Heat waves pushes Texas power grid into red zone

[Forkboy]

(Reuters) - The Texas power grid operator has scrambled this week to meet soaring electricity demand in the face of a brutal heat wave, and residents of the second most populous U.S. state are one power plant shut-down away from rolling blackouts.

Power demand for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc, or ERCOT, which runs the power grid for most of the state, hit three consecutive records this week as Texans cranked up air conditioners to escape one of the hottest summers on record.

The grid operator on Thursday cut power to some big industrial users, and businesses and households face a repeat of the rolling blackouts they faced in February, when a bitter cold snap interrupted power supplies.

Though ERCOT has done a good job balancing supply and demand, "You always have to expect the unexpected can happen," said Arshad Mansoor, senior vice president at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). "A unit can shut. The wind may not blow."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-utilities-ercot-heatwave-idUSTRE7736OT20110804

[green prol]

1. 98.67% of Texas is in Severe Drought or Worse ... Link:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?TX,S

[Javaman]

7. You should see my yard...

it looks like death valley. I live in Austin. This is by and far THE worst summer I have ever experienced.

My garden died last June.

my few natives are limping along. I hand water at night from what is left in my water tanks.

the best part is: no rain for the foreseeable future or on the long range predictions.

Weeeee!!!

45+ days of 100+ degrees!

it's withering.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. Stay cool Javaman. Hope you have AC

[Javaman]

18. Yeah, thank goodness, but...

there is a standing alert for everyone to reduce their electricity use. What gets me, in the notice to us all as to what to turn off to save energy is this little gem..."Air conditioning uses a lot of power, consider limiting its use"....the freaking the A/C!!! It's 107 degrees out and they want us to turn it off.

Okay, let me calm down. if everyone turned off their a/c while at work it would save a lot right? wrong, the amount of power required to recool the house upon return would negate any energy savings, plus the hit to the power grid at roughly 5-6 pm would be epic.

[green prol]

22. 107? YIKES!

I never remember it getting that high when I lived there. :hug:

[Javaman]

49. the average daily high for the past 3 1/2 weeks has been 103.

:scared:

[tammywammy]

31. They don't want you to turn off your a/c

But if you can live with 78 in your house as opposed to 72 then you should. You shouldn't be doing things like running the dishwasher, doing laundry and other high energy usage activities until the evening when there's less strain on the system.

[Javaman]

50. we have it at 81. nt

[green prol]

21. I used to live in that area. Sorry for your suffering.

I left about 30 years ago to get away from the summer heat. My heart goes out to all of you who are left behind.
I used to have a reply to anyone who told me to "Go to Hell". I would always respond to them saying: "I've already been to Texas in July". I can't believe how much worse it is now.
I hope that some prople are waking up to the reality of climate change. Perhaps this will be the wake up call for people to believe their lying eyes.

[Javaman]

51. I've been here since '94 and I have never seen it this bad.

Long range forecast shows zero relief.

Well, there are only 24 more days left in August... :cry:

[adigal]

2. Does this surprise anyone??

I am surprised it didn't happen before this. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona: I have been reading in climate change forecasts that they are going to be uninhabitable and that there will be a huge migration north.

Hope only liberals come to NY.

[Javaman]

9. While I'm not surprised, still doesn't make if fun...

especially, when I live right in the middle of it. Austin.

[hobbit709]

3. They're warning us that they're about to pull another Enron

just like last winter.

[Javaman]

10. If it gets rid of cement head perry, then I'm all for it. nt

[lunatica]

4. We seem to be getting our own little Sahara Desert

And no one is bothering to talk about northern Mexico's climate. I live in Monterrey, Mexico when I was going to high school. The heat was pretty brutal then. It was 45 years ago. I'm sure if Texas is suffering, then Mexico is suffering.

[DFW]

5. I'm leaving Cape Cod for Dallas on Sunday

I am not looking forward to it.

[hobbit709]

6. Bring your asbestos undies.

[Javaman]

11. Think cool thoughts.

That's all we have down here at the moment.

[DFW]

16. So I hear

Rationed water and rolling brownouts. Some asshole(s) stole a poor elderly woman's air conditioning
unit from her apartment and she dies of heat stroke. The DPD is so furious they are going to charge
the thief or thieves with murder if they catch them, and they are pursuing the theft as a homicide
case (how heartless to you have to be to steal an elderly woman's heating unit when it's 107° ?)

[malletgirl02]

24. Thats horrible nt

[Aerows]

30. I hope they do charge them with murder

If you steal an elderly woman's A/C when it is 107, that is pretty much a death sentence for her.

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. I don't know how anyone can live there.

[Javaman]

12. Well...

you're in Georgia, how's the humidity?

I'm in Austin, it's hot, but not very humid.

I used to live in NYC. The trade off is either 6 months of winter and snow or 6 months of summer and the heat.

I'll take the heat.

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. Some days it's real bad.

I'm in the piedmont region though. The folks in the lower and middle part of the state have it real bad. Closer to your temps plus humidity.

[RB TexLa]

19. The heat feels good. I like it. It's not as hot as Louisiana cause there is no humidity here

I miss the humidity when I'm in Texas.

