ERCOT: Texas Was 4 Minutes and 37 Seconds Away From a Blackout That Could Have Lasted Months https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigatio...ackout-that-could-have-lasted-months/2562592/ The board that oversees The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) held an urgent meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the winter storm that crippled most of Texas last week. They offered apologies for the devastation the power outages caused and pledged to gather the facts to help lawmakers determine how to prevent it from ever happening again. ERCOT’s CEO, Bill Magness faced questions from his own board about why these power outages were so severe and why the agency was not able to predict such a devastating outcome before the storm hit. “I mean, we saw something here that, you know, outstrips any extreme scenario,” said Magness. In an online presentation to ERCOT’s board, Magness showed slides revealing an updated analysis showing nearly half of the power generating units, 48.6%, in the state shut down at the height of the outages. All of this was caused by a weather system he described as bigger than anything the agency's forecasters ever predicted, throwing into question the forecast models used to predict winter weather and the state’s power needs. “This is the kind of thing that, you know moves the goalposts, number one, so that we have to know that we could see another February 2021 event when we look at extremes,” said Magness. ERCOT’s weather data shows the Dallas/Fort Worth area was at or below freezing for more than 140 hours. That’s 40 hours longer than the 2011 winter storm that caused rolling power outages. This time, demand for power hit an all-time record high while all types of power plants - and even natural gas delivery lines to some plants -- shut down in the cold, forcing ERCOT to order outages to prevent a far worse collapse of the entire power system. One chart presented at the meeting shows Texas was less than five minutes away from a blackout that might have crippled the power system for weeks or months. Magness expressed frustration at the meeting about how long it took to bring some power plants back online. The graphs shared Wednesday showed for days many were not able to re-start and that's what turned this into such a devastating crisis with lives lost and homes damaged. One board member criticized Magness, saying he did not do enough to warn the board of the possibility of a crisis before the storm hit. “I feel as a board member, very frustrated that that did not occur,” said board member, Jacqueline A. Sargent. “And I just wanted to make that statement.” As NBC 5 Investigates first reported, ERCOT’s audio recordings show Magness spent less than one minute discussing the impending storm at the last board meeting just five days before the storm arrived Wednesday, he offered an apology. “I certainly could have done a better job emphasizing what was coming and had that communication with the board in more depth as well. So I understand your frustration,” said Magness. On Thursday he will face more questions from lawmakers in both the state house and senate. The start of what some, including Dallas State Senator Nathan Johnson describe as the start of a fact-finding mission. "It's certainly possible that ERCOT made decisions or didn't make decisions it should have, and I have some information on that. But until I have complete information, I'm not casting judgment. There's a lot of other players in this process, both private and public,” said Johnson. A fifth ERCOT board member resigned Wednesday, joining four others who announced their resignations Tuesday saying they wanted to avoid controversy over the fact that they live in other states.
This is why revising historical temperature data up is so dangerous. Scientists who have done that should be subject to inquisitions as well. As well as those politicians who have supported that. Fake science makes great politics until people die.
It would be very dangerous to work for that company...they seem to have a lot of problems. Heck, even the birds know when to fly the hell away before getting killed. wrbtrader
Texas electricity firm files for bankruptcy citing $1.8 billion in claims from grid operator https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bankruptcy-brazoselectric-texas-outag-idUSKCN2AT1FE Texas’s largest and oldest electric power cooperative on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Houston, citing a disputed $1.8 billion bill from the state’s grid operator. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc is one of dozens of electricity providers facing enormous charges stemming from a severe cold snap last month. The fallout threatens utilities and power marketers who collectively face billions of dollars in blackout-related charges, executives said. Unusually frigid temperatures knocked out nearly half of the state’s power plants in mid-February, leaving 4.3 million people without heat or light for days and bursting water pipes that damaged homes and businesses. Brazos and others that committed to provide power to the grid and could not, were required to buy replacement power at high rates and cover other firms’ unpaid fees. The state’s grid operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), on Friday said $2.1 billion in initial bills went unpaid, underscoring the financial stress on utilities and power marketers. More providers likely will reject the bills in coming days, executives said. “The municipal power sector is in a real crisis,” said Maulin Patani, a founder of Volt Electricity Provider LP, an independent power marketer that is not a member of the Brazos coop. ERCOT should suspend the service charges to halt further defaults, he said in an interview on Sunday. The city of Denton, in north Texas, last week sued ERCOT in a state court to prevent it from charging it for fees unpaid by other users of the grid. Denton Electric could face tens of millions of dollars for fees that were not collected from others, the suit claimed. Debt analyst Fitch Ratings last week also warned of potential downgrades to all Texas municipal power firms that use the state’s grid. Costs from the storm “could exceed the liquidity immediately available to these issuers,” Fitch said. ERCOT triggered the squeeze when it pushed up spot-market rates to $9,000 per megawatt hour (mwh) over more than four days and levied huge fees for services. The service fees were 500 times the usual rate, according to industry executives. Brazos Electric coop executive Clifton Karnei, who sat on ERCOT’s board of directors until last week, signed the Brazos coop’s bankruptcy submissions. Through its 16 utility company members, Brazos provides electricity to more than 660,000 customers across the state of Texas.
I'm a little confused about these extraordinary high power bills when there was a blackout (no power). The stories about the high bills are by those (small minority) that had power and decided to turn their electricity on while neighbors had no power ??? That would imply people had the choice to choose which electricity provider they wanted to use prior to the power blackout. wrbtrader
Every house, business, and nonprofit in America has a switch to determine whether to use power from the grid, not use power from the grid, or generate power for the grid.
The couple hours out of the week a house had power -- the electric company was charging them thousands of dollars for the small period of time with power.