Posted on 07/18/2022 9:07:28 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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.
Twice in the past week, officials have called on Texans to limit electricity use during scorching afternoons as demand inched perilously close to overwhelming supply. Now, there are growing concerns over how long power plants can maintain the grueling pace as they run nonstop, according to Michele Richmond, executive director of Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a generator industry group.
“Things are going to break,” she said. “We have an aging fleet that’s being run harder than it’s ever been run.”
The situation underscores that the Texas grid is relying on short-term solutions for what’s poised to be a long-term problem. The state is contending with a population boom that’s driven demand higher. Crypto mining has also taken off in the past year, bringing with it the industry’s power-intensive operations. Meanwhile climate change has made extreme weather events that drive up electricity use more likely to occur and more severe - creating situations like a deadly February 2021 freeze that caused blackouts across the state.
(Excerpt) Read more at expressnews.com ...
Too many illegals pulling on the grid that weren’t here a decade ago. Throw in all the out-of-state license plates and a heatwave.
I might be misremembering, but didn’t Texas eschew some coal firing power plants in leu of windmill farms and solar energy? Didn’t they have some serious issues this past winter?
Having lived here all but 10 years of my life, this is nothing new. Temps were this high in 2018 and I don’t remember ERCOT crying or being asked to raise my thermostat. All the libs who have flocked in can flock out and leave my thermostat alone.
What did you do before air conditioning , sweat ?
Ah yes crypto mining is crashing the grid. Remind me what happens when you pay for a service and the service provider cannot deliver the service?
Freeze by winter, sweat by summer. Just like the old days, 1800 or so. For years we’ve heard how self sufficient Texas is which is why they could secede so easily. “We even have our own energy grid”
Texas got told by theEPA that we had to shut down the coal plants.
This is what happens when politicians (particularly Democrat politicians) get their dirty meathooks into anything. Set the electric grid buildout for political goals not consumer oriented goals and you get merde (pardon my French)
Hopefully, Texas can bring some older coal-fired units back online in view of the ruling against the EPA.
They want to blame it on everything except reliance on wind and solar power.
More chin-uh windmills STAT!!! That should fix it. No?
Stopped reading at “climate change. “
Happiness is a stand-alone whole house generator.
Will Cancun Cruz fly back to Cancun?
You aren’t mis-remembering.
I guess they didn’t learn from the cold spell they had.
Time to phase out electric cars.
The same thing happened to Alabama during the Obama years. The difference between Alabama and Texas isn't just Bama having much better football. The difference is our state capitol isn't as hard lib as Austin is. Therefore, we built a gas powered plant to replace the coal powered one Obama shut down. Meanwhile, Austin made Texas replace coal with solar and wind.
The funny thing is I have solar on my house and I love it. I just think solar his horrible to implement at the utility level -- especially with bureaucrats get their hands on it.
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