Justin T
Member
I've been without power since 2:30am. Rolling blackouts? Whatever electricity is available musta rolled right on by.
It's Official: Texas has achieved Third-World Status
- Thread starter swsig
- Start date
Oklahoma has problems also. We are at level 2 electricity wise. At level 3, rolling blackouts. Natural gas is also a concern, we are running low on supply. It's so cold, minus 10 degrees in some areas, that the gas well heads are freezing. Citizens have been asked to keep thermostats at 60 or lower.
Last edited:
4barrel
Member
It is Zero here by the lake but we have plenty of propane and setting on 73 degrees inside with 3 full tanks of gas and PLENTY of liquid fuel for consumption and 2 cats and 5 dogs for backup heat and 12 volt lights and a 4 wheel drive. Electricity cycles about 40 minutes so for. Lots of snow but little ice. We have a coal powered plant on the river about 50 miles away that sells to 12 co op's. <I do have a fireplace if needed>
Last edited:
Sitting hear watching the news, they are pushing the conservation of power due to the extreme cold and storm. The reason is that they shut down a lot of coal and natural gas power plants which provide the spinning reserve needed on the power grid. The solar power doesn't work well in overcast/snowy conditions. The wind mills don't work for squat when they are ice covered, low wind speed or high wind speed. The infrastructure s not in place to add additional natural gas turbines, and in the winter there isn't enough gas available to run a lot of what is already in place. A lot of the large coal powered power plants use natural gas to start up in the event of a trip. Under extreme cold like we have now there may not be enough gas to restart the plant in the event of a trip. Those persons working for the power company's in these brutal conditions do put there lives at risk so the general public can sit comfortably in their homes and offices. Glad I took 3 vacation days over the weekend so I can be one of them instead of having to go out on that boiler with only 3 walls.
I made this post earlier on a different social media site for my family. I have worked in power generation for close to 40 years and have a backup generator, and insisted that the house I bought was not full electric.
I made this post earlier on a different social media site for my family. I have worked in power generation for close to 40 years and have a backup generator, and insisted that the house I bought was not full electric.
handejector
Staff member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2005
- Messages
- 26,134
- Reaction score
- 47,054
9 posts deleted.
Knock off the CA bashing. You guys are like kids on a playground- "My dog's better than your dog!"
It gets very tiresome for our CA members who have to put up with all that they endure to constantly hear you guys bashing them.
Also knock off the political innuendo.
I'm getting tired of the same people causing the same problems.
I can fix that if you won't.
It's been a stressful year with lots of stuff most or all of us don't like. Lighten up.
Knock off the CA bashing. You guys are like kids on a playground- "My dog's better than your dog!"
It gets very tiresome for our CA members who have to put up with all that they endure to constantly hear you guys bashing them.
Also knock off the political innuendo.
I'm getting tired of the same people causing the same problems.
I can fix that if you won't.
It's been a stressful year with lots of stuff most or all of us don't like. Lighten up.
HOUSTON RICK
Member
"What ya'll need are some windmills and solar panels. They are all the rage now."
We have many windmills in Texas - they are frozen.
We have many windmills in Texas - they are frozen.
I just talked to my nephew in White Settlement, just west of FW and his power has been off since 2 am. Lee
Much of Iowa is covered by the Southwest Power Pool that is having the rolling blackouts across much of the central US. But I'm not in that area, my power company has made a statement that they have enough generating power to maintain service at peak levels. Hopefully that remains true. Forecast tonight is -28.
To those in Texas (and elsewhere) effected by the ice and cold, we hope you all hunker down, keep warm and survive until it warms up again.
While Karen and I were driving through Texas we were surprised at the number of wind turbines, especially around Amarillo, in a place where the economy was based on oil and gas (just like our home provence of Taranaki). We never gave a thought to them freezing even though we have heard of the "Texas Blue Norther".
In the last 18 months a big (for Kiwiland) wind farm has been established between our town and the one just south east of us (17 km/10 miles away) We can actually see some of the turbines from the end of our street and they are a blight on the ocean view when driving along the highway. Now here's a thought. We live on the coast, salt corrosioin from the water is an issue for things like outdoor furniture, cars etc. What will the salt laden air do to these turbines in a decade or so?
Is green energy really economic?
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Follow the money.
Kiwicop:
Yes. We have oil, gas, coal, uranium, hydro, wind, and solar in New Mexico. Wind and solar (the wind seldom rests; we have 300+ days of sunshine annually) are perfect in combination with gas-fired and hydro power generation. Wind turbines don't age badly in our arid climate, and solar on south-facing roofs is fed into the grid, adding supply and reducing the homeowner's or business owner's power costs dramatically.
