Supper in Texas on Wednesday: for the 9th time in 3 weeks, the lights are in danger of going out due to high temperatures and low wind power generation.
Well, that’s what I initially wrote. Then the Texas grid literally went into “red alert,” as the frequency started to drop and reserves fell perilously low. If the frequency goes too low, generating plants would start to trip off in cascading failures, leading to massive blackouts. Thankfully, they got it under control.
Also: Pipeline Online editor Brian Zinchuk on John Gormley Live talking about oil prices, drilling activity, carbon capture, grid alerts, and dramatically more nuclear power generation possible in Saskatchewan.
And if you missed it, Enbridge snapped up three natural gas utilities in the US. Funny how they’re spending big money in the US, but not Canada…
“Conservation Appeal” maybe they should call it what it is: “Ration Hour”
and explain why it is happening: “You are Evil and not Worthy” and should “Stop Breathing”
Unless you change your pronouns, die your hair rainbow, and cut of dangly bits at which point you become a “Valid Stakeholder” and arbiter of “Truth”
After which is it no longer “Ration Hour” but the “Time of Sacrifice” cause you still won’t get the juice.
Enbridge is now carrying a hundred billion in debt. Thanks to regulatory purgatory, natural monopoly, energy / economic ignorance in the ruling class, the customers are going to pay for that big time.
To be clear, tax legislation promotes companies taking on debt, even when they can afford to pay cash to expand
they are classified as a utility . the more you spend the more you make .
government regs make it so
Just like CA. But here in CA … the PUBLIC utilities simply raise prices during peak demand. And … we pay in energy use tiers. Go over their ridiculously low “baseline energy use” and the utilities gouge your eyeballs out. I’m lucky, I live in an area with “natural” air conditioning, but it gets cold in the winter … and PG&E’s pricing has caused me to keep my thermostat at 51 deg. F all winter.
My parents and grandparents generations BUILT a beautiful infrastructure that delivered PLENTY to all Americans at affordable prices. My generation is bent on … “tearing it all down ma’aaaan”
Hey, Jenn: Again and again and again…
What causes a frequency drop? And why would a frequency drop cause generating systems to shut down?
The greater the load on a generator, the greater the force trying to slow it down. (Think of how a gas generator sounds when you put a big load on it). If that load gets big enough on one generator, and slows it down enough( aka reduction of frequency), it will shut down so as not to get damaged, placing a greater load on remaining generators. This can cascade if things get bad enough.
Thanks!
Yes. Texas, in the land of the free and the ….. whatever.
It’s rapidly gone from purple to blue. At least 6mm new “voters” have walked across our open border with the aid of hundreds of NGO’s bent on destroying America as we’ve known it. Biden/Obama’s legacy? Tearing it all down ma’aaaaan
Heh. Maybe I’ll change my name to Sanchez.
No need. You’ll be granted asylum because you’re fleeing an oppressive government in Canada. A government that seizes your assets if they don’t like you
I dunno Kenji, I’m pretty pasty, maybe some brown shoe-polish would help?
I think that all EV charging stations should be able to feed back into the grid when this kinda stuff happens.
The look on the ecotards faces when they get out to drive would be priceless, especially when the utility tells them its because of unreliable wind/solar.
All that batter storage capacity needed to smooth out the erratic wind/solar provided by the same aholes who bought into it in the first place.
Priceless, I tells ya, priceless.
Well, just got back from Destruction Bay, km 1000 Alaska Hwy.
They build one of those money
sucking turbines.
The whole 100 square miles area has pop of maybe 300 ppl.
The communities are running on diesel power station.
To add salt, they got a EV outlet sucking the energy from the diesel generator.
Talk about stupid!
Oh, what a country…
Vaguely related: Texas YouTuber tries to get 24 hours of power out of what looks like power units intended for tailgating. Does not quite make it due to wasteful power usage on his part on one hand, and due to not wanting to piss off his wife on the other hand. I looked up the equipment he shows in this video and looked at other videos to see what his solar panels cost him – I estimated he has about $14K USD invested in his system. I don’t think his system will last long enough to earn back that amount on utility bill savings.
https://youtu.be/W3lSjuLAAVQ?feature=shared
Maybe no good on utility bill savings, but if TSHTF, priceless.
Perhaps. I’d like to see him test his system in winter conditions where the goal is to prevent his pipes from freezing and to keep at least one room warm enough so that he doesn’t have to evacuate as he did in that Texas storm a couple of years ago. In winter conditions he’s going to have less generating capacity with overcast skies and possible ice and snow accumulation on the panels. I know that I can keep my $600 portable generator running for weeks with the gasoline that I have on hand, and it will heat my admittedly small home. I don’t think he would make it even multiple days in winter conditions.
Canada is a whole different ball of wax.
Home solar/wind can do lighting and refrigeration at best, maybe a bit of A.C., but heating in the cold? No deal. Burn wood, coal, LPG, CNG, or whatever. Same goes for a two-week cold spell in Texas.
Watts is watts.
OT, but not really:
Check this guy out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKvb-GDmOYo
Warning: its not political.
This is the kinda thing that will save us all, we have ICE people, phone people, plumbing and electrical people, HVAC people, etc, doing the same thing.
Steam power and vintage ICE are the way out, to some extent.
The BIG and growing problem is, literally, “keeping it quiet””
One hint of anyone “resisting” and the orcs will descend in their hordes, steal or destroy your stuff, then kill or kidnap YOU, your family and possibly your neighbours.
Keep an eye on legislative “control” of chainsaws, axes, log splitters, etc. The “war on gas” is just the start of the forthcoming “attitude adjustment” campaign.
The Eco-Nazis have ALWAYS been a DEATH CULT..
Turn out the lights, the party’s over.