Posted on 01/24/2026 2:34:33 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Summary
BOSTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts, as frigid weather hitting half of the country's population stressed their operations.
The PJM Interconnection - the largest U.S. regional grid that serves 67 million people in the East and Mid-Atlantic - reported temporary spikes in spot wholesale electricity prices that soared above $3,000 per megawatt hour on Saturday morning from earlier levels of less than $200 per MWh.
PJM boosted its forecast for Tuesday, predicting an all-time high for winter electricity demand at 147.2 gigawatts. That would beat the current record of 143.7 GW set in January 2025.
Spot wholesale electricity prices across the U.S. were volatile throughout Saturday, surging several times higher in New England and the Midwest, for example, than during normal winter operating conditions.
Spot prices on ISO New England, the grid for six states, surged to nearly $600 per MWh, up sharply from Friday when prices were below $100 MWh during parts of the day.
Meanwhile, older power plants, typically idled much of the year, came online to take advantage of the elevated prices to serve higher-than-expected demand, said Georg Rute, CEO of grid software company Gridraven, and an expert on how weather affects power line capacity.
"A 40-year-old gas turbine switches on because it sees these super-high prices," Rute told Reuters. He added it was a sign of stress in the PJM system and elsewhere.
Prices also soared in other regions as stormy weather and temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius) pushed up electricity demand and prompted some operators to...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Just wait until Tesla starts building millions of humanoid robots a year, starting late next year. They will all need to be charged up on an almost daily basis. We as a country were stupid to not build excess capacity decades ago, during the Cold War, even if just to be available for a defense production surge.
“Now that I have freezers I am finally in the market for a little dual fuel generator for them, but my basic prepper mentality is minimalist meaning I want coping methods that are geared toward long, long, term solutions, almost permanent.”
Tesla powerwall plus vertical solar bifacial panels. This is your permanent off grid solution. Vertical panels make power regardless of which way they face because they are two sized and reflections power them too. In winter snow cannot stick to the vertical faces and they heat up in sunlight melting any glaze ice on them.
Vertical panels make more power in winter and in more northern areas too. Lots more.
https://x.com/JessePeltan/status/1844102046871666963
A natural gas powered generator is still dependent on a grid the gas grid, you can get a trifuel and use propane but then you need a 500+ gallon tank for any meaningful back up time. Same for liquid gasoline you are dependent on the electric grid being up to pump the fuel into the jerry cans or better yet 55 gal drums worth.
The only truly independent power source is that giant thermonuclear fusion reactor in the sky that comes out every day at dawn to shower your home with energy for the taking all you need is a energy harvesting machine. Small wind turbines are much more site specific you need 4 plus meter per second average continual wind speeds at 30 meters and then with a 20 kw turbine you will be getting 1/10th that at 4mps rated speed is 11 mps which is very rural dependent. Structures kill low level wind fields 50 meters is better but that’s $100K level towers with guy wires and much permits.
For the average Joe only solar and a battery bank is true off grid independence of any meaningful time scale.
You know ten 750 watt bifacial panels which cost $80 per kwp in bulk off the world market wholesale would generate 13500 kWh in any average year in North Texas. That’s more than the national yearly household average electric consumption in the USA with just ten panels. This is how you go off grid or at least off grid capable.
The average person drives 14500 miles or less per year. If th at person had a Model 3 Tesla it would take 3900 kWh per year accounting for AC to DC charging losses. You would need 2 kilowatts of panel rated capacity to cover that Tesla in North Texas. 2 kwp is 2.88 of the above energy harvesting machines. 3 of them would make you over 4000 kWh in any average Texas year which is enough to send that Model 3 16,000+ miles
^^^^^ this is the only way to achieve energy independence the fusion reactor in the sky you can access. No one has a functional oil well in the back yard and then the 500+F give story tall fractionation distillation tower to make octane with. Three of those panels can be stood on end as a fence doesn’t matter if they are east west or North south they are double sided they would be roughly 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide like a sheet of plywood you can mount then long side up for a privacy like fence or long side horizontal for a 6 foot long and skinny fence or just put them on a south facing roof but you lose the 40% boost from the second face. The above KWP/yr is flat mounted they would make more in bifacial vertical mode.
With a robot it couldn’t use more than 5 to 10kWh per day the battery pack would be larger than the whole robot then. At a ridiculous 10kWh per day you still only need 3 panels to power that AI monster with a power to spare.
Credit to Jane Fonda...
Was that a joke?, I’m trying to talk myself into buying a $400 dollar generator that will use 20 pound propane tanks to get my freezer food through 3 or 5 days of a blackout, I use AA NiMH batteries and backpacker solar, not a Tesla solar system remodel that would cost more than my home.
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