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I'm on an ERCOT media call now. I'll post some of the stuff they say here. ERCOT CEO Bill Magness says they're still working with power generators to get them back online. In the meantime, they need to keep intentionally cutting power to avoid catastrophic blackout of Texas grid.
Magness: As it warms, demand for electricity comes down. That can help "establish balance" of the grid to avoid "total catastrophic blackout."
ERCOT: As generation becomes available, we're using it "to the maximum amount possible" to restore power to consumers as possible. Power may go out later, but they'd rather do that and give people electricity for a bit.
ERCOT: Power providers across Texas are increasingly able to do rotating outages instead of prolonged outages. (No specific mention of Austin Energy.) But as it gets warmer, it makes it easier to get more people back online.
Q: How does Texas import power from the midwest?
ERCOT: There are a limited number of ties between Texas and other grids. About 2 ties to Eastern US. About 2 ties to Mexico. Early on they were importing power. But then those regions wound up having power emergencies themselves.
ERCOT: There are a limited number of ties between Texas and other grids. About 2 ties to Eastern US. About 2 ties to Mexico. Early on they were importing power. But then those regions wound up having power emergencies themselves.
Q: Should ERCOT leadership resign in disgrace?
ERCOT: Whatever the future holds, the priority for us is to get the power back on. Fundamental decision made Monday 1 a.m. to have outages imposed was a wise decision by operators. Otherwise we could have had a catastrophic blackout.
ERCOT: Whatever the future holds, the priority for us is to get the power back on. Fundamental decision made Monday 1 a.m. to have outages imposed was a wise decision by operators. Otherwise we could have had a catastrophic blackout.
ERCOT CEO: There are many decisions we've made that will be reviewed in great detail. We'll see how those all turn out. But I have to stand behind grid operators who made extremely difficult decision.
Q: What is best/worst case timeline for full restoration?
ERCOT: Best case: today or tomorrow, we could get back to rotating outages of 30-60 mins. (Sounds like they don't think that will happen before today or tomorrow AM. They did not provide worse case timeline.)
ERCOT: Best case: today or tomorrow, we could get back to rotating outages of 30-60 mins. (Sounds like they don't think that will happen before today or tomorrow AM. They did not provide worse case timeline.)
ERCOT: Restoration of electricity depends mostly upon power generators coming back online. Mild temps play a large role because they help power plants restart and reduces power consumption by individuals.
Q: Is ERCOT selling energy to other grids?
ERCOT: We are not selling power to other grids during this event. It's a matter of importing power from other grids to help serve Texas grid. We've tried to maximize that, but other grids have had weather emergencies.
ERCOT: We are not selling power to other grids during this event. It's a matter of importing power from other grids to help serve Texas grid. We've tried to maximize that, but other grids have had weather emergencies.
Q: Did some generators intentionally go offline to avoid high fuel costs?
ERCOT: We can't speculate. We have no way to speak to that. But we have no indication that everyone out there is not trying to get power online and resolve this problem. That's what we're hearing.
ERCOT: We can't speculate. We have no way to speak to that. But we have no indication that everyone out there is not trying to get power online and resolve this problem. That's what we're hearing.
Q: Is the 46 GW generation capacity forced offline current or cumulative?
ERCOT: Current, but some were out prior to the event because of natural gas restrictions or icing on wind turbines. Sun, 11 PM is when they started seeing massive amount of generators tripping offline.
ERCOT: Current, but some were out prior to the event because of natural gas restrictions or icing on wind turbines. Sun, 11 PM is when they started seeing massive amount of generators tripping offline.
