capacity from the north. Without those expensive summer prices, there will be little incentive for generators to build new capacity.

The system we have is geared toward encouraging the construction of fast start, co-gen plants. Plants that can start rapidly and shut-down as needed to maximize efficiency. Coal and Nuclear cannot do this. Only NG can do that, and we have lots of NG.

As I mentioned, we could cap the amount of wind and solar allowed to supply the grid so that the NG plants are already in operation. We could also try to build more nuclear for base load. However, it seems that the regulatory, political, and public relations environments are all pushing green, and we have to live with that.

[Chgogal]

Public utilities simply distribute the fuel, whether it be electricity or nat gas. The public utility is responsible for the distribution system but is only allowed to invest what the PUC allows it to do. Public utilities are allowed rates of return granted them by the PUC. Every year the local PUC audits the local utility. Every once in a while the local utility will file or a rate increase. The public utility will not file for a rate decrease but the PUC can and will order the utility to decrease its rates if the utility's revenues are greater than expected.

The public utility is responsible for the integrity of the grid. It is, therefore, the supplier of last resort.

What you are talking about are suppliers that end use customers (residential, commercial and industrial) with little knowledge and experience of the energy market are contracting for energy. They have no clue about
reserve margin, critical time, the supplier's financial wherewithal to perform, the supplier's performing capability, grid integrity etc. The end user only cares that they pay 9 cents/kWh (for the past 10 years). They are just as irresponsible as big mouth know nothing AOC.

The PUC and the local utility have to come to an agreement to what extent customer suppliers have to perform to meet critical time. Obviously, all parties did a piss poor job.

Your points only address supplies and that is the limit of the points you raise.