Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire I Think that ERCOT Grid is Going to be Tested

One cold snap and folks are already panicked..

I guess I remember it much different.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

If Feb. 2021 was any indicator, they'd better be.

The upcoming one isn't as harsh, but harsh is coming... sooner or later.

My power already went out last night for about an hour. I think they moved me from an essential to a non-essential circuit and tested it out.

I keep seeing the PUCT chairman (Peter somebody) on TV telling us they are fully prepared and ready for this........Until they aren't..

How is the grid holding up down there in flatland?

You 'all need a generator big enough.

Temps in the 20's.

LMAO

No Texan replies in an hour.

Think they all froze to death?

Power is still on, hope it stays on, but have whole house generator now.

Nothing exciting here except my work email doesn't appear to be working but I'm don't think that's a problem . Just cold!

There are 2 natural gas compressor stations 7 miles from here. The compressors are driven by natural gas turbines. All of the.places I have worked for the.last 40 years Our gas compressors ran off nathral gas we produced.

Big difference between the cold snap of 2 years ago versus current is that we have a breeze and no precipitation, so the wind turbines are producing. In addition, I think the gas plants and gas suppliers also got the message that their performance and unpreparedness was unacceptable.

2 years ago, ERCOT had suspended preparedness inspections due to Covid. Once again, we were reminded that self-inspection and self-governance leads to apathy.

With record growth in TX, every last megawatt matters. Infrastructure improvements always lag the demand.

Our electric company just announced rolling blackouts for us. First time ever I can recall that happening.

NOT QUITE, BRAVE ONE.

Does it run on natural gas?

I didn't leave anything to chance. I filled all my propane bottles and bought an extra Mr. Heater Big Buddy indoor rated heater. Fueled up all our vehicles. Stacked wood by the back door. Filled up a tote of water for the horses. Filled all my gas cans and moved my welder/generator to the back porch.

Also bought a fresh bottle of Knob Creek and Sazerac Rye. A man just can't take chances sometimes.

Nationwide power outage map.

Looks like back east is having problems.

https://poweroutage.us/

About 7 degrees F around me with a wind chill in the minus teens. Snowing sideways with real high winds. Should be a good evening to generate a lot of electricity with all the windmills in western NY state. At least I can rest assured they won't get put out of commission from ice. Did those windmills in Texas ever get upgraded with some de-icing technology?

I'm not sure they need to get upgraded. Does it make sense to outfit turbines that may only see icing conditions a few times in their lifetime? Or is the money better spent elsewhere? Adding de-icing, still doesn't resolve the lost capacity if the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine (in the case of solar). I think you'd be better off investing in readily dispatchable simple cycle dual fuel combustion turbines to make up for any lost wind, or solar power. The problem is, who pays for the stand-by power? With the current political climate, it's hard to even get investors for any project that has "fossil fuel" attached to it.

We need to value reliability as much as we value costs and the "green footprint". A reliable and diverse electrical infrastructure is what our goal should be.