[Shagbark Hickory]

20. What do you like about it?

:silly:

Liking the heat and missing humidity is just plain wierd.

[RB TexLa]

25. I like the way it feels

[Shagbark Hickory]

28. You like how it feels to have all the life zapped out of you?

[RB TexLa]

33. It doesn't zap the life out of me. The heat feels good. The heat is a great feeling

on your skin when you first walk into it.

[Shagbark Hickory]

35. It feels like walking into an oven and being slow roasted.

You've got to be joking.

[RB TexLa]

39. I'm not joking. I don't tell you what you like or what you think feels good.

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. We're talking about deadly heat though. You can literally die in it pretty quickly if you don't have

water and lots of it.

[Rex]

36. Yeah and after about an hour outside in the heat it doesn't feel so

good anymore.

[RB TexLa]

37. I think it does

[Shagbark Hickory]

43. lol Sure.

You're just being :silly:

[Rex]

46. Hey some people love 110 degrees all day long in the sun.

Nah just kidding they would die within a few hours without water. I seriously doubt he is being serious, seriously.

[RB TexLa]

47. So someone who likes something you don't like is crazy?

Really?

[Shagbark Hickory]

48. I guess some people are into S&M.

This heat in texas could be viewed as a form of s&m. :shrug:

[InvisibleTouch]

38. I'm just as "weird," then.

I love the heat - and the humidity. I keep shaking my head and thinking, "What's this 'heat wave' everyone's complaining about?"

[octothorpe]

52. It's usually not this bad here...

Well, at least it hasn't been in the last four years I've lived here. It's been pretty ridiculous here the past month or so. A week long heat wave isn't that big of a deal, but over a month of 100+ degree weather. eeeeek.

One thing is that at least it's not crazy humid here. At least it's not as humid in Austin and up here in Dallas/Fort Worth. I don't think I'd want to be in Houston right now though.

It's only in the 90's right now though... HAH!

[Ezlivin]

13. Our power blinked out last night

After two days of record-breaking electrical usage and warnings that "rolling blackouts" might occur, we were not surprised. It was around 8:00 and the temperature was still over 100°.

This area is packed with conservative, Republican people. Our city abuts Westlake, the most affluent city in the U.S. (Jonas Bros, Glenn Beck live there.) I wonder how bad it'll have to get before they stop filling their infinity pools or maintaining the greens on their private golf courses.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Between 105/107 degrees the next 7 days. It's pretty miserable here.

Worst summer I can remember. No rain either.

[Fleshdancer]

23. We're getting power consumption warnings at work now...

and a friend is suddenly experiencing foundation problems on her house...large cracks that weren't there a month ago. There's also a shopping center near my office where it looks like an earthquake struck due to the buckling of the parking lot. One of the stores had to shut down completely due to the instability of the building.

My husband told me there were hardly any eggs at the store the other day and the grocer told him it was because they normally get their supply from local chicken farms. The heat is causing the chickens to either not lay eggs or drastically reduce the amount they do lay.

We know and understand heat here in Texas, but this...this is out of control.

[tammywammy]

34. She's needs to water her house

Tell her to invest in a couple of soaker hoses and a timer. Put that around your house. I water for 15 min every 3 days at 4am. The water restrictions still allow foundation watering.

[readmoreoften]

41. Yes it is. It's really frightening. Brush fires starting everywhere. 3 in West Austin today.

I was caught in one last night about an hour outside of Austin and I've heard of 2 more outside Austin.

[Major Hogwash]

26. Gawd is very angry with Texas -- "and they shall bake like they are cookies in an oven."

From the book of Jed, chapter 4, verse 5.

[B Calm]

27. Maybe they could buy electricity from California. Enron might be able to lend a hand.

[Aerows]

29. I'm on the Gulf Coast

and it's 100 right now. I have no idea how hot it was earlier because it was too damn hot to go outside and check.

Not to mention we have horrible humidity. It's like breathing boiling water outside.

[tammywammy]

32. My grandfather lives in the Beaumont-Pt Arthur area

I would have usually visited him during July, but it's way too hot this year plus the humidity down there. I'm waiting until Sept/Oct to visit.

[readmoreoften]

40. I was caught in a brushfire last night in central Tx. The sky was pink above it

For what seemed like about 1/2 mile. We thought as could see one spot of flame nearing the highway. The cops rerouted us down a country road and we were nervous because we didnr know where we were headed. It looped back to the highway though so it wasn't that big of a deal in the long run. Just scary.

[MilesColtrane]

42. I've got cracks opening up in my front "lawn" that are big enough...

to swallow up small dogs.


Ranchers have started selling BBQ right off the livestock.

[pwb]

45. Buy land in nothern states and Canada, the south will be a desert soon.

The great northeast. I love it. Blue States, great people, beautiful scenery, cool nights, great governments, good water, great lakes, real churches, it does not get any better. Yea we have high taxes but we take care of our people.

P.S. I thought Governor Perry and Texas Prayed for Rain in April, How did that work out for you Gov?.

[blueamy66]

53. I live in AZ

It's hotter than hell all the time.

Even going to the pool is taxing.

I'm ready to move to Alaska.