Here’s a
very condensed version of the electrical grid system and its basic operation from a retired tech’s viewpoint. The system is divided up into major areas of operation as denoted by the different colors on the map. Each area is managed by different entities as noted by the white letters. (you can google the letters for the names/descriptions.) The guidelines for the operation of the electrical generation & distribution within each area (whether it be by coal, natural gas, propane, wind, solar, hydro, etc.) are governed by the major agency of that particular area. Those agencies and the local utilities all interact with each other on a daily basis as needed.
Note the heavy black and red lines connecting the different areas. These are major interconnect power lines of 345KV, 500KV and above. (KV=Kilovolts) These are used to “ship” power (from generation facilities, primarily) to where it’s needed within its own area and to other areas when needed. This can happen for major outages caused by storm damage, power demand due to extreme temperature swings, major outages for routine maintenance on the generation plants and transmission lines themselves, system reliability, etc. All of which is basically governed or overseen by those managing agencies.
You’ll notice that ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) has no major electrical interconnect power lines to the other areas. It may have some now (depending on how old the chart is). But it used to be pretty much a stand alone electrical system with no major power ties to areas outside of its own.
With the birth and growth of wind & solar energy, few to no new fossil fuel generation plants have been built nationwide. Many have even been decommissioned. Those plants along with hydro have been supplying the “base load” (what it takes to run the country with maybe a little excess to spare to cover the emergencies). But it’s at the point now where the green energy growth is taking over more and more of that “base load” of generation from the fossil fuel and hydro plants. The problem is there is no technology yet to store that green energy long enough to carry it through a few days of emergencies. The trouble with that is: For solar, the sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day. For wind energy: The turbines shut down if it gets too cold, too hot. They also shut down if the windspeed is too great. And of course no wind = no power.
Generally, those conditions can occur when that power is needed the most. That “make up” power was able to be supplied by the fossil fuel plants. But remember, now there is getting to be so much more green energy generated that they have taken over a larger portion of that “base load” capabilities of those generators so that when huge demand for power takes place because of weather related events, wild temperature swings, there is now getting to be a shortage of fossil fuel generation available to supply those temporary demands.
Thus, those agencies have to resort to rolling blackouts or other extreme measures to protect and keep that electrical grid from collapsing (shutting down completely). Restarting the complete grid is a complicated process, to say the least. You can’t just plug it back in all at the same time and it takes major coordination between all of those areas and agencies. Trying to bring it back into operation all at once would be like turning on every appliance, light, electric heater, motors, tvs, radios, electric tools, etc. that you own and plug them all into one cable and then when you get your little standby generator running…..slam that plug into the generator’s receptacle. The resulting inrush current will blow fuses at best and damage a lot of your goods at worst.
The same scenario applies to the electrical grid across the country. Who gets power first and when? What type of loads get power first and when? Whose area is most important? Who should wait for their power to be restored? All of these decisions are coordinated by those managing agencies.
The problems in Texas seem to be the result of a “perfect storm”. Time will tell after its all back together and analyzed as to what went wrong and why so much difficulty. The cause can probably be spread all around to include the extreme weather pattern, lack of interconnection to the major power grid and different areas, not enough local “base load” generation capabilities & too much reliance on green energy, questionable management procedures, etc. It all ties together with there being no one simple answer.
