Posted on 02/15/2021 11:50:33 AM PST by george76
The spot price of wholesale electricity on the Texas power grid spiked more than 10,000% on Monday amid a deep freeze across the state and rolling outages among power producers, according to data on the grid operator’s website.
Real-time wholesale market prices on the power grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) were more than $9,000 per megawatt hour late Monday morning, compared with pre-storm prices of less than $50 per megawatt hour, according to ERCOT data..
The surge reflects the real-time megawatt hour price of electricity and the cost of congestion and losses at different points across the grid. Early on Monday, ERCOT said extreme weather conditions forced many power generating units off the grid, upending the supply of electricity.
ERCOT did not respond to an email message about the spike in wholesale electricity prices.
On Feb. 10, well before inclement weather hit Texas, spot wholesale prices on ERCOT settled around $30 per megawatt hour at the end of the day, ERCOT data show. But on Sunday, the price per megawatt hour surged past $9,000 on the grid.
ERCOT can be more susceptible to wholesale price spikes because it does not have a capacity market, which pays power plants to be on standby during peak demand and weather emergencies, for example. ERCOT’s model means consumers are not paying for generation that may never be called into action.
But early on Monday, ERCOT said extreme weather conditions caused many generating units – across all fuel types – to trip offline and become unavailable. That forced more than 30,000 megawatts of power generation off the grid, ERCOT said in a news release.
Moar Windmills and Solar panels.
The windmills are frozen and the sky is clouded...................
I guess solar and wind power does cost more.
Who buys electricity in the spot market? I suppose that Retail Electric Providers are the buyers, but 90%+ of their electric purchases are long-term contracts for baseline usage.
CenterPoint energy in Houston has been order by ERCOT to commence rolling blackouts due to the demand.
That’s a lot of green.
Sounds like their plan didn’t anticipate a punch in the mouth.
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson.
So what does that mean to a consumer or business?
Do they get it with an electric bill 100x normal?
It is happening in Missouri as well.
Someone ask Jen P. “If this happens again and most of the fossil fuel generating plants are closed, where does the electricity come from?”
And don’t take “circle back” for an answer.
The PUC is meeting today to discuss coordination and potential conservation efforts, but this event will likely crush several firms who are not collateralized enough to weather (no pun intended) the storm ..
And all those folks on griddy ( Texas’ wholesale electricity provider ) could literally be looking at paying 4$+ per KWh across the state (as opposed to 12 cents or whatever rate you got at your house), pushing power bills to the moon.
https://austincountynewsonline.com/energy-trader-weve-officially-hit-holy-sit-levels/
Lots of solar energy in space. All they need is a Space Elevator to solar panel equipped satellites in space, with a long extension cord to Earth. Wonder if that would survive a tornado? Anyway, all they need is to fleece taxpayers for trillions of dollars to build it.
Do they get it with an electric bill 100x normal?
I have a 3-year contract to get all the electricity I can use at 9.5 cents per kwh. The Retail Electricity Provider (REP) eats the loss if has't purchased enough electricity to meet demand. I've heard a lot of electricity generators are off-line. I bet the owners of those wind farms are scrambling to buy electricity in the spot market to cover the electricity they pre-sold but aren't generating. Think of it as a huge electricity short-squeeze.
Sounds more like a mafia scheme during Prohibition, than in the technologically advanced next millenium.
$9/kwh wholesale is huge!
That’s more than 20 times what we pay in crazy California, 40cents/kwh.
Extension cord to the sun will solve it or nukkular powered furnace.
The problem is many of those contracts have fine print that them an out for special circumstances.
“But early on Monday, ERCOT said extreme weather conditions caused many generating units – across all fuel types – to trip offline and become unavailable.”
” . . . across all fuel types . . . “ - why would the extreme weather in question shut down nukes or gas-fired turbines?
“So what does that mean to a consumer or business? Do they get it with an electric bill 100x normal?”
Very similar situation happened to our Co-Op power co in mid 90’s during a wicked cold snap. Our bill went from normal January of $400 to $1000. I remember it well. We shut off nearly everything in the house in Feb and March and turned the thermostat down to 57 and wore sweators and hoodies. My wife had just took out a huge loan to start her business and we had zero money.
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