"Systems are designed to handle spikes in demand, but the wild and unpredictable weather linked to global warming will very likely push grids beyond their limits."
"Huge winter storms plunged large parts of the central and southern United States into an energy crisis this week, with frigid blasts of Arctic weather crippling electric grids and leaving millions of Americans without power amid dangerously cold temperatures.
The grid failures were most severe in Texas, where more than four million people woke up Tuesday morning to rolling blackouts. Separate regional grids in the Southwest and Midwest also faced serious strain. As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 23 people nationwide had died in the storm or its aftermath.
Analysts have begun to identify key factors behind the grid failures in Texas. Record-breaking cold weather spurred residents to crank up their electric heaters and pushed power demand beyond the worst-case scenarios that grid operators had planned for. At the same time, a large fraction of the state’s gas-fired power plants were knocked offline amid icy conditions, with some plants suffering fuel shortages as natural gas demand spiked. Many of Texas’ wind turbines also froze and stopped working."
Brad Plumer reports for the New York Times February 16, 2021.
SEE ALSO:
"Texas Deep Freeze Leaves Millions Without Power, 21 Dead" (Reuters)
"Texas Blackouts Hit Minority Neighborhoods Especially Hard" (New York Times)
"No, Frozen Wind Turbines Aren't The Main Culprit For Texas' Power Outages" (Texas Tribune)
"Explainer: Texas's One-Of-A-Kind Power System Raises Questions During Price Spike" (Reuters)
"ERCOT Officials Say They Have No Idea When Texas’ Power Outages Will End" (Dallas News)
"Trump’s Energy Chief Says Renewables to Blame for Texas Crisis" (Bloomberg Environment)
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