US A Quarter of Americans at Risk of Winter Power Blackouts, Grid Emergencies

A Quarter of Americans at Risk of Winter Power Blackouts, Grid Emerge…

archived 17 Nov 2022 21:19:20 UTC

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Large swaths of North America are at risk of blackouts and other energy emergencies during extreme cold conditions this winter, along with potential disruptions of power-plant fuels, according to a US regulatory agency.

The electric grids at most risk of supply shortfalls are in Texas, the central US system stretching from the Great Lakes to Louisiana, New England and the Carolinas, the North American Electric Reliability Council said in its seasonal assessment Thursday. Severe weather may stress grids by causing demand to soar while supplies of natural gas, coal and back-up fuel oil are all tight, leaving little room for error, according to the report.

The central US grid managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator has tight power supplies after a large number of generators shut last winter and its Gulf Coast plants haven’t done enough to protect against cold weather, NERC said. New England’s perennially constrained gas supplies are even more strained this year because Europe is scrambling for every molecule of the fuel to keep warm.

NERC’s warning touches at least a quarter of Americans, who are poised to see already high utility bills soar even more this winter. Electricity demand has rebounded faster than anyone anticipated after the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns. Prices of gas, the No. 1 power-plant fuel in the US, are high because of below-average stockpiles and strong exports to Europe as Russia wages a war on Ukraine. A possible railroad strike also threatens to impact coal supplies.

Overall, though, the report is less dire than the one heading into last winter. The outlook for winter hydropower generation in the West has improved and the Southwest Power Pool has added new gas and wind generation. In Texas, efforts to prepare the gas infrastructure and power plants does reduce the risk of a repeat of the widespread blackouts during February 2021 that lasted for days and left more than 200 people, NERC said.

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Remember: three blasts for white walkers.

 

[KiwiFuzz]

If y'all haven't seen "Yellowjackets," it's a great show.

 

[Aidan]

This sounds like bullshit, I'd like to see the data. That said, even if it were presented to me right this moment I don't have time to scrutinize but later I'd like to see how they came to this conclusion and will check it out.
No one was worried about Texas' grid until a national freak freeze made it so their supply of power dropped lower than demand, not that demand surged higher than the supply. It wouldn't even be news if Texas was on the national grid but for whatever reason they're not.

Everyone else is less of a big deal since it's more regional or just seems to not make sense. Northern Midwest can't handle the load during winter? New England can't? What changed aside from shitty management? Texas has the only excuse of being strong independent southerners who don't need no national grid or winterization.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

New England states foolishly export much of its LNG overseas now. And we did have energy independence while Trump was in office, but that was foolishly squandered away by Biden and the executive branch over nebulous "climate change" reasons. Doesn't help that Biden has also emptied out our strategic petroleum reserves as an attempt to try and keep gas prices down before the midterms concluded, so in a true FEMA-tier emergency this winter, many places are going to be shit outta luck.

But you see, frozen people turn into Democrats!

 

[Netizennameless]

Implying red states are all Texas with a shitty ass unsustainable power grid. Blue states have set themselves up to be less stable during a true net lack of energy. Unless every power station is taken over and forcefully blacked out I don't see a power starve happening. Texas might be retarded enough to crumple on itself again if it gets bad enough though, especially since there are even more people in the state than when it happened.

The difference is that shitty Texas has it's own power grid and doesn't have to worry about the other states rationing energy to them. It's not perfect as we saw last year but it's better than being beholden to California and the like down the road.

 

[CarlosDanger]

I am confused how does Europe's issues impact New England's gas supply? Or is it that Europeans are buying gas in excess so New England gets slim pickings?

Didnt Donald Trump shift the US to relying more on it's own oil? What happned to that?

We have been giving Europe most of our liquified natural gas, as of June we sent 3/4ths of our supply to Europe when in 2020 it was just 1/3. In New England, we use natural gas to create our electricity and since New York refused to open a pipe line to New England, we have to truck it all in with our diesel supply dwindling. I have heard on the radio for months how we were going to have blackouts and diesel shortages yet voters up here don't give a fuck apparently. Janet Yellen yesterday was saying the shortages are due to lack of refineries yet I don't remember this happening any other year, couldn't possibly be we are giving all our natural gas to Europe...nope couldn't be it at all.

 

[Toolbox]

We have been giving Europe most of our liquified natural gas, as of June we sent 3/4ths of our supply to Europe when in 2020 it was just 1/3. In New England, we use natural gas to create our electricity and since New York refused to open a pipe line to New England, we have to truck it all in with our diesel supply dwindling. I have heard on the radio for months how we were going to have blackouts and diesel shortages yet voters up here don't give a fuck apparently. Janet Yellen yesterday was saying the shortages are due to lack of refineries yet I don't remember this happening any other year, couldn't possibly be we are giving all our natural gas to Europe...nope couldn't be it at all.

