Posted on 02/12/2011 10:01:48 AM PST by dragnet2
WICHITA FALLS — The electric grid operator for Texas is urging consumers and businesses are encouraged to reduce their electricity use during peak demand hours over the next few days from 6 – 9 a.m. and 4 – 8 p.m. to help reduce the risk of electricity emergencies or the need for rotating outages.
“The National Weather Service is anticipating severe cold weather statewide this week, as another arctic air mass is expected to reach deep into Texas, dropping temperatures back into the teens and twenties,” said Trip Doggett, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
"In anticipation of this severe cold weather, ERCOT will procure additional generation capacity for real-time operations to help maintain reliable delivery of power during this extreme weather event over the next few days,” he said in a news release.
February 10, 2011
...that if they don’t conserve power this morning
posted on Saturday, February 12, 2011
Exactly...Like the illegals started in the southwest, now their coast to coast..Like the economy, our infrastructure, lawless borders, dumbed down schools....A steady decline in the standard of living....
Bringing America down was by design and no accident.
This article is clearly bothering you...Please ask the AM to delete it...
February 10, 2011ERCOT Breaks Electricity Demand Record Again
Power Watch Cancelled
For the second time this month, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state, set a new record for winter peak demand with 57,282 megawatts (MW) today between 7 and 8 a.m. – nearly 1,000 MW higher than the previous record from Feb. 2, and 1,400 MW higher than the 2010 record.
"While it is always a good idea to conserve electricity when you can, we are cancelling the ‘Power Watch” at this time," said CEO Trip Doggett. "We appreciate the efforts of the consumers to reduce their electricity consumption during these recent critical days of severe weather."
The all-time peak demand for the ERCOT region is 65,776 MW, which occurred on Aug. 23, 2010.
In addition, the “transmission watch” for the Rio Grande Valley area has been cancelled.
At least those in the White House won’t have to suffer. Their thermostats are being kept at 80°F all winter.
One more article:
Power watch’ canceled
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/canceled-122695-council-watch.html
February 10, 2011 11:48 PM
The council that monitors electrical usage in much of the state has canceled its “power watch,” saying there is no longer a risk of needing rolling blackouts.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc., or ERCOT, had put electrical providers on notice earlier in the week that blackouts might be required and asked the companies to encourage customers to conserve power.
“Their thermostats are being kept at 80°F all winter.”
That sounds like misery to me. Give me 60°F in the winter. Compared to 5 below outside it feels toasty.
By the way, what happens in summer? I hear it gets hot in Texas? I also hear that air conditioners use electricity?
Probably so they can double their rates...
Thanks for the info. I didn’t know about ERCOT specifics. I forgot Texas grid is independent from the rest of the country. Good the feds can’t control them.
“
We need to get rid of ERCOT and the PUC and then let the free market distribute energy. While this crisis during the icestorm would have been much worse had we been fully regulated (we would have had long blackouts, not just brownouts) ERCOT really screwed the pooch on this one and gave the uneducated liberals a talking point on how deregulation failed, even though we’re not truly deregulated.”
Something similar happened in Californian the liberals made sure they did a half ass job in deregulation so that what remained could be used by them and other criminals to abuses the system.
That being said given the extortionately unusual weather conditions in Texas you need to cut them some slack. No system can endure this.
How about installing more power plants?
We have reached a point where now we witness the previously unthinkable.,,,, a SUPPLY related power shortage in Texas. Sure, an ice storm,, a hurricane,, i get that. But this is at the feet of the marxist green movement and all those windmills.
Can I be honest?
It’s all just part of the intentional incremental breakdown of our infrastructure, our economy, our lawless borders, failed foreign policies and corrupt free trade law....
They're just getting everyone used to failure...
I don’t know what they are talking about with this new front. The Weather Channel is forecasting temperatures in the 60’s-70’s for central Texas over the next ten days. Maybe the Panhandle?
Understand this is an old article going back to the last cold front on W-T-F time frame. There isn’t anthing on the horizon for next week and it will very pleasant conditions as you pointed out.
Save energy. Abolish ERCOT.
Hey thanks for letting me know we aren’t scheduled to revisit those freezing temperatures again anytime soon. That’s what I get for not checking dates.
The problem is, why would a business, interested in making maximum profit, build a power infrastructure to support worst case situation? 99.99% of the time they would have over capacity.
If the consumer is allowed to select their electric provider they will choice the lowest cost source which will be the one that does not pay for the capability to support these situations.
The electric power grid is a machine. Who instead of ERCOT will run the grid in Texas?
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has primary jurisdiction over activities conducted by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). ERCOT is governed by a board of directors made up of independent members, consumers and representatives from each of ERCOT’s electric market segments.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) makes policy recommendations to the board of directors. The TAC is assisted by five standing subcommittees as well as numerous workgroups and task forces.
The board of directors appoints ERCOT’s officers to direct and manage ERCOT’s day-to-day operations, accompanied by a team of executives and managers responsible for critical components of ERCOT’s operations areas.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 22 million Texas customers – representing 85 percent of the state’s electric load and 75 percent of the Texas land area.
As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects 40,000 miles of transmission lines and more than 550 generation units.
ERCOT also manages financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers customer switching for 6.5 million Texans in competitive choice areas.
Facing its first major test during the extreme cold weather on February 2, 2011, the new Texas wholesale market produced supply scarcity prices of $3,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for about six hours – the average price in 2010 was about $40/MWh. Prices quickly returned to more normal levels. The cold weather caused an electricity supply shortage in Texas. Over 50 generators tripped offline, ultimately leading to rolling blackouts for an estimated 1.2 million customers.
Cold temperatures returned February 10, 2011. The system operator for most of Texas (ERCOT) set a new winter peak load record of 57,282 MW (eclipsing the 56,334 MW record set last week), but did not suffer a similar supply shortage.
Real-time energy prices for February 2, 2011 rose to the system-wide offer price cap at 5:15 a.m. and mostly stayed there until 11:30 a.m. Real-time prices typically account for less than 5% of the energy cost of power and, thus, this event should have a negligible effect on retail rates. By the afternoon, prices had dropped to around $50 per MWh - a more typical real-time price.
More than 7,000 megawatts (MW) of power plant capacity was out of service or not producing at its expected level as of 9:00 a.m.
The ERCOT made public appeals for conservation, reduced the system voltage, and ultimately asked utilities to shed 4,000 MW, or about 8% of load. Rolling blackouts –– controlled, 10-45 minute interruptions of electric service –– extended until about 1:30 p.m. Critical facilities were exempt, such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Power plants in typically warm climates do not always have the same cold-protective measures in place as their northern counterparts; frozen and broken pipes, frozen coal piles, frozen transmitters, and natural gas supply disruptions are among the reported issues plaguing Texas generators. Generators in Arizona and New Mexico tripped as well, but those regions have a greater ability to purchase power from their neighbors. ERCOT’s Texas grid has only limited connections to the rest of the grid, which limits its import/export capability.
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