Electric power in Texas

 

Texas residents are being asked to conserve power after six power plants tripped off line resulting in the loss of 2900 megawatts of electricity. Makes one wonder how all of those electric vehicles could be charged if the Green folks get their way. I could see thousands of cars stranded because there was no way to charge them. Seems like they are putting the cart before the horse on this issue.

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With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

Also

What if you wanted to drive across the country? What you save in fuel you'd spend in motel costs due to the length of time on the road !!!

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

It just flows into the tank

maddog67 wrote:

Texas residents are being asked to conserve power after six power plants tripped off line resulting in the loss of 2900 megawatts of electricity. Makes one wonder how all of those electric vehicles could be charged if the Green folks get their way. I could see thousands of cars stranded because there was no way to charge them. Seems like they are putting the cart before the horse on this issue.

There is always room to learn. Now I know that electric vehicles aren't perfect. Gas and diesel vehicles don't need electricity to re-fuel. It just flows into the tank by dint of good will.

electric still better!!!!

Melaqueman wrote:

What if you wanted to drive across the country? What you save in fuel you'd spend in motel costs due to the length of time on the road !!!

Irrelevant. Those costs don't matter or count....

backup generators

Some gasoline stations have backup generators to allow them to operate en electrical power is offline. That is the case especially in areas on the coast where the risk of hurricanes exist. Believe Florida and Louisiana there is a state law requiring them. Here is Texas it is a case of some do some don't generally depending on the quality of the distributor which owns the stations.

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___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

Didn't Texas get themselves

Didn't Texas get themselves off the National Grid? If it's still that way, then maybe there's a lesson to be learned here.

I don't feel sorry for them if they don't want to be part of the nation, they can stand alone....

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I never get lost, but I do explore new territory every now and then.

Yup! Good luck Texans…

Yup! Good luck Texans…

Hope Texas gets this

Hope Texas gets this resolved. Very frustrating for some friends and family down there.

Texas was never on the

Texas was never on the National Grid. This just in from the TMI department...
There are three grids in North America:
1. The Western Interconnection
2. The Eastern Interconnection
3. The ERCOT Interconnection
ERCOT (Electric Reliabilty Council Of Texas) is able to operate as its own interconnection. ERCOT's operation directives come from the Texas Public Utility Commission and is guided by the Texas Legislature. This arrangement allows us (Texas) to control and allocate power as needed.

Texas - It's Like A Whole Other Country.

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Gene Nuvi 7660 Nuvi 3790

God Bless Texas!

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

I don't understand acronyms

GBostwick wrote:

Texas was never on the National Grid. This just in from the TMI department...
There are three grids in North America:
1. The Western Interconnection
2. The Eastern Interconnection
3. The ERCOT Interconnection
ERCOT (Electric Reliabilty Council Of Texas) is able to operate as its own interconnection. ERCOT's operation directives come from the Texas Public Utility Commission and is guided by the Texas Legislature. This arrangement allows us (Texas) to control and allocate power as needed.

Texas - It's Like A Whole Other Country.

Often I don't understand the acronyms used on this message board. The only TMI that I could come up with to do with power is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident .

Qu'est que c'est TMI?

^ TMI- too much information.

^ TMI- too much information. They were being facetious.

It will be awhile before electric cars are mainstream. Lithium production (or lack of) will greatly slow that switchover. That's one natural resource the U.S. doesn't have. Solid State batteries can be charged much much quicker, but in mass they are not available. Bottom line is we need better methods if this is every going to get off the ground. If is nonsensical to try to electrify the transportation sector without the use of fuel cells, these could run off gasoline initially and then transfer over to another source like liquid oxygen. Trying to go big bang theory will be very expensive and most likely fail. Smart transition is the only answer that will ever work.

the salton sea

See this article about the Salton Sea. It can supply all the lithium we need into the future:

This California desert could hold the key to powering all of America's electric cars

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/11/business/salton-sea-lithium-e...

Synchronization not the same as transfer capacity

GBostwick wrote:

1. The Western Interconnection
2. The Eastern Interconnection
3. The ERCOT Interconnection

Just to make things more complicated, some meaningful part of Texas is Eastern, not ERCOT (a good bit of Houston, and points east). There are other complications:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_power_transmiss...

But more to the point on the "for want of a nail" commentaries, being part of one of the interconnections means perfect AC synchronization, which allows orderly power transmission on AC interties. Power between different interconnections can be, and is, transmitted on DC connections with suitable conversion on both ends.

But in order for the "day to be saved" sufficient transmission capacity must exist. Nobody builds immense power transmission routes without the prospect of being paid for it. If dozens of full-scale power plants go offline because conditions exceed their design range, that region is going to have some darkness, regardless of which interconnection it is on.

