Posted on 06/13/2024 6:27:31 AM PDT by fwdude
NBC 5 learned more about how leaders at the state's largest power grid think it will perform during upcoming hot Texas summers.
ERCOT and Public Utility Commission leaders updated lawmakers in Austin Wednesday morning after a striking new report issued by the grid operator.
They've long known that ERCOT, the state's largest power grid, is most vulnerable on hot late-summer nights as the sun goes down. That's when the big chunk of energy generated by solar power goes offline. It gets worse if the wind goes down as well, and wind generators don't run.
According to a report delivered to lawmakers this week, each August night at around 9 p.m., ERCOT predicts more than a 16 percent chance the grid will have to take emergency measures like asking people to use less energy. ERCOT estimators say there's a 12 percent chance the grid will see rolling blackouts in parts of the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcdfw.com ...
In case people not in the Southwest don't know, we do not cool off late in the afternoon or even when the sun sets like other parts of the country. We are often in the 90's up until 11:00 pm during the hottest months of summer.
Fire up them coal fired power plants you mothballed.
If only Texas had big lignite deposits it could tap for power generation.
One problem that some people have mentioned is that commercial facilities are often air conditioned for 12 or more hours when no one is even occupying the building. This needs to stop. Billions of cubic feet of vacant space don’t need A/C at night.
Texas should build gas powered power plants right next to their oil refining plants and if the government bans them, ignore their orders like Biden ignores Supreme Court Rulings and the Constitution.
“What do we want? Less windmills and solar panels! When do we want them? NEVER!”
Natural gas fired power plants would fix the problems.
West Texas has lots of natural gas.
Gas fired plants are a lot cleaner than the coal fired plants and less expensive to operate.
We have a “pResident” who wants to ban natural gas-powered appliances. He’ll do everything he can to thwart gas-powered electricity generation.
If only Texas’ power grid were frequency-synchronized with the rest of eastern North America, so they could import power from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana just by stringing more wires.
None of your business what commercial buildings want to do
More spinners, please.
Do they want rolling blackouts?
Natural Gas Fired Turbines to the rescue.
Dude, just turn all the lights in Texas on at night, that light will power the solar cells at night……. 🧐🧐🧐 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What about California where constant brown outs and blackout happen? The left don’t want to mention this beczuse it severely u dermines their green energy lunacy
People used to live in the South without air conditioning. Though not as many!
The migrants increase power demands. Ditto EV vehicles.
Not sure how energy efficient it is turning off/turning down air conditioning at night. Where I worked, they turned it down on weekends.
Theoretically there's plenty of capacity here in the nation's largest consumer of power. Last summer consumption averaged about 82,000 - 84,000 MW during peak hours. Current ERCOT capacity is 157,000 MW. Problem is 70.000 MW of that is wind/solar/batteries and it's degrading in its reliability/availability. Simple math and honesty would help Texans understand this predicament we're getting into. Can't have that, though, can we? The graft exposed in Austin might even send people to jail.
I don’t get it. Tens of millions of people in the state have transitioned to far more efficient energy-using appliances and lighting. LED’s are supposed to use a small fraction of what the old incandescents used, and produce far less heat.
How are we using much less energy through efficiency but still running short of power?
Many industries would, in fact, appreciate the lower rates associated with a less reliable grid.
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