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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPower blows past $9,000 cap in Texas as heat triggers emergency
Electricity prices briefly surged past a $9,000 a megawatt-hour price cap in Texas as extreme heat sent power demand skyrocketing and forced the states grid operator to declare an emergency.
As temperatures in Dallas climbed to 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued an emergency alert, calling on all power plants to ramp up and asking customers to conserve. At one point on Tuesday afternoon, the region had just 2,121 megawatts left in power reserves, less than 3% of total demand on the system.
The prospect of supply shortages sent wholesale electricity prices surging past $9,000 a megawatt-hour for several minutes, triggering a limit set by Ercot to avoid runaway prices during extreme events. They remained near the cap at around 5 p.m. local time as demand began leveling off and the regions supply margins widened.
Power contracts traded on the Intercontinental Exchange were similarly headed for record settlements, said David Hoy, an electricity trader at Dynasty Power. Its almost guaranteed now, he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/power-blows-past-dollar9000-cap-in-texas-as-heat-triggers-emergency/ar-AAFL62t?li=BBnbfcN
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,129 posts)in Houston, asking us to turn our thermostats up a few degrees.
CDerekGo
(507 posts)When I tell them i want to live off of Solar and Wind
blogslut
(37,981 posts)Granted, it needs to be more but we're working on it.
Lochloosa
(16,057 posts)Oh wait. It's Texas.
blogslut
(37,981 posts)The electricity generated is stored. Incidentally, the turbines are designed to stop when the wind is too high. I know you're being silly but, I can't help an *actually* kind of gal.
Yeehah
(4,566 posts)Lacking a pumped storage facility, how is power from wind energy stored?
Thanks.
blogslut
(37,981 posts)Yeehah
(4,566 posts)I'm aware of a 10 MW battery in Holland, but nothing on the scale that could support the grid.
blogslut
(37,981 posts)Sorry
Disaffected
(4,544 posts)no. Much too expensive.
walkingman
(7,577 posts)in Texas if not for the dominance of the fossil fuel industry. I wish we could head that direction.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,488 posts)According to the NWS, they're in for a long stretch of this heat.
nocoincidences
(2,215 posts)with a net-metered solar installation. I have 25 panels installed on my south facing roof, in Va. Beach where we have a LOT of sunny days.
I don't really have enough data to evaluate it, yet, but it can't be any worse than my electric bill has been the last few years!!
912gdm
(959 posts)My sister put panels on her roof last year and was saying she is getting a credit on her bill every month. She says 2-3 hundred, but I haven't seen a bills so I'm taking that with a grain of salt. But hell, any credit is worth it
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)I live in New Mexico, and I recently had solar installed. I'm beyond thrilled with it. When I'm generating excess electricity, I'm actually selling it back to PNM. I won't make a lot of money off them, but it's going to be nice.
Igel
(35,270 posts)A lot of the build-out started in the mid-00s, 2004-06, before the financial panic, and came on line in 2009, 2010, 2011. It's continued pretty consistently, and mostly in west Texas. Transmission's a bit of a bear, since regulators and owners don't want the transmission towers/lines (so it's the same problem that NY State had, with land owners in the Finger Lakes, for example Skaneateles).
Check in at Galveston Harbor or drive the main routes from the Port of Houston and you see wind tower parts or turbine blades being offloaded or transported fairly frequently, so the build-out continues.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)I have no idea if it's remotely practical for a homeownder to install a wind turbine in the back yard, but solar panels on a roof are very easy to do individually.
No, I didn't do it myself. I did it through a company going around installing solar panels.
Texasgal
(17,037 posts)between the hours of 3:00 and 7:00 PM
Yes, it's hot here and miserable.