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Power Grid Taxed, Rolling Blackouts Ordered [Texas]
NBC 5 DFW ^ | 02/02/2011 | Staff

Posted on 02/02/2011 5:54:36 AM PST by BuckeyeTexan

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has ordered utilities to begin rotating outages to compensate for a generation shortage due high usage in extreme weather. Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of service designed to ease the load on the electric grid.  To see recent reports on the grid load, click here.

The outages last anywhere from 10-45 minutes and the locations and durations are determined by the local utilities.

Critical need customers such as hospitals and nursing homes are generally not included It is not known at this time how long the need for rotating outages will last.

Consumers and businesses are urged to reduce their electricity use to the lowest level possible, including these steps:



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: electricity; emergency; icestorm; texas
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To: BuckeyeTexan
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has ordered utilities to begin rotating outages to compensate for a generation shortage due high usage in extreme weather. Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of service designed to ease the load on the electric grid. To see recent reports on the grid load, click here. The outages last anywhere from 10-45 minutes and the locations and durations are determined by the local utilities.

Those left shivering or hungry during the outages wish to thank the environazis for blocking the construction of new power generating facilities that would mitigate these blackouts.

"The inability to construct new facilities, whether coal- or gas fired, hydro-powered or nuclear," said, John Doe, a member of the New Power Coalition, "has created this situation and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will only get worse in the future."

21 posted on 02/02/2011 6:18:19 AM PST by DustyMoment (Go green - recycle Congress in 2012!!)
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To: squarebarb

Same here in western Houston, power back on after 15 minutes.


22 posted on 02/02/2011 6:22:09 AM PST by 2001convSVT (That Beck guy was right about gold, too.)
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To: listenhillary

“Imagine having 50 new nuclear plants that the stimulus dollars could have started building. We would have needed to ban lawsuits by the greenies.”

Imagine telling the greenies to shove it and everytime they file a lawsuit, a countersuit is filed for 3 times the amount.

If we tie radical leftwing groups up in court, we bleed them and take away their funding.

Reagan beat the soviets by bankrupting them. It is time for Americans to grow a pair and stop the greenies, ACLU and other leftwing groups.


23 posted on 02/02/2011 6:23:46 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz ( Happy Freeping New Year)
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To: Ev Reeman

... or the union city employees throw temper tantrums and refuse to plow the streets essentially murdering people because emergency personnel can’t get to them.


24 posted on 02/02/2011 6:24:14 AM PST by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind.)
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To: nascarnation
I would have guessed it was largely nat gas.

I'm sure in the colder parts that's true, but still needs electricity to push the air. But further south it would not make sense to have gas with a short heating season.

25 posted on 02/02/2011 6:25:56 AM PST by palmer (Cooperating with Obama = helping him extend the depression and implement socialism.)
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To: nascarnation

Doesn’t matter. Without electricity you can’t run the fan so the heat will not come on.


26 posted on 02/02/2011 6:26:34 AM PST by Double Tap
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To: wolfcreek

I haven’t noticed any at our work at 35th and Loop 1. I hope it doesn’t hit in Lago. Wife unit will not be happy.


27 posted on 02/02/2011 6:26:34 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (America has two cancers - democrats and RINOS.)
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To: wolfcreek
You're on PEC, right? Haven't had it here, yet (knock on wood). Will they give us fair warning or not? The heat is set for 74 but it can't keep up. We closed the vents in unused rooms and shut the doors, put a blanket in the attic access, checked the windows and put blankets over glass doors and towels at the thresholds, and have the coffee pot going full blast but I'm still freezing and am bundled up in a blanket.

The cat, who usually insists on helping me type, won't leave her warm bed. Last night, one of the dogs was so cold she had dug under a blanket and was walking around with it. The only good thing I can say about this non-global warming event is it's keeping the dogs in the house instead of chasing after the skunk that's been hanging around the past week.

