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Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

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Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#201

Post by Scoundreller »

supernova87a wrote: post #83

Problem is that: 1) People's use of energy is relatively insensitive to price, or they don't know the price, or few people care about the price when it comes time to need it 2) When you need the energy, it's too late to make the equipment/house more efficient, and when you don't need it, people don't think it's important to make it more efficient 3) Mandating that people upgrade their equipment is unpopular, they vot…

> People's use of energy is relatively insensitive to price, or they don't know the price, or few people care about the price when it comes time to need it

Basically this. Few individuals pay the actual price of electricity. At best, they'll pay time-of-day rates that might change schedules 2x/year. Otherwise, everyone pays the average cost, and couldn't care less if noon-time electricity costs 10x on Monday vs. last Thursday.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#202

Post by ricw »

rayiner wrote: post #191
evan_ wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was an incandescent bulb phase out over several years that was supposed to end in 2020, but Trump blocked it because he claimed that LED bulbs were too expensive and made him look orange.[0] You pretty much can’t buy them anymore at stores except for specialty bulbs like oven lamps, but that might vary state-to-state. 0: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/climate/trump-light-bulb-...

Typical LED bulbs have shit spectrum coverage, and have terrible flicker when used with dimmers. I’ve been stockpiling incandescents.

Maybe try dimmable LED bulbs? They work perfectly fine here.

I find LEDs look much better, particularly if you have chandelier type lights.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#203

Post by Scoundreller »

don-code wrote: post #46
cameronh90 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preface: I know very little about power grids, but had a couple thoughts. In the UK, there is a system of load shedding that is tied to the grid frequency. My understanding is that some industrial users agree terms where they get cheaper rates but if the demand outstrips supply, they are first to be cut. This load shedding is implemented by components that monitor the grid frequency, and if it drops below a fixed val…

I don't know that ERCOT has any similar program - here in the US, for areas that run a load-shedding system, load is typically dropped after 0.2 seconds of 59.5hz or lower (nominally 60hz). Some consumers may choose to cut themselves off prior to that point, to prevent damage to equipment at the lower frequencies. ERCOT (and others) also implement peak demand charges, where some portion of a large user's overal yearl…

The UK had that too for demand charges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Grid_(Great_Britain)#...

A small industry popped up predicting when the 3 half-hour snapshots would be taken so their customers could minimize their use during those periods to minimize their costs for the year.

https://www.havenpower.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-...

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#204

Post by ericbarrett »

Rapzid wrote: post #89
mimikatz wrote: post #6

Texas is shockingly green when it comes to power. The windmills have frozen and it is the winter when there isn't as much sun. Most people are on a contract with fixed pricing, but some startups like Griddy are hurting people's wallets. We will likely see some retail electric company bankrupcies. Some of the electric providers are paying customers to move to someone else on Monday. The Joke is all the Californians wh…

Just to add some numbers; we(Texas) have over 31,000MW of installed wind energy capacity. No other state comes close. Probably a lot of things people find shocking about Texas when compared to its reputation lol.

Driving through Amarillo on I-40, the number of windmills on the plains compared to even two years ago is mind-blowing. Saw lots of trucks carrying new blades etc. as well.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#205

Post by sam1r »

mike_d wrote: post #3

Here is a bit more informative article with the background for non-Texans: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/14/texas-rolling-blacko...

Thanks for posting this! First year here [in HTX] and the weather apparently [for born and raised texan locals] is weird.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#206

Post by toast0 »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #181
shiftpgdn wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big house (3700sqft or so), tall ceilings, four people working/schooling from home and an electric car as the primary family car. In 2019 I literally did not turn the heater on a single time, I don't think the investment in a heat pump would be worth it.

Does your AC has not heating function (I assume everyone in Texas has AC)?

I'm guessing most Texas AC systems don't have a reversing valve, and a defrost system and all the other goodies you need to run it for heat. It adds to the equipment cost when many years heat isn't needed, and if the temperatures are 10F, you'd still likely need other heat sources.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#207

Post by Scoundreller »

Aloha wrote: post #107
don-code wrote: post #10

Some time ago, I worked for a defunct energy company that provided demand-side relief in exactly this scenario - when total system load outstrips total system capacity, we'd begin taking actions on behalf of end users, not the utility. Lights would turn off, generators would spin up, fridge temperatures would be raised. ERCOT (Texas) is an interesting case in that it can't import power from other states as easily - i…

ERCOT does have several HVDC links, which when I checked a couple hours ago were exporting power. Also, I believe that with modern technology HVDC is more efficient than synchronous AC connections (largely because of higher voltage interconnects)

Did ERCOT build them bidirectionally though?

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#208

Post by cientifico »

peter_retief wrote: post #147

I am blocked from the site? Access Denied Error 16 www.ercot.com 2021-02-15 05:18:28 UTC

Same here.

Your IP: 91.64.84.221 Error code: 16 > This request was blocked by the security rules

It might be requests from outside the United States.

Anyway: * The cache from google: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%...

* Arhive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20210215030515/http://www.ercot....

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#209

Post by adrianN »

jcranmer wrote: post #185
supernova87a wrote: post #83

Problem is that: 1) People's use of energy is relatively insensitive to price, or they don't know the price, or few people care about the price when it comes time to need it 2) When you need the energy, it's too late to make the equipment/house more efficient, and when you don't need it, people don't think it's important to make it more efficient 3) Mandating that people upgrade their equipment is unpopular, they vot…

The problem here is the high tomorrow in Dallas is supposed to be about 10°F. The typical winter high for Dallas is a bit below 60°F. This means that the demand for heating is about 4-6× what it normally would be for winter.

Energy loss is strongly supralinear in the temperature gradient, so it's probably a lot more than that.

Re: Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid

#210

Post by adrianmonk »

supernova87a wrote: post #83

Problem is that: 1) People's use of energy is relatively insensitive to price, or they don't know the price, or few people care about the price when it comes time to need it 2) When you need the energy, it's too late to make the equipment/house more efficient, and when you don't need it, people don't think it's important to make it more efficient 3) Mandating that people upgrade their equipment is unpopular, they vot…

The problem is it's the coldest night in about 30 years.

Here in Austin, it's just past midnight, and it's already down to 13°F (-10.5°C). It hasn't been that cold here since December 23, 1989.

Also, a lot of Texas homes have electric heat (except in the northern part of the state). Winters are relatively short and mild.

Many homes use electric heat pumps as the heating source. They're energy-efficient and easy to install in a home which has AC, so generally a good choice. But they get less and less effective as the outside temperature drops, so a backup electric heating coil kicks in, which uses way more electricity.

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