ERCOT Power Grid Update.... Level 3 Emergency Alert

[kevlarjohnson]

energy transfer

Explain to me how the use of heaters in winter, what winter we do have is any worse on the grid than everyone in Texas running AC's when it's hot?

I work in a Highrise Building - Downtown Houston... & I'm not a Professional Engineer who knows a lot about theory... However, I am a Chief Building Engineer who knows a little about thermodynamics.

the gest of the answer here is another question... "How much energy does it take to change the temperature in my dwelling x degrees?"... Doesn't matter winter or summer... bottom line is.... in the middle summer you are changing the temp from 100 to 75... (25 degrees) (removing 25 degrees from the space).... right now you are trying to get from 25 to 75... (50 degrees) - Add 50 degrees to the space.

The reallity is that you could easily use double the energy to achieve such a change...there are many factors including "how efficient is your A/C - Compared to your Heat source?" etc...

[LemmeOut]

I don't work at ERCOT but I only live a few miles from their office in Taylor. I also read somewhere that 2 power plants went down somewhere in Texas but no info on where they are located. That probably would be contributing to the strain on the power grid and need for the rolling black outs if that information is correct.

Chris

[rtread]

the gest of the answer here is another question... "How much energy does it take to change the temperature in my dwelling x degrees?"... Doesn't matter winter or summer... bottom line is.... in the middle summer you are changing the temp from 100 to 75... (25 degrees) (removing 25 degrees from the space).... right now you are trying to get from 25 to 75... (50 degrees) - Add 50 degrees to the space.

This is true. Another factor that weighs heavily into winter versus summer peak conditions is a situation at the power generating plants themselves.
The control systems for various equipment at power plants frequently have pneumatic lines to and from outside instruments. We call them sensing lines. During extremely cold weather these sensing lines try to freeze up. We have heat tracing and insulation to take care of this, but sometimes the protection is inadequate, for one reason or another. When moisture inside that line freezes up, air flow diminishes then stops.....rendering that equipment useless. There are redundancies built in and other means of protection but everything is prone to failure at some time or another. These freeze-ups cause whole power stations to go down. Sometimes when one unit goes down, it will cause a nearby unit to trip. When several large power stations go down and the lost load cannot be produced fast enough, that causes a whole new situation.

During the summer you don't have to deal with the freeze-ups but the huge load demand itself can be a real problem.

[Snakelover]

Explain to me how the use of heaters in winter, what winter we do have is any worse on the grid than everyone in Texas running AC's when it's hot?

Mainly because the difference between 17 degrees and normal room temperature is quite a lot more than the difference between 107 degrees and normal room temperature. The farther you change the temperature, the more electricity is consumed.

Edit: Sorry. I see this has been answered by others now.

[gtsticker]

Heard they may not be able to control it with the rolling blackouts and pwer could go down for a couple days. Thank goodness I have a wood stove and gas cook top.

[rtread]

Heard they may not be able to control it with the rolling blackouts and pwer could go down for a couple days. Thank goodness I have a wood stove and gas cook top.

This is the worst case situation.
It all depends on available generation keeping up with demand. People cutting back any way they can at home and at work helps and could make the difference. Drop the thermostat setting a few degrees or just turn it off for awhile. Put more clothes on. Keep lights turned off when not being used.

[Tmag]

Looked on my power providers website and found a nice surprise.

Due to increased demand for power, news outlets have reported a call for rolling blackouts across the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region of Texas. The vast majority of Sam Houston EC’s service territory, however, is not in ERCOT.

We do not expect any issues with power supply today. Over the past two years, Sam Houston EC, along with East Texas Electric Cooperative, has added significant generation facilities that are more than adequate to supply our members’ demand for power today.

Makes me feel a little better anyway. On the other hand, we did go without lights for 7 hours yesterday when the storm blew some trees down on the power lines in our area.