Texans asked to limit electricity use after six power plants go down ahead of a hot weekend

[Hans Blaster]

I wonder what the base-unit of currency-name might be?
Texbux?
Dolllars?
Houstons?
Abbotts?
Texos?

Pesos.

 

[Desk trauma]

I wonder what the base-unit of currency-name might be?
Texbux?
Dolllars?
Houstons?
Abbotts?
Texos?

Libs. After all it’s all about owning the libs.

 

[Desk trauma]

Pesos.

Nah, the cartels don’t use the peso.

 

[DaisyDay]

Maybe they'll go full-on state owned crypto and become a complete kleptocracy.

 

[SimplyMe]

As my power keeps going off for a few seconds due to brown outs, I couldn't help but think about this thread today.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Weatherman Talks About Hot Weather in Texas Possibly Leading to Blackouts — As Blackout Occurs

(The station has a backup generator, but some of the studio lights are not on that circuit)

 

[durangodawood]

I wonder what the base-unit of currency-name might be?
Texbux?
Dolllars?
Houstons?
Abbotts?
Texos?

Halliburtons

 

[RDKirk]

Bought my home generator last summer. Got plenty of propane for it.

 

[Tinker Grey]

I'm in Texas. A week from Saturday, Accuweather has the prediction as 108°F.

 

[RDKirk]

I'm in Texas. A week from Saturday, Accuweather has the prediction as 108°F.

When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike across town all summer long.

I can't believe it could have been this hot. They must have changed the scale at some point in the last 50 years.

 

[FireDragon76]

When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike across town all summer long.

I can't believe it could have been this hot. They must have changed the scale at some point in the last 50 years.

The scale hasn't change, there are more heat waves. Also, as you get older, you're less able to cope with heat.

 

[southwestforests]

Bitcoin mining, eh,
Texas grid takes emergency actions to avoid blackouts amid heatwave

Stoic's Lewin said there was less coal and natural gas generation capacity available on Wednesday than on Monday when ERCOT last called for conservation measures.

It was the third time this year that ERCOT has called on residents to cut power usage and the second time it has warned of the potential for rolling blackouts. As on Monday, it avoided forced cuts when big power consumers agreed to halt operations.

Lee Bratcher, president of Texas Blockchain Council, said all of the state's large-scale Bitcoin mining operations, which consume about 1,000 megawatts, are currently offline because of ERCOT's call for conservation and high power prices.

and

Texas grid operator urges electricity conservation as heat wave drives up demand

ERCOT, the state’s power grid operator, asked Texans to turn up their thermostats and postpone running major appliances between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday. ERCOT also called on large electric customers to lower their electricity use. Nearly all industrial-scale Bitcoin miners in the state shut off their machines in response to the call, representing over 1% of total grid capacity, Bloomberg News reported.

...

Low winds also made it harder for the grid to keep up with demand during hotter-than-usual July temperatures. Projections showed wind generation coming in at less than 10% of its capacity on Monday, ERCOT said. In the spring, ERCOT forecast that an extremely low wind generation day for the summer would be around 1% of its capacity; a low wind generation day for the summer would be around 11% of its capacity; a normal wind generation day for the summer would be around 36% of its capacity.

Winds in Texas often drop during the daytime and pick up overnight, especially in the summer. ERCOT forecasts more wind power will be available to the grid on Tuesday.

Power grids must keep supply and demand in balance at all times. When Texas’ grid falls below its safety margin of excess supply, the grid operator starts taking additional precautions to avoid blackouts.

The first precaution is to ask the public to voluntarily cut back electricity usage. The next step is for the grid operator to tell the public the grid could be in serious condition, and Texans need to cut back electricity usage in order to help the grid. If the grid’s conditions still don’t improve, ERCOT would then implement controlled, rotating power outages, in which Texans in some areas could lose power for up to 45 minutes at a time.

and

Bitcoin Miners Shut Off Rigs as Texas Power Grid Nears Brink

Miners such as Riot Blockchain Inc., Argo Blockchain Plc and Core Scientific Inc., who operate millions of energy-intensive computers to secure the Bitcoin blockchain network and earn rewards in the token, flocked to the Lone Star State thanks to its low energy costs and liberal regulations on crypto mining. The state has become one of the largest crypto-mining hubs by computing power in the world.

 

[essentialsaltes]

As searing Texas heat drives power demand to record highs, the state’s grid operator is ordering plants to run at a historic pace, often forcing them to put off maintenance to keep cranking out electricity. That’s helped keep the lights on, for now, but the short-term focus is putting even more stress on a system that’s already stretched near the limit.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, as the operator is formally known, called for 2,890 hours of RUCs [orders to keep plants working] system-wide in the first half of this year. That’s more than triple the 801 hours in the first half of 2021

[Maintenance is usually carried out in spring and fall.]

