US Power Grid Operators Warn Renewable Energy Could Cause Blackouts

[Lord of Planar]

Cali's grid isn't exactly up to challenges of summer demand.

That's one reason why BPA is upgrading the Pacific DC Intetie. They plan to upgrade it from 3.1 gigawatts to 3.8 gigawatts.

 

[PoS]

Do you have the patent for nuclear powered cars?

Gas powered cars are just fine.

You've forgotten the brownouts and blackouts California had years ago that primarily involved coal fired generation.

The Cali blackouts in 2000 were caused by market manipulation and artificial price caps, courtesy of the state gubmint.

 

[Deuce]

It almost sounds like profit motive leads to bare-minimum power supply that can't hold up to unusual situations.

 

[Bergslagstroll]

More extreme heat waves and drought caused by climate change means that more fossil fuel and nuclear power plants have to shut down when they are needed the most.

Intense Summer Heatwaves Rattle World’s Power Plants

Scorching temperatures during the summer of 2018 forced a swathe of power plants across the world to reduce power or shut down temporarily, owing to warmer-than-usual temperatures of cooling water and other general heat-related issues.

www.powermag.com

That the way forward is instead a power system dependent on many differents types of renewable energy and energy storage. That wind power and solar power can produce the most during different part of the day and the year. So those sources can complement each other. There is also for example concentrated solar power with thermal storage, hydropower and biofuel power that can produce electricity on demand. There are also great advancement in for example battery, thermal and pump hydro storage. There those different types of electricity generation and storage can be combined in virtual power plants.

Why virtual power plants are the future of electricity retailing

Australia’s largest electricity retailers once focused on large generators, with profitability tied to “gentailing”, now they are shifting to “VPP-tailing.”

reneweconomy.com.au

There also consumers of electricity can help to stabilize the grid. For example that there will be a great demand for hydrogen in many areas to replace fossil fuels. There the production of hydrogen can be ramp up when the supply of cheap renewable energy is high and be stored for use when the supply is low.

Large-scale hydrogen-storage facility underway at Hybrit pilot plant in Sweden - Chemical Engineering

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden) have commenced building a rock cavern storage facility for fossil-free hydrogen gas on a pilot scale

www.chemengonline.com

There also electric cars can be used for energy storage.

Audi tests new bi-directional charging for electric cars to store solar energy

Audi announced that it is testing a new bi-directional charging system for its electric vehicles with the goal to use...

electrek.co

 

[LouC]

Drought slows power production from hydroelectric dams. Heat waves. Wildfires. Sounds like climate change is causing the problems, but let's blame renewable energy and make climate change worse. Brilliant!

 

[trouble13]

Drought slows power production from hydroelectric dams. Heat waves. Wildfires. Sounds like climate change is causing the problems, but let's blame renewable energy and make climate change worse. Brilliant!

If it bothers you so much, why don't you do your part and stop using non-renewable energies. Lead by example. Show everyone the life they could be living.

 

[Loulit01]

If it bothers you so much, why don't you do your part and stop using non-renewable energies. Lead by example. Show everyone the life they could be living.

What are you, 12?

 

[trouble13]

What are you, 12?

Are you a hypocrite?

 

[Loulit01]

Are you a hypocrite?

Oh, sorry, I see you're 13. Happy birthday.

 

[trouble13]

Oh, sorry, I see you're 13. Happy birthday.

You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. If your concerned that carbon emissions are causing the worlds doom you should consider giving up your personal activities that create them. Don't you care about the planet?

 

[mrjurrs]

Gas powered cars are just fine.


The Cali blackouts in 2000 were caused by market manipulation and artificial price caps, courtesy of the state gubmint.

That's what the horse and buggy lovers said in the past as well.

 

[Loulit01]

That's what the horse and buggy lovers said in the past as well.

When cars came along horses and buggies were gone. Now that Ecars are coming, gas cars will be gone. Progress, baby, get with it or get lost.

 

[Lord of Planar]

When cars came along horses and buggies were gone. Now that Ecars are coming, gas cars will be gone. Progress, baby, get with it or get lost.

Probably true, but it will still take a few decades.

 

[longview]

Probably true, but it will still take a few decades.

Maybe even more than a few, cars came out in the 1890's, but I read that much of the German army
leading up to WWII in the 1940's was still relying on horses.

 

[PoS]

That's what the horse and buggy lovers said in the past as well.

When cars came along horses and buggies were gone. Now that Ecars are coming, gas cars will be gone. Progress, baby, get with it or get lost.

LOL you people are clueless. Electric cars are not a new tech. They came out at around the same time as ICE cars and guess what? The ICE cars won.

 

[Loulit01]

LOL you people are clueless. Electric cars are not a new tech. They came out at around the same time as ICE cars and guess what? The ICE cars won.

View attachment 67391121

That was then. This is now. We're not going back to the turn of the twentieth century regardless of how much conservatives want to. And today's electric cars are indeed new tech.