While I have no doubts this is mostly retard decisions by retard politicians, part of me feels like this is a plan to force reliance on renewables despite the US grid being nowhere near ready for that.

 

[Absolutego]

Build some fucking nuclear power plants goddamn christ

The most insufferable aspect of all these energy shortages is how fucking easily circumvented it is with modern tech. Modern tech that aren't SV gimmicks designed to make suburban would-be hippies feel smug.

 

[Nick Gars]

I live in a mountain desert that only has two seasons: frigid winter and wildfires. It would take a blizzard throwing trucks around like a tornado to have any real impact on our grid. Though it really seems like those at risk are the grids that take weather for granted and never seem to believe or expect a brutal blizzard can hit them.


As for the energy issue....


Go fucking Nuclear already, fuck sakes. Electricity would become cheap and easy, but noooooo we can't have nuclear plants because some retards were left in charge of a couple and it ended as expected.

 

[Meat Target]

While I have no doubts this is mostly retard decisions by retard politicians, part of me feels like this is a plan to force reliance on renewables despite the US grid being nowhere near ready for that.

The most malicious explanation is the most likely.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

suburban would-be hippies feel smug.

Hippies are the fucking worse.

Cartman was unironically correct and they should all be gassed.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

A lot of the smaller counties in the Midwest also have their own power grids that are connected to the larger grid but can be disconnected.

Source: I live in an area where we still generate our own power.

 

[Dog-O-Tron 5000v5.0]

This gets me worried in a new way. I have plenty of food and supplies, I'm not worried about that. I have plenty of money and if worst came to worst I could easily fuck off to a hotel or even leave town and go to a hotel in a powered zone.

But I'm thinking, if my heat goes, there's fuck all I can do to stop my pipes from freezing. That happened before in a place I lived. Several days of no power, no heat, -0 degree temps and even with leaving the water running at a trickle, a shitload of old pipes froze, cracked, and the whole system needed replacing.

Since I own my house, I really, really do not want that to happen but I can't see a way around it...

 

[FatalTater]

West Texas has been getting earthquakes lately, so I'm sure it's gonna sink into the sea and give New Mexico and Oklahoma all that beachfront property they've never had before.

Also I'm tired and have had a shitload of candy so it may be in everyone's best interest to ignore me right now.

BUT!
If you're in an area where heat/power may go out (and let's face it, that's anywhere) do not panic. Extra blankets and warm clothes, food that doesn't need to be cooked, bottled water etc should be on hand. Most power outages are only a few days at most, and try to remember that spring will come eventually.

 

[The I Scream Man]

Laughs in -60 below every goddamn winter

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

You're talking about this like you have experience. Are you Issei Sagawa?

Nah, I don't eat Dutch.

 

[CarlosDanger]

This sounds like bullshit, I'd like to see the data. That said, even if it were presented to me right this moment I don't have time to scrutinize but later I'd like to see how they came to this conclusion and will check it out.
No one was worried about Texas' grid until a national freak freeze made it so their supply of power dropped lower than demand, not that demand surged higher than the supply. It wouldn't even be news if Texas was on the national grid but for whatever reason they're not.

Everyone else is less of a big deal since it's more regional or just seems to not make sense. Northern Midwest can't handle the load during winter? New England can't? What changed aside from shitty management? Texas has the only excuse of being strong independent southerners who don't need no national grid or winterization.

It is a big deal here in New England because our electricity is created using natural gas, which Demented Joe shipped off to Europe. Other places might be ok because a lot of their electric generation is powered by coal.

 

[Larry David's Opera Cape]

I prepared for this apocalypse last fall, when they were talking about the vaccine mandates making it so "we might not be able to respond to weather events knocking out power" and the memory of the previous winter's week of carting hot water home from church in big thermoses and heating soup over an open flame were fresh in my memory. I now have a generator, hot plates and even a small heater that will run off it, a stockpile of beans, and extremely fluffy dogs. If anyone gets too close to us to try to steal our gear, I'll just light a match in self-defense.

 

[WonderWino]

Nah, I don't eat Dutch.

All that mayonnaise just ruins a perfectly seared human steak

and i'll believe this claim when I see it actually happen

 

[Dr. Henry Armitage]

Look on the bright side. Maybe Moviebob will find a hobby. Genocidal rants on Twitter don't count as a hobby.

I don't think getting beaten by your neighbors because you're a smug bastard counts as a hobby either.