Not every place is New Mexico.
I think the drive from Christchurch to Queenstown is the loveliest in the Pacific. And your hydro power from water falling from glaciers to the sea is just ingenious!
Yes. We have oil, gas, coal, uranium, hydro, wind, and solar in New Mexico. Wind and solar (the wind seldom rests; we have 300+ days of sunshine annually) are perfect in combination with gas-fired and hydro power generation. Wind turbines don't age badly in our arid climate, and solar on south-facing roofs is fed into the grid, adding supply and reducing the homeowner's or business owner's power costs dramatically.
Not every place is New Mexico.
I think the drive from Christchurch to Queenstown is the loveliest in the Pacific. And your hydro power from water falling from glaciers to the sea is just ingenious!
Last edited:
bulletslap
Member
Our blackout has been rolling along for 18 hours, the outrages are spotty and do not seem due to ice or wind in my area. It is as if something in the distribution has failed.
Thank God we have a wood fireplace and a big stack of wood !!!
Granddaughter came over with two cats because her house is Total Electric.
Her house will most likely need all the plumbing replaced.
Thank God we have a wood fireplace and a big stack of wood !!!
Granddaughter came over with two cats because her house is Total Electric.
Her house will most likely need all the plumbing replaced.
Ziggy2525
Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2016
- Messages
- 1,530
- Reaction score
- 3,249
True, but... With the exception of a couple East Coast blackouts, in the past they're usually localized interruptions, limited to one utility's service area, that could be fixed by the local utility.
Now it looks like there will be rolling blackouts in North Dakota because of capacity planning issues (e.g. windmills freezing) in West Texas. That seems like a new twist on things.
Last edited:
Ziggy2525
Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2016
- Messages
- 1,530
- Reaction score
- 3,249
Maybe. If the actual weather patterns aren't matching what they designed/modeled for, we may be seeing the beginnings of a chronic problem.
sourdough44
Member
I woke up to 76 in the house, woodpile goes out two years. Good luck TX.
Since it's a 'normal' Winter here in WI, haven't missed a beat.
Since it's a 'normal' Winter here in WI, haven't missed a beat.
Could this have something to do with that ?
New Mexico population growth - .64%
Texas population growth - 16.4%
That's a lot of new residents tapping into a grid that's not expanding and updating as fast as needed.
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 4,624
- Reaction score
- 7,841
I'm in Fort Worth but haven't had a blackout yet. We must be close to something they consider important. Maybe the Zoo.
If you're close to a hospital or a fire/police station they won't black you out usually. If they do you're the first to come back. A couple of hurricanes near a Fire Station taught me that.
If you're close to a hospital or a fire/police station they won't black you out usually. If they do you're the first to come back. A couple of hurricanes near a Fire Station taught me that.
I know a little bit about power grids. We've got a coal fired power plant right here in the city limits. We sell most of our generated power to Columbia, Missouri thru the grid, and buy our power from the national grid at a cheaper rate. If the grid failed, and the incoming grid transmission lines went down, as it did during an ice storm here in 2009, we'd have trouble. And we did. We couldn't just run the power from the local plant to the city.
I asked a buddy of mine that works in management at the local power plant about the Texas problem. Texas doesn't really participate in the national grid. The power generated in Texas is for Texas, and since Texas is having production issues, Texas citizens have a problem.
That's my minor contribution to this discussion . . .
I asked a buddy of mine that works in management at the local power plant about the Texas problem. Texas doesn't really participate in the national grid. The power generated in Texas is for Texas, and since Texas is having production issues, Texas citizens have a problem.
That's my minor contribution to this discussion . . .
Last edited:
RogerA
Member
3 degrees here at the house this morning. Power off and on all night. All faucets dripping to keep them from freezing. Should be 60 degrees here Monday.
Ziggy2525
Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2016
- Messages
- 1,530
- Reaction score
- 3,249
I think it's more nuanced than that. The far northern part of Texas, including the Texas Panhandle where the frozen windmills are, are part of the Southwest Power Pool that controls power from North Dakota to Northern Texas, not the Texas ERCOT that controls power in the rest of Texas. Also, from just looking it up, the Southwest Power Pool has a high voltage DC interconnect with ERCOT and agreements to provide power as needed.
Power-wise, ERCOT may not belong to a regional pool, but what happens in Texas doesn't just stay in Texas.
Similar threads
- Locked
