Power issues

[Teamless]

At our company this morning, one of the Centerpoint Energy guru's were here, to explain the situation, and I thought I would share with all of you a recap:
1 - The State of Texas mandated rolling black-outs in an effort to prevent a state wide blackout.
2 - 2 of the power stations almost went down due to over use (not sure how you can "almost go down", but ...)
3 - The rolling black-outs are expected to continue through Friday
4 - The rolling black-outs are down by a computer program, which looks at usage and just decides that this "grid" is the next to go down and for how long.
5 - The same grid can get it over and over (example, our company went down this morning at 0545, up at 0630 and down at 0800, up at 0840

I hope this info helps those of you who are wondering what is going on and how long it will last.
Will there be other power outages, not associated with the rolling black-outs? not sure, he didn't speak of that, but if your power is out longer than 45 minutes or an hour, I would start calling your power company to see if it is rolling black-out related, or other.

Good Luck, be safe

[USA1]

My wife told me her office was in the dark twice so far today as well as several traffic lights on the way to work.
I don't know if it's related to the black outs or not.

[RoyGBiv]

Why the need for this?
Do many homes or businesses use electricity for heat?

I can see it during a summer heatwave when the AC demand gets cranked up, but a winter spike in electric demand that's greater than an average usage level in mid-summer...???

Confused.

[ZeeMan]

doing that here in San Angelo too.....on WTU Retail Energy.........its apparently tied to AEP as our REA co-op here isnt affected

[C-dub]

We have lost power at our house at least twice this morning. I did not know that Texas was doing rolling power interruptions.

A station can nearly go down based on usage relative to its capacity. If the usage exceeds the capacity it could cause massive power outages or even damage equipment. Rolling black outs are a lot better than the alternative. I'd gladly be without power for short periods instead of a day or more.

My house is almost all electric. Water heater is gas and so is the furnace. However, the thermostat for the furnace is electric and does not work when there is no electricity. I do have a fireplace and plenty of wood. It is burning as I type.

[thankGod]

My power has been down twice also this morning.

Now, for my soapbox.

Since deregulation, there have not been any new power plants built in Texas AFAIK. There has only been companies established that broker power from existing facilities. Now with that said, there have been some generation stations, such as wind power, that have been built. However, this is not near enough for the amount of population growth and usage.

HL&P and others used to build power stations because they could make money off of them, but with deregulation and brokerage it's easier and cheaper to buy elsewhere and not invest in the needed infrastructure. Therefore we have state mandated rolling blackouts, and will continue to have the shortfall of energy that we need.

Having worked on 3 power facilities in Texas including South Texas Nuclear Project, this is only my 2 cents.

[A-R]

Good info, thanks

Here's some more, specifically geared toward Central Texas

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... ther_watch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Crossfire]

Our power has been out twice this morning. I sure hoped that turning off my heat twice, for 45 minutes each time, helped out the power grid situation.

I wonder when Cowboy Stadium will be taken down?

[OverEasy]

My wife's office has 'gone black' three times today in less than 4 hours(Houston). The first time, she had just stepped out of the elevator. She told the two people who were still in the dark elevator, "maybe they should get out and continue on using the stairs!" I've only lost power once this morning for about 20 min.(north Waller Co.)
Third world country here we come!
Regards, OE

[USA1]

I just hope my power doesn't go off in the middle of the night because it sets off my alarm system.
The last time that happened I came bolting out of bed in my skivvies with gun in hand.

[The Annoyed Man]

My power has been down twice also this morning.

Now, for my soapbox.

Since deregulation, there have not been any new power plants built in Texas AFAIK. There has only been companies established that broker power from existing facilities. Now with that said, there have been some generation stations, such as wind power, that have been built. However, this is not near enough for the amount of population growth and usage.

