Frigid weather stresses US electric grid

Reuters ^ | January 24, 20263:49 PM CST | Tim McLaughlin

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Summary

• Largest regional grid sees electricity prices spike
• MISO imports power from another grid to meet demand amid gas supply constraints
• Texas grid faces winter storm test, but improvements reduce blackout risk

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...

---

TOPICS: Weather
KEYWORDS:

[ClearCase_guy]

avoid rotating blackouts

Hard to do when the windmills freeze and stop rotating.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

And the solar panels are covered with snow.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I missed your joke. Duh.

[Tracker47]

Someone should tell the people in Minneapolis that the power substation are ICE communication facilities...
That might be a bad thing.

[No name given]

Yep.

[No name given]

That’s true.

[ansel12]

I’m so well prepared for emergencies that there wasn’t anything for me to do to participate, so I started charging my NiMH rechargeable batteries in all sizes AAA-AA-C-D, although they didn’t really need it.

My lanterns and flashlights, radios, walkie talkies, phone chargers, solar lights, electrical test meters, motion sensor lights, spotlights, clocks, and more all use regular batteries in those sizes.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Most of the problem with the grid has been caused by politicians, repeat politicians. Politicians caused the closing of coal, gas and nuclear plants for strictly political reasons. Politicians built vast wind turbine and solar installations that were inefficient and unreliable and got kickbacks from the builders. Now we have to fix the problem.

[cyclotic]

We’re scheduled to get a ton of ice so a power outage is not out of the realm. I went to double check my generator. It’s been a few months.

Then I discovered that a cheap $8 part broke. Oh well. We do have several heat sources, lots of lights and anything else we’ll need.

[ansel12]

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.

[frank ballenger]

Electric company prices go up if very cold weather, very hot or humid weather, people buy EVs and companies start using more AI. The future looks so bright they gotta wear sunglasses.

Some predict late this year will start some rolling blackouts to keep the insatiable EV power needs satisfied, then many more next year.

[frank ballenger]

RE: when the windmills freeze and stop rotating.

https://www.azom.com/materials-video-details.aspx?VidID=374

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AQl-3PrBxK8

https://www.reddit.com/r/woahdude/comments/p9v8ph/windmill_destructed_in_storm/

[frank ballenger]

Yipes. I meant to say the AI power needs. Not EV. Sorry, all.

[oldplayer]

This one guy in the article says the old generating plants come on line to take advantage of high prices. I live in a community of 7,500 people in rural Oklahoma and we have an electrical generation plant that runs on diesel or natural gas that can provide 100% of our community’s requirements. However, it sets idle much of the time, but can be completely generating within 30 minutes.

We send this electricity into a regional grid when needed at times like this, just to meet the grid’s heightened load. We get paid to do this, of course, but it is need based, not greed based.

[central_va]

The prices we pay for electricity you’d think they could bury trans lines.

[kvanbrunt2]

Headine is actually:
“Idiotic commie policies stresses US electric grid”

[sauropod]

.

[rdl6989]

This was posted on a local tv channel’s website this evening.

Public urged to cut back on electrical usage across central Indiana, southern Indiana
A spokesperson for Hoosier Energy said, “High demand for electricity and tight power supplies throughout the Midwest are causing a serious power supply emergency.”

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/public-urged-to-cut-back-on-electrical-usage-across-central-indiana-southern-indiana-hoosier-energy/531-1665b0c0-20dc-4e42-8005-158cc9bc012c

[Vision]

It’s especially stressed as it was never designed for electric cars and data centers.