If the Texas power gird is in such great shape why did crypto miners have to cut back on their operations?:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/03/winter-storm-descends-on-tex…
So how is electric energy “independence” workin’ for ya?
OTFoolish
4 Likes
So how is electric energy “independence” workin’ for ya?
Works great for us in MN. Rarely lose power in the city. Better to keep TX off other connections because they would likely become even more welfare-dependent.
2 Likes
So how is electric energy “independence” workin’ for ya?
Approximately as well as it would work to rely on external sources which:
(a) usually have power shortages in sync with Texas, and
(b) are entire states with populations comparable to individual Texas cities.
3 Likes
warrl writes,
<<So how is electric energy “independence” workin’ for ya?>>
Approximately as well as it would work to rely on external sources which:
(a) usually have power shortages in sync with Texas, and
(b) are entire states with populations comparable to individual Texas cities.
That’s a common misconception of how the nationwide electric grids work. El Paso is connected to the Western grid and can draw power from as far away as British Columbia, Canada if need be. El Paso is not limited to the New Mexico electric power resources in an emergency. Similarly, Arkansas is connected to the Southeastern grid and can draw power from as far away as Georgia if required.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_power_transmiss…
States that benefit from better educated leadership have lots of options in an emergency.
intercst
7 Likes
“That’s a common misconception of how the nationwide electric grids work. El Paso is connected to the Western grid and can draw power from as far away as British Columbia, Canada if need be. El Paso is not limited to the New Mexico electric power resources in an emergency. Similarly, Arkansas is connected to the Southeastern grid and can draw power from as far away as Georgia if required.”
El Paso is a SMALL TX city - under 700,000 people…and is so FAR from the rest of TX, it makes sense to connect to NM 30 miles away rather than Dallas 600 miles away. Duh! It’s the only city in TX connected to ‘something else’.
Arkansas might be connected to the ‘grid’ but it seems AR had rolling blackouts too - as the eastern grid nearby was almost on it’s knees as TN had no power to lend and was sucking what it could from eastern states who were at record cold temps themselves. Oh, and LA was connected to the grid and it had rolling blackouts…and OK to the north had rolling blackouts despite being ‘hooked’ to the grid. Seems there wasn’t any power for them to borrow from KS which was struggling in record low 10 and 20 below temps itself. Oh, and it was 10 below in OK…
Plus you gotta realize there are more people in the DFW than the entire state of OK… or the entire state of AR…or the entire state of LA…so, of course, even if they had 10% extra power, that wouldn’t have done anything for 28 million folks in TX…
Amazing how some just can’t figure that out themselves.
PS - the ‘miners’ get special rates which allow them to be disconnected in ‘declared weather alerts’… so that’s their deal. In some places they use 20% of the entire demand 24/7. Megawatts!
“Bitcoin mining consumes around 91 terawatt-hours of electricity annually.”
"According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), Bitcoin currently consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year "
https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-much-energy-does-bitcoin-actuall…
No different that large users in some of the other states - who have to cut back either on NG or electricity to get their special rates
TX is smart in that it has that arrangement so when the grid is challenged in a major weather event…the miners can be shut off…for a day or two.
t.
3 Likes
TX is smart in that it has that arrangement so when the grid is challenged in a major weather event…the miners can be shut off…for a day or two.
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TX is smart … is an oxymoron.
Jaak
1 Like
“That’s a common misconception of how the nationwide electric grids work. El Paso is connected to the Western grid and can draw power from as far away as British Columbia, Canada if need be. El Paso is not limited to the New Mexico electric power resources in an emergency. Similarly, Arkansas is connected to the Southeastern grid and can draw power from as far away as Georgia if required.”
El Paso is a SMALL TX city - under 700,000 people…and is so FAR from the rest of TX, it makes sense to connect to NM 30 miles away rather than Dallas 600 miles away. Duh! It’s the only city in TX connected to ‘something else’.
Also there’s a limit to how much power any given transmission line can carry, and the power companies aren’t in the habit of building lines from BC to Dallas that can handle far more power than normally needed… and if they tried to, the environmentalists would pitch a royal fit.
2 Likes