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Notes -
We've talked recently about wind power. With the Pacific Northwest in an extended cold snap (by our standards at least), I wanted to share some graphs of the situation.
The first three links on this site show production vs load in various combinations. #4 shows everything at once.
https://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/default.aspx
The attached image shows the familiar habit of wind falling off during stable lows: we are getting a slow flow of freezing air from the north, which can't run the windmills sited for east-west wind (and wouldn't be fast enough to do any good anyway)
We're currently importing power and running gas plants flat out, which means the hydro isn't keeping up. Going to be a lot of demand charges local utilities will have to smear around during summer. But people with grid-tied solar are using kwh credits as if their summer production is worth just as much as today's urgent demand.
If you have a similar resource in your area, check it out. Get an idea of how your power is generated and routed. Start thinking about it as a nuts and bolts issue like you're the engineer in charge, and pretty soon abstract redditism arguments about energy policy will bore and disgust you.
/images/17388655894044788.webp
Comparable information for Texas can probably be found here. Not something I can really explore on my phone, though.
We’ve got an interesting case for two reasons. First, the infamous Texas Interconnection. Our link to the rest of the country is highly limited, which keeps us away from certain federal regulations. Second, we had a moderate disaster back in 2021 when that infrastructure groaned under winter weather. Over 200 people died, making Texans much more aware of our grid than the average American.
Here’s Senator Ted Cruz leaving his constituency for a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Cancun. Naturally, this was completely forgiven by the time he faced reelection.
Texas did pass bills subsidizing on-demand generation, though I do believe one of them was actually regulating a different initiative out of existence. This is probably a good thing, and we’ll probably be ready for whatever natural disaster hits next. Either way, Republicans will see no electoral consequences whatsoever.
Wikipedia claims >$195 billion in property damage. As a comparison, Hurricane Harvey is listed as $125 billion and the 2011 Japan earthquake as $360 billion, though in 2011 dollars.
If these numbers are correct(?), this is closer to "one of the most expensive natural disasters in human history" than "a moderate disaster".
And yet 4years later apparently nobody cares anymore. Either the cost was highly inflated, or Texas is just such a beast that it shrugs off things like that.
Yup, it's really a testament to the strength and dynamism of the economy in Texas. You have to condemn the grid mismanagement that led to the blackout, but it's really amazing to have a place that can just eat a cost like that as if it were nothing. I feel similarly about Hurricane Harvey on this second point.
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