But climate change means these windows of temperate weather are getting shorter. This year, for instance, an early May heat wave forced some generators to skip tune-ups. [i.e. the story in OP]

 

[Desk trauma]

As searing Texas heat drives power demand to record highs, the state’s grid operator is ordering plants to run at a historic pace, often forcing them to put off maintenance to keep cranking out electricity. That’s helped keep the lights on, for now, but the short-term focus is putting even more stress on a system that’s already stretched near the limit.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, as the operator is formally known, called for 2,890 hours of RUCs [orders to keep plants working] system-wide in the first half of this year. That’s more than triple the 801 hours in the first half of 2021

[Maintenance is usually carried out in spring and fall.]

But climate change means these windows of temperate weather are getting shorter. This year, for instance, an early May heat wave forced some generators to skip tune-ups. [i.e. the story in OP]

Sounds like a succession ready grid to me.i

 

[essentialsaltes]

Sounds like a succession ready grid to me.i

Texas perks up: Didja say secession?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Wind and solar power are 'bailing out' Texas amid record heat and energy demand
Texans are cranking on the air conditioning this week amid an unusually early heat wave, setting new records for electricity demand in the state, which surpassed 75 gigawatts on Sunday and smashed the 2019 record.

What a difference a year makes. Another smashed record. Something like 10% higher peak demand in one year.

Texas Power Prices to Surge 800% on Sunday Amid Searing Heat​

Power usage on Sunday is expected to peak at nearly 84.4 gigawatts at about 4 p.m., which would be an all-time high in Ercot. But it’s not until later when the solar generation starts to wane at sunset that supplies become tighter.

Electricity prices for the grid rose to more than $2,500 a megawatt-hour for Sunday evening, up from Saturday’s high of about $275, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the grid operator. The surplus of available power capacity on the grid versus power consumption will narrow to 1.6 gigawatts in the hour ending at 6 p.m. Sunday, a level that can trigger emergency responses, though Ercot has additional reserves it can tap to meet demand.

 

[B Griffin]

What a difference a year makes. Another smashed record. Something like 10% higher peak demand in one year.

Texas Power Prices to Surge 800% on Sunday Amid Searing Heat​

Power usage on Sunday is expected to peak at nearly 84.4 gigawatts at about 4 p.m., which would be an all-time high in Ercot. But it’s not until later when the solar generation starts to wane at sunset that supplies become tighter.

Electricity prices for the grid rose to more than $2,500 a megawatt-hour for Sunday evening, up from Saturday’s high of about $275, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the grid operator. The surplus of available power capacity on the grid versus power consumption will narrow to 1.6 gigawatts in the hour ending at 6 p.m. Sunday, a level that can trigger emergency responses, though Ercot has additional reserves it can tap to meet demand.

Yeah, the famous "Duck Curve" points out the problem Electric Grid Operators like Texas and California are experiencing with renewables. The increasing ramp rates of non-renewable generation is straining their systems. See article and chart below:

EPRI Head: Duck Curve Now Looks Like a Canyon

The “duck curve,” a concept that has become emblematic of the challenges associated with integrating variable renewables in the power system, now looks

www.powermag.com

 

[USincognito]

Bought my home generator last summer. Got plenty of propane for it.

Hank Hill would be proud,

 

[essentialsaltes]

Kind of an interesting wrinkle on things.

Texas paid bitcoin miner Riot $31.7 million to shut down during heat wave in August​

During the crypto boom of 2021, Riot Platforms was raking in cash from bitcoin mining. Now the company is losing so much money that it’s counting on energy credits from selling power back to the Texas grid to keep its costs under control.

Riot said on Wednesday that it earned $31.7 million in energy credits last month from Texas power grid operator ERCOT. The company generated the credits by voluntarily curtailing its energy consumption during a record-breaking heatwave.

--

That was last month, but Texas is also currently skating along the edge.

Texas avoids rolling blackouts during evening grid emergency​

The state’s power grid operator triggered its emergency operations on Wednesday evening, allowing it to call on all available power generation to stay ahead of demand — and bringing it closer than it's been all summer to a worst-case scenario of ordering rotating power outages.

ERCOT triggered its second of three levels of emergency operations at 7:25 p.m. It lifted emergency conditions 77 minutes later, when plenty of surplus power was again flowing to the grid to meet demand.