Rolling blackouts

We are trying to run anything that won't create a nightmare if we go black but still get some work done. This morning the power company called us and said to prepare for the next 24 hours to be shut off with no notification. Anyone been hit yet with a blackout to send power to the south central US? Towns around the Dakotah Territory have been hit already, I'm sure our number will be up soon.

 

They should first turn off the electricity to the unoccupied government and office buildings in TX. Can’t imagine a blackout in ND this time of year is any fun... good luck.

 

Depends. The outages have been cycling between 2.7 million and 4.5 million out of about 12.5 million customers. If they shut off the mentioned buildings 30 mins out of every hour, I’m sure the pipes wouldn’t freeze. They could also just send someone around to shut off the lights. But that takes effort.

Harris Co. Judge Lina Hidalgo calls lit up downtown skyscrapers amid outages 'maddening'

 

We were turned off for about 80 minutes this morning. Was -20f at the time so people weren’t happy. I had the stove a rolling and our house temp maintained the typical 67 we set our thermostat to for the gas furnace. Wood stove is in basement so not able to hear the whole house when it’s below about 20 usually. The blackouts did cause bigger problems at the school building I maintain and so spent several hours dealing with all that.

this makes me realize how dependent I am but am thankful for woodheat and the ability to cook my girls pancakes

 

Praying for all you guys that are affected by this winter storm and the black outs that you guys are dealing with. They had to be a better way to insure that this doesn’t happen again.

 

While on Navy shore leave in 3rd world nations, the power would go out frequently with rolling blackouts.

I was so glad to live in a nation where that never happened.

And now we're here.

 

Just found out that one of our power plants currently running at 100% is scheduled to be closed and the coal mine that feeds are both to be closed next year. I can not even imagine the boat we would be in right now if they were closed. I don't mind green if green works and financially pencils out without tax subsidies, but until there can be guaranteed power supply that runs bbn in the black-Come on Man!

 

There are so many things that can be done to improve the power situation. Some can be done at home and some need to be done in the industrial level. At home, unplug unnecessary things even if they aren't on. Phantom energy can be up to approximately 25% of all electricity consumption. Using more energy efficient items in the house can save a lot of energy as well. People increasing the efficiency of their insulation also makes a big difference, as discussed many times in here. Industry wise, upgrades to the grid can provide a lot of saved energy as well. Our grid is old and inefficient.

 

We also need to harden our grid and not allow foreign countries/adversaries access or control of it.

 

Each of us need to be more self reliant if we want a decent life

 

Easy enough to check with a Kill A Watt.

 

Just try to be good with your power usage, the big things a/c, heat, water heater etc.... I rarely leave the house and use a lot of power tools. Our bill averages about $100 and we run a/c all summer.

 

There has to be a better solution then killing power to people when its this cold.
They have talked about the grid being in bad shape for the last 20 years.
Some of those areas in Texas have upgraded grid due to the wind turbines, they are not set up for these types of temperatures for this long.

 

They didn’t pay to have de-icing equipment on them when they were built!

 

They did not think necessary in Texas, turbines up here run in all sorts of weather. There problem is much bigger then the wind turbines, instruments freezing and low gas pressure is not helping at all, sounds like a major CF.

 

I’ve looked on numerous websites and that number came up multi times. Anything with a clock or any kind of memory. Cable boxes are some of the biggest offenders