States affected with power shortages

[KewlKat]

A major power-grid manager that operates in states from North Dakota to Texas has ordered rolling blackouts amid an extreme cold blast that has hit much of the US.

Southwest Power Pool, which is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, ordered the rolling blackouts Monday, declaring an energy emergency. Extreme weather had already taken out power for millions of homes in Texas, where temperatures hit record lows.

According to The New York Times, the organization manages the electric grid used in all of Oklahoma and Kansas and parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

The grid operator said in a statement on Twitter that this was the first time it had ordered mass rolling blackouts and that it was doing so to prevent further uncontrolled power failures.


Another snip -

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued rolling blackouts in Texas on Monday, and the power provider Oncor told customers the supply of electricity was "lower than demand." The cold snap also caused T-Mobile service interruptions in the state.

Officials in Alabama and Kentucky confirmed residents in their states had lost power — the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency in Alabama told the local Fox 6 that at least 1,800 customers had lost power on Monday, while the Kentucky local channel KYWX said at least 22,000 customers had lost power.


SOURCE - https://www.insider.com/texas-snow-storm-blackouts-states-power-grid-electricity-energy-emergency-2021-2

[NutmegYankee]

1. I don't believe Texas is dragging them down.

I think they have demand issues of their own due to the cold, especially in Oklahoma.

[TwilightZone]

2. Correct.

It's been brutally cold in nearly all of that stretch. Large parts of ND, MN, SD, NE, etc., have been in the -20F range and it's been frigid for days. The blackouts in those states aren't rollover from TX.

[roamer65]

7. I do believe I read ERCOT does have emergency interconnects.

Makes me wonder if they are sucking power out of the neighboring grid and Mexico.

[TwilightZone]

3. Not sure where the headline came from but it's not due to the TX power shortage.

The northern and central plains states have been brutally cold. The rolling outages there are due to local demand, not demand from TX. For example, NE was doing rolling blackouts this morning due to demand brought on by-20F temperatures.

[blogslut]

4. SPP and ERCOT are two different grids

ERCOT covers a large portion of Texas. SPP covers the top of TX along with OK parts of those other states.

[sarcasmo]

5. Self Delete.

[roamer65]

6. It's starting to get nice living in MI.

Lake Michigan and Superior moderate the temps of this crap coming in from the northwest. So far, it’s a typical winter here in MI.