For safety, during extremely high winds, wind turbines will stop running and feather their blades. Icing also can cause turbines to stop running. According to energy mix data from the Southwest Power Pool, as the storm began to move through Wyoming on Dec. 23, at 3 p.m., wind energy resources began to drop. Within 24 hours, wind energy resources were about 25% what they were prior to the storm…
In its 2022 Long-Term Reliability Assessment released earlier this month, NERC warned that America’s grid is becoming dangerously low on resources and at “high risk” for more blackouts, especially during extreme weather events. California and MISO were assessed to be under high risk, while the Southwest Power Pool and the U.S. Northwest grid, which covers all of Wyoming, were assessed to be at elevated risk.
While the report cited a number of reasons for the risk, retirement of more electrical generation than was being added and over reliance on intermittent resources, such as wind and solar, were primary causes for energy shortfalls.
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