HL&P and others used to build power stations because they could make money off of them, but with deregulation and brokerage it's easier and cheaper to buy elsewhere and not invest in the needed infrastructure. Therefore we have state mandated rolling blackouts, and will continue to have the shortfall of energy that we need.

Having worked on 3 power facilities in Texas including South Texas Nuclear Project, this is only my 2 cents.

You can't blame it all on deregulation when there has also been substantial opposition from the environmental lobby to prevent the construction of new generation facilities. Regulation is irrelevant when you can't build new plants anyway. And when new contraction is denied to you, then buying from other sources is the only way for a power company to satisfy their bottom line. If they go out of business, then we get no power at all.

Regarding the topic at hand, we were blacked out from 8:40 to 9:10 this morning, but that's been all so far.

[Excaliber]

I just hope my power doesn't go off in the middle of the night because it sets off my alarm system.
The last time that happened I came bolting out of bed in my skivvies with gun in hand.

That usually happens because your backup battery is missing or dead. You might want to contact your alarm company to check that out.

[USA1]

I just hope my power doesn't go off in the middle of the night because it sets off my alarm system.
The last time that happened I came bolting out of bed in my skivvies with gun in hand.

That usually happens because your backup battery is missing or dead. You might want to contact your alarm company to check that out.

Yep, actually it went dead a couple of weeks ago so I unplugged it.
That happens about every three years and I just haven't replaced it yet....gonna do that soon though, Thanks.

Note to burglars ... don't get any ideas.

[lonewolf]

Haven't lost power here at the house yet, but could happen anytime, I'm sure. Staying warm, thermostat at 68 degrees, all lights off, fireplace makes living room/dining room/kitchen nice and snug. Big pot of homemade split pea soup cooking on gas stove, fresh homemade bread in the works.....

As far as electricity goes, even gas heaters in homes use electricity for the air moving system and running the thermostat, unless its an old fashioned bimetal strip type thermostat. If the sun is out, open the blinds/curtains on the windows facing the sun and you will be surprised how much heat will radiate in from the glass.

Everyone be safe out there!!!!

[VMI77]

My power has been down twice also this morning.

Now, for my soapbox.

Since deregulation, there have not been any new power plants built in Texas AFAIK. There has only been companies established that broker power from existing facilities. Now with that said, there have been some generation stations, such as wind power, that have been built. However, this is not near enough for the amount of population growth and usage.

HL&P and others used to build power stations because they could make money off of them, but with deregulation and brokerage it's easier and cheaper to buy elsewhere and not invest in the needed infrastructure. Therefore we have state mandated rolling blackouts, and will continue to have the shortfall of energy that we need.

Having worked on 3 power facilities in Texas including South Texas Nuclear Project, this is only my 2 cents.

While I'm not a supporter of what is being passed off here as deregulation it isn't true that there have not been any new power plants built in Texas since deregulation. Between 1998 and 2008 36,000 MW of generation was added in Texas. The rolling blackouts have nothing to do with generating capacity or transmission capacity (by which I mean the actual design capability of the equipment). ERCOT (the system operator serving most of Texas) load peaked at around 65,000 MW this summer. Right now the load is running at less that 55,000 MW, so there more than enough generating capacity in the state to serve the current load.

However......typically, generators do maintenance during off-peak periods. Some of the immediate generation shortage is due to a lack of available units due to the number of units on maintenance (many of these units cannot be immediately returned to service because they are basically apart). A lot of generation has tripped off due to various failures associated with the low temperatures. Some of the problem is due to fuel supply. Some gas fired units are facing reduced gas pressures, and once the gas pressure goes below a certain level, some of those units will cease operation. Generators run on fuel --a couple years ago fuel shortages caused similar problems. Put simply, there is plenty of generating capacity in Texas, but unusual operating conditions have made a lot of it unavailable. Throughout the state spot prices are running about 60 times higher than normal, or more.

Edited to clarify that I'm not against "deregulation" per se, just against the system being passed off as deregulation here in Texas.