Why Does Texas Have Its Own Power Grid? (Page 1/17)
blackrams FEB 16, 09:26 AM
Why Does Texas Have Its Own Power Grid?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/n...JjbW?ocid=uxbndlbing

Texas' secessionist inclinations have at least one modern outlet: the electric grid. There are three grids in the Lower 48 states: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection — and Texas.

The Texas grid is called ERCOT, and it is run by an agency of the same name — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT does not actually cover all of Texas. El Paso is on another grid, as is the upper Panhandle and a chunk of East Texas. This presumably has to do with the history of various utilities' service territories and the remoteness of the non-ERCOT locations (for example the Panhandle is closer to Kansas than to Dallas, notes Kenneth Starcher of the Alternative Energy Institute in Canyon), but Texplainer is still figuring out the particulars on this.

The separation of the Texas grid from the rest of the country has its origins in the evolution of electric utilities early last century. In the decades after Thomas Edison turned on the country's first power plant in Manhattan in 1882, small generating plants sprouted across Texas, bringing electric light to cities. Later, particularly during the first world war, utilities began to link themselves together. These ties, and the accompanying transmission network, grew further during the second world war, when several Texas utilities joined together to form the Texas Interconnected System, which allowed them to link to the big dams along Texas rivers and also send extra electricity to support the ramped-up factories aiding the war effort.

The Texas Interconnected System — which for a long time was actually operated by two discrete entities, one for northern Texas and one for southern Texas — had another priority: staying out of the reach of federal regulators. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Power Act, which charged the Federal Power Commission with overseeing interstate electricity sales. By not crossing state lines, Texas utilities avoided being subjected to federal rules. "Freedom from federal regulation was a cherished goal — more so because Texas had no regulation until the 1970s," writes Richard D. Cudahy in a 1995 article, "The Second Battle of the Alamo: The Midnight Connection." (Self-reliance was also made easier in Texas, especially in the early days, because the state has substantial coal, natural gas and oil resources of its own to fuel power plants.)

ERCOT was formed in 1970, in the wake of a major blackout in the Northeast in November 1965, and it was tasked with managing grid reliability in accordance with national standards. The agency assumed additional responsibilities following electric deregulation in Texas a decade ago. The ERCOT grid remains beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which succeeded the Federal Power Commission and regulates interstate electric transmission.

Historically, the Texas grid's independence has been violated a few times. Once was during World War II, when special provisions were made to link Texas to other grids, according to Cudahy. Another episode occurred in 1976 after a Texas utility, for reasons relating to its own regulatory needs, deliberately flipped a switch and sent power to Oklahoma for a few hours. This event, known as the "Midnight Connection," set off a major legal battle that could have brought Texas under the jurisdiction of federal regulators, but it was ultimately resolved in favor of continued Texan independence.

Even today, ERCOT is also not completely isolated from other grids — as was evident when the state imported some power from Mexico during the rolling blackouts of 2011. ERCOT has three ties to Mexico and — as an outcome of the "Midnight Connection" battle — it also has two ties to the eastern U.S. grid, though they do not trigger federal regulation for ERCOT. All can move power commercially as well as be used in emergencies, according to ERCOT spokeswoman Dottie Roark. A possible sixth interconnection project, in Rusk County, is being studied, and another ambitious proposal, called Tres Amigas, would link the three big U.S. grids together in New Mexico, though Texas' top utility regulator has shown little enthusiasm for participating.

Bottom line: Texas has its own grid to avoid dealing with the feds.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

I'm not so sure about that last sentence but, I also didn't realize Texas has it's own (separate) power grid. Interesting in both a good and not so good way.

Rams

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-16-2021).]

blackrams FEB 16, 11:14 AM
So, just how are our friends in Texas fairing? Haven't heard from a couple so, I'm curious as to their power situation?
Baby, it's cold outside just doesn't say enough.
Light snow flurries here in S. Mississippi this morning. This is not why I moved south.

Rams
82-T/A [At Work] FEB 16, 02:03 PM
My house is directly connected to the NERC / Critical Infrastructure power grid. My neighborhood of ~38 homes was a super luxury neighborhood from way back in the early 80s. Of course, when I got the home, it was a total **** hole. It was all original to 1983, and it showed. Everyone I knew was telling me that I should go buy new construction, or in the trendy Stone Oak neighborhood where everyone else was. I couldn't figure out why... my neighborhood also has A+ / 10 rated schools across the board.

I've learned three times that my decision was awesome:
1 - My home has nearly doubled in price in 3 years (after renovating it)
2 - I discovered after the massive flooding in 2017 that I'm outside the 100 year flood zone.
3 - I discovered in 2021 that I'm connected directly to the critical infrastructure grid.


I'm definitely not laughing, but my power has not gone out even once. Yet, just down the street from me, the power company has been having consistent rolling blackouts and shutting down power. People are freaking out because the temperatures in the homes (inside) have been like 10-20 degrees. The power company turns the power on for like 1-2 minutes, and then shuts it off again for 4 hours. And of course, those homes all have burst pipes now.

I'm really glad I listened to myself... but I also feel really bad for everyone else.

I've had my Emergency Heat on (heat pump isn't doing **** ) pretty much all day, but I've kept everything else off. I've had the heat stay at about 60 degrees. But I was also more prepared. I already had the faucet covers, and I also added fill around where my water main goes to make sure it was well protected. A lot of the homes, the ground is sunk around the water shut off outside. Last summer I filled it in and made sure the line was in excellent shape. I've offered to let my friends stay with me in our house (we have a 4-bedroom and only use two of them), but the roads are frozen, so they can't get out here.

