Texas Electric Grid Problems

I haven’t seen much discussion of the 6 plants tripping offline. I know with early heat wave
there was concern of too many plants being offline for maintenance to meet demand, but this points to another problem in the grid itself.

The resulting wholesale prices in Houston of $4,000 per megawatt hour-plus and negative prices 150 miles (241 km) away showed that power was unable to reach demand elsewhere, energy experts said.

“A transmission issue would explain where the pricing inconsistencies and negative prices could have come from,” said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, chief energy officer at the University of Houston.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-heat-wave-points-problems-with-congestion-power-grid-2022-05-17/

Maybe its time to join the national grid?

Two things surprise me by that graphic. The amount of electricity consumed by
Texans is really out there. Our per capita usage must really be out of line. Unless
due to heavy industry we use that much more.

Second thing is the amount due to coal. I’m thinking the graph may be older ?

And yeah, time to join the national grid.


Must be old, wind should be much higher.

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Call me crazy, but I’m starting to think there is a correlation of decreased production and rising costs. It’s almost like the same people who control the means of production benefit from higher prices.

At any rate, I think calling it grid failure isn’t exactly true. The grid is fine. There just isn’t enough power being produced for it.

Odds we will have rolling blackouts this summer?

If you drive through West Texas you would certainly think so.

That’s definitely surprising. I know solar is going up, there’s sells reps everywhere trying to sell panels with the pitch that you can sell your electricity to the plants, but everything has it’s advantages and disadvantages.

Actually, I think wind at 23% is accurate. Now for solar , are they reporting the personal
roof top stuff or the commercial solar only ?

Per the article, there was ample power 200 miles away which implies transmission problems. My use of the term “grid” may be incorrect. The grid is all transmission lines between producers and
consumers. With the electric power from West Texas (solar and mostly wind) there needs to be
High Voltage DC lines to disburse the power over hundreds of miles. I think our green production has out paced out HVDC delivery grid.

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Wind does seem accurate. The first graphic showed wind at less than 5%, it must be outdated.

I think the solar is utility scale production. A quick back of the napkin calc puts commercial solar at 1.8% for '20. I think it’s at least doubled since then.

:bulb::bulb::bulb:!!!

Thanks for that. I’m surprised by the states with the high per capita usage. Didn’t see
that. Two northern states, Wyoming and N Dakota, as the electricity pigs.

For Texas, and the states we most like in population,California and Florida, we use much more.
How is California so much more efficient in total usage and per capita?

Have you been to California? The weather is perfect all year round. No a/c or heat needed for the most part.

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My sons fraternity brother started a residential solar panel sales/install business in north texas and he is having to turn away business because of supply chain issues getting panels into the country.

China is lapping everyone regarding the manufacturing of solar panels. That is a manufacturing segment we are neglecting.

I’ve been many times for work and pleasure. LA gets hot and Bakersfield too. SF is indeed pleasant, as well along the coast and that chilly Pacific ocean.

Weather is a big part. It can get hot on the coast but doesn’t stay there. It’s not comparable to Texas. That’s also where the vast majority of the population lives. The Central Valley (Bako, Sac, Fresno) doesn’t have that many people relatively speaking.

Also, electricity is super expensive in CA vs. TX which drives more people to solar. It pays out MUCH quicker in CA.

I just renewed my electric contract this week. I am in Houston. I went from 6.9¢ on the plan I got two years ago to 17.4¢ per kWh with the new one. From what I am finding about the rates in CA, they are averaging around 23¢.
I’m starting to think that if solar makes good financial sense there, why not here too? Especially considering how much more we run our air conditioning.

On a side note, I’m shopping for a two zone mini-split system for my upstairs bedrooms, which I think will save me money in the long run, because right now I have to set my thermostat at 68° to cool those rooms to 73°. I’ll let y’all know how that plays out once I get a bid and crunch the numbers.

A little over a year ago, I bought Tesla solar panels with the batteries. I also went with a free nights electricity plan. From 9A-9P, I run the house on solar and the batteries. From 9P-9A, I’m using the grid. The last 3 months, my electric bill has been $15/month.

And your in the Houston area or Texas ? How many power walls did you go with if you don’t mind sharing ?
Are the batteries at 100% full charge at sunset ? How many panels in your system. What is estimate of break even costs in years ?