I really can't take much more of this idiocy.

 

[PoS]

That was then. This is now. We're not going back to the turn of the twentieth century regardless of how much conservatives want to. And today's electric cars are indeed new tech.

I really can't take much more of this idiocy.

How are EVs new tech? They use the same inefficient batteries that people use for their phones and degrade over time.

The only idiocy comes from green fanatics who know nothing about science and history.

 

[Lord of Planar]

Maybe even more than a few, cars came out in the 1890's, but I read that much of the German army
leading up to WWII in the 1940's was still relying on horses.

Horses could traverse areas vehicles couldn't. Remember, there weren't many roads to speak of back then.

 

[Lord of Planar]

How are EVs new tech? They use the same inefficient batteries that people use for their phones and degrade over time.

The only idiocy comes from green fanatics who know nothing about science and history.

Yes, it may still be some time before we have batteries that will last the life of the rest of the car. And the power to weight ratio is still unimpressive, compared to fuel. We need to have much better energy density in batteries before this pipe dream of the left will occur. We also need to have a power transmission system that can handle the extra loads of using electricity instead of fuel.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Electricity Shortage Warnings Grow Across U.S.

Electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat waves or other peak periods as soon as this year.

www.wsj.com

Here's some relevant quotes from the article:





Yup. More renewable energy replacing fossil fuel power outputs = more blackouts. Welcome to the climate cult utopia.

Is the Texas ERCOT dominated by renewable energy?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

LOL you people are clueless. Electric cars are not a new tech. They came out at around the same time as ICE cars and guess what? The ICE cars won.

View attachment 67391121

Video players aren't new tech, they came out in the 1950's!!

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

That was then. This is now. We're not going back to the turn of the twentieth century regardless of how much conservatives want to. And today's electric cars are indeed new tech.

I really can't take much more of this idiocy.

Video cameras aren't new tech! They came out in the 1920's!

 

[longview]

Is the Texas ERCOT dominated by renewable energy?

I think renewables run about 20%, but they have a decent dashboard.
ERCOT dashboard

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I think renewables run about 20%, but they have a decent dashboard.
ERCOT dashboard

US Power Grid Operators Warn Renewable Energy Could Cause Blackouts​

The OP claims it's renewables that are "the big bad thing" that's going to make electric supplies wink out this summer.

I say it's greedy corporate owned utilities that don't see a reason to build more capacity and running to the government for bailouts, which has been the standard business model
ever since Reagan-style deregulation became the norm.
Also, let's think about the states that are actively trying to PUNISH people who want to install residential solar power.

Could Florida turn off the sun? Advocates say a utility-backed bill imperils rooftop solar in the Sunshine State | CNN Politics

Steve Rutherford had a unique mission as a Navy SEAL: Help the military harness the power of the sun.

www.cnn.com

In 2021, a national network of utility interest groups and fossil fuel-linked think tanks continues to offer funding, advice and support to utilities across the country seeking to undermine rooftop solar power. These include:

• Edison Electric Institute. Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the trade group that represents U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, developed the model for utilities to use in attacking solar at the state level. EEI worked with the American Legislative Exchange Council to create model legislation to attack net metering. EEI has trained utility executives in how to run advocacy campaigns and has consistently been a major donor to national Congressional candidates and parties.
• Consumer Energy Alliance. The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is a Houston-based front group for the utility and fossil fuel industry, representing companies like Florida Power & Light, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell Oil CEA has spent resources or shipped representatives across the country to help utilities fight their battles in states like Florida, Indiana and Utah.
• The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is a nationwide organization funded in part by anti-solar interests including major utilities, fossil fuel companies and affiliated lobby groups. ALEC claims to be primarily a membership organization but is dominated by its corporate and other outside donors, who provide 98% of its budget. It has worked for years to fight renewable energy and pro-solar policies across the country by coordinating with utilities and other local special interests and introducing legislation through policymakers who are ALEC members.
• Koch Industries. The Koch organization has provided funding to the national fight against solar by funneling tens of millions of dollars through a network of opaque nonprofits. The Koch-funded campaign organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has carried out extensive anti-solar organizing efforts. Koch organizations have directly supported utility fights against solar power in a number of states.

We're flying electric helicopters on Mars yet you can't turn on your clothes dryer in Texas. That's because scientists are in charge of Mars, and Republicans are in charge of Texas.

 

[Lord of Planar]

I say it's greedy corporate owned utilities that don't see a reason to build more capacity and running to the government for bailouts, which has been the standard business model
ever since Reagan-style deregulation became the norm.

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

The problem here is that any company that has been incentivized with federal money, will milk it for as long as they can. There should have never been subsidies to make it affordable for power companies to build alternate energy. Now they are addicted to the government teat.

Also, let's think about the states that are actively trying to PUNISH people who want to install residential solar power.

It is not punishing people who built solar not to subsidize them like other states do.