All in all, it's only a big deal for Texas because they're not prepared for it. This would otherwise be a typical winter in Massachusetts.
blackrams FEB 16, 03:33 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

All in all, it's only a big deal for Texas because they're not prepared for it. This would otherwise be a typical winter in Massachusetts.



Agreed but, such conditions can take a lot of human lives and cause a lot of damage costing huge dollars that didn't need to happen.
You can't be prepared for everything but, common sense can and does prevent a lot of tragedies. That goes on both a personal and state wise level.

Rams
blackrams FEB 16, 04:40 PM
Texas governor calls for investigation into grid operator over 'unacceptable' power outages
https://www.msn.com/en-us/n...1dJQly?ocid=msedgntp

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called on the state legislature to investigate the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) after winter weather has left millions of Texans without power.

The Texas governor released a statement requesting that reform to the grid operator be prioritized as an emergency item during the legislative session to "ensure Texans never again experience power outages on the scale they have seen over the past several days."

"The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has been anything but reliable over the past 48 hours," Abbott said in his statement. "Far too many Texans are without power and heat for their homes as our state faces freezing temperatures and severe winter weather. This is unacceptable.

"Reviewing the preparations and decisions by ERCOT is an emergency item so we can get a full picture of what caused this problem and find long-term solutions," he added.

ERCOT is facing backlash for its management of the state's power grid that as of Tuesday, has left more than 4.1 million people in the Lone Star State without power after it was battered with record snow and subzero temperatures.

The grid operator ordered utilities to start rotating power outages on Monday morning in order to manage the high demand for electricity. Monday night ERCOT instructed utilities such as Oncor to shut off more power instead of the expected restorations.

Oncor in a Tuesday press release said that it couldn't rotate through many of the outages Monday night because of "poor grid conditions," which it said led to "extended periods without power for many of our customers."

"As soon as enough generation is available, we will return to a regular cadence of rotating outages with the goal of providing any temporary relief that we can for those who have been without power the longest," Oncor's release said.

"At this time, ERCOT is unable to predict when grid conditions will stabilize, and urge all customers to be prepared for extended outages to continue," the release continued.

In a tweet Tuesday morning, ERCOT forecasted that it could get power back for "some customers" in the afternoon due to increased wind and solar power sources and thermal generation. But the amount of restored power depends on "how much generation is actually able to come online."

ERCOT makes recommendations to utility companies based on how much power is available to use safely, and those power companies make the ultimate decision on how to handle the energy, ERCOT CEO and President Bill Magnus told NBC affiliate KXAN.

The winter storm has become deadly in Texas, with at least two dying of carbon monoxide poisoning in Houston and another two men found dead along Houston-area roads.

Being independent has it's value but, being part of the whole might be an advantage. I'm far enough away from the issues, I don't know all the whys and why nots but, it does appear there are a lot of cold Texans right now. Thankfully, I (and most of us) aren't having to share body heat. Some things you just have to experience to understand. Other times, you can learn from your neighbors experience.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-16-2021).]

theBDub FEB 16, 06:31 PM

quote
Originally posted by blackrams:

So, just how are our friends in Texas fairing? Haven't heard from a couple so, I'm curious as to their power situation?
Baby, it's cold outside just doesn't say enough.
Light snow flurries here in S. Mississippi this morning. This is not why I moved south.

Rams



Lost power for most of yesterday, had some frozen lines as a result (they froze even with running water). After the power returned, I was able to unfreeze most of the lines, but the actual slab of my foundation is so cold that our first floor toilets are frozen. I haven't been able to get those unfrozen despite my best efforts.

We're faring okay given the circumstances. Many neighbors are not as lucky, frozen lines turning into busted pipes, etc.

I did find out that although my fireplace is gas, it requires electricity to feed the flame. Not just spark it, but keep it going. How dumb is that? I was able to wire batteries to it to get it running.
sourmash FEB 16, 06:57 PM
A kerosene heater can put out a good amount of heat. Light it outside and shut it off outside to prevent smelling/sooting your living space.

Texas learned why to connect to outside grids 5-7 years ago with a big ice storm.
blackrams FEB 16, 07:05 PM

quote
Originally posted by theBDub:


Lost power for most of yesterday, had some frozen lines as a result (they froze even with running water). After the power returned, I was able to unfreeze most of the lines, but the actual slab of my foundation is so cold that our first floor toilets are frozen. I haven't been able to get those unfrozen despite my best efforts.

We're faring okay given the circumstances. Many neighbors are not as lucky, frozen lines turning into busted pipes, etc.

I did find out that although my fireplace is gas, it requires electricity to feed the flame. Not just spark it, but keep it going. How dumb is that? I was able to wire batteries to it to get it running.



Well, glad you're surviving. Anyone heard from Maryjane?


quote
Originally posted by sourmash:

Texas learned why to connect to outside grids 5-7 years ago with a big ice storm.



Based on the reports I'm reading, that would not apparently be the case.

Rams

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-16-2021).]

sourmash FEB 16, 07:17 PM
They didn't learn?
blackrams FEB 16, 07:20 PM

quote
Originally posted by sourmash:

They didn't learn?



Apparently not. Based on everything I've read. Why else would there be rolling power outs.
I'm not there, just reading the news and it ain't all that good.
It appears too much reliance on that "Free" energy. Solar panels farms covered with snow and wind generators froze up.

Rams

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-16-2021).]