28 posted on 02/02/2011 6:26:40 AM PST by bgill (Kenyan Parliament - how could a man born in Kenya who is not even a native American become the POTUS)
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To: Double Tap

What I meant was that if most use gas for heat, you wouldn’t expect any surge in electric usage in cold conditions.
This tells me a lot of folks are using resistance electric heat.


29 posted on 02/02/2011 6:29:11 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: bgill

Time for Icy Hot at your house. Put it on your feet and lower back. No, I am not kidding.


30 posted on 02/02/2011 6:31:08 AM PST by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind.)
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To: wolfcreek

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas ensures a reliable electric grid and efficient electricity markets.

Wonder, based on the above on their site, where these historic loads are coming from? They didn’t just suddenly appear.

One could also wonder why those of us up north enduring temperatures well below zero are not suffering like outages.

There is base load and their is peak load, and both need to be up to the task at hand.

If not, it is blackout time, when conditions are not ideal for said blackout.


31 posted on 02/02/2011 6:32:12 AM PST by wita
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To: wita

My guess is a lot of folks use electric resistance heat and also folks plugging in electric space heaters.
That’s why I asked the question about nat gas earlier in the thread.

Here in Indiana, the highest peak loads come in the summer with A/C. The plant I worked at had to trim usage on hot summer afternoons because we were one of the major consumers of electricity. There never was any issue in winter because most heat is from nat gas.


32 posted on 02/02/2011 6:36:32 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: nascarnation

I wish we had natural gas lines in our area. A lot of people have propane tanks in their yards. We have natural gas at work, and the buildings have electric water and office heaters.

Why? Because the GOV contracts call for electric heaters since some areas of the country DO NOT have natural gas.


33 posted on 02/02/2011 6:37:10 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (America has two cancers - democrats and RINOS.)
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To: nascarnation

That and probably a lot of vehicles are being plugged in.

We start getting some very minor brownout’s up here in Alaska when it gets down around that -40 range.


34 posted on 02/02/2011 6:37:37 AM PST by Eye of Unk (What is YOUR snipe hunt?)
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To: nascarnation
In many places let a squirrel run across the wire and you lose electricity (no lie) but still most everyone I know is all electric. We remodeled a few years ago and I took out the butane. Can't stand gas. Have had too many cranky old ovens blow up in my face.

Brrrr, I swear it's colder now than it was at 6 am. The official weather says it's 18 degrees! The garbage truck is just now here so they're running an hour or two behind time today.

35 posted on 02/02/2011 6:37:45 AM PST by bgill (Kenyan Parliament - how could a man born in Kenya who is not even a native American become the POTUS)
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To: nascarnation

Because most people are home rather than at school/work they are using more power: watching TV, using computers, kids using video games, etc. Almost all school districts are closed in and around DFW because the roads are too icy.


36 posted on 02/02/2011 6:40:41 AM PST by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind.)
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To: Eye of Unk

Do you really think there are many vehicles in Texas with block heaters?


37 posted on 02/02/2011 6:40:52 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: nascarnation

Because most people are home rather than at school/work they are using more power: watching TV, using computers, kids using video games, etc. Almost all school districts are closed in and around DFW because the roads are too icy.


38 posted on 02/02/2011 6:40:58 AM PST by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind.)
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To: bgill

Haven’t had the rolling black out here in town in Bertram yet, but my parents are 3 miles out of town and lost theirs for 30 minutes or so. We are on PEC as well.


39 posted on 02/02/2011 6:42:05 AM PST by Grumpybutt (Gender Traditionalist)
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To: bgill
The only good thing I can say about this non-global warming event is it's keeping the dogs in the house instead of chasing after the skunk that's been hanging around the past week.

Our neighbor had his dog sprayed by a skunk. He got home from the vet (fearing a rabid skunk) at 3 AM and had to bathe the dog. I noticed Pepe Le Pu has not been real lucky crossing the roads lately.

40 posted on 02/02/2011 6:42:52 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (America has two cancers - democrats and RINOS.)
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