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personal GPS user since 1992

Feel sorry for the rest of us

KenSny wrote:

Didn't Texas get themselves off the National Grid? If it's still that way, then maybe there's a lesson to be learned here.

I don't feel sorry for them if they don't want to be part of the nation, they can stand alone....

Just feel sorry for all of us who want to be part of this great nation but there are a lot more of the others that don't. Sometimes we just feel like we don't have any say in our state as we are outnumbered.
We are born and raised here and wouldn't think about leaving such a beautiful state so we just have to keep our mouths shut and live with it.

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Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)

I am not against electric vehicles

sunsetrunner wrote:

^ TMI- too much information. They were being facetious.

It will be awhile before electric cars are mainstream. Lithium production (or lack of) will greatly slow that switchover. That's one natural resource the U.S. doesn't have. Solid State batteries can be charged much much quicker, but in mass they are not available. Bottom line is we need better methods if this is every going to get off the ground. If is nonsensical to try to electrify the transportation sector without the use of fuel cells, these could run off gasoline initially and then transfer over to another source like liquid oxygen. Trying to go big bang theory will be very expensive and most likely fail. Smart transition is the only answer that will ever work.

However, we need to get our ducks in a row and build out the infrastructure to support all of these electric vehicles. It will never work if they try to do it the other way around. I was at a local Wally World a couple of months back and half of their chargers didn’t work. These things have been in there for at least a decade and I have only seen a handful of vehicles plugged into the chargers over the years. It seems as if they have written them off because no one used them. Further down the road, there is a newer charging station. I eat at a restaurant there fairly often. This station can charge either 10 or 12 vehicles. Most of the time, I see no one in there. Twice, I have seen one vehicle sitting there getting charged. Until you get reliable charging stations all over the country, electric vehicles will never be accepted. You have to have the stations out in East Boofoo as well as NYC or LA or Portland. The middle part of the country will not accept electric vehicles until they are sure that they will have access to power points. Just my two cents.

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With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

EV.

I would love to have an EV but I do understand its limitations, so for me it just isn't practical. In addition to the problem of scarce charging stations, one issue that those who sell and promote EV's almost never talk about is the effect the use of the heater and A/C has on driving range between charges. Where I live, you are almost always using the heater in winter and the A/C in summer, so the range limits are very real. More info is contained in this article (including Tesla's rebuttal at the end): https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/10/18217041/electric-car-ev-....

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Hurricanes

maddog67 wrote:

Texas residents are being asked to conserve power after six power plants tripped off line resulting in the loss of 2900 megawatts of electricity. Makes one wonder how all of those electric vehicles could be charged if the Green folks get their way. I could see thousands of cars stranded because there was no way to charge them. Seems like they are putting the cart before the horse on this issue.

This will become a serious issue in coastal areas and those prone to hurricanes. Gasoline & diesel can be stored locally in tanks at fueling stations and in small gas cans for home use.

Commercial generators can power gas pumps and homeowners can use portable generators to power essentials around the house. Most of these small generators however, are too small to effectively charge an electric vehicle, thus rendering them almost useless during an extended outage.

At present, the local fossil fuel supply can be sustained using tank trucks during a long duration, widespread power outage as long as roads & bridges are passable. The availability of electricity is dependent on the grid being intact which often takes weeks to repair.

I have relatives in coastal S. Carolina who routinely keep their vehicles and gas cans topped off during hurricane season. They use the vehicles for fuel storage and siphon gas to power their generator when necessary. In 1989, they were able to survive for nearly a month without electricity during hurricane Hugo.

Yes, local electric storage is becoming available with the likes of "power Walls" and other solar storage equipment. At present, it isn't practical for the average homeowner to power both a home and a vehicle during an extended power outage.

As other posters have said, much needs to be done to the supply & storage infrastructure before electric vehicles will be totally practical.

storing fuel

Long Island, New York is one of the places to get hit with hurricanes. We have been without electricity for up to 2 weeks at a time. The local electric utility has an aggressive tree-trimming program, since the trees fall and knock down power lines.

The problem with relying on fuel for your generator is that service stations are prohibited from using tanks above ground. They are all underground. The pumps for these tanks use electricity. No electricity, no fuel.

Today almost everyone uses plastic cans to transport or store gasoline. From a retired firefighter, any amount is unsafe, but 10, 20 gallons is a serious hazard.

Always keep gasoline in a shed away from your house.

dobs108 (flaming emoji)

Generators

dobs108 wrote:

Long Island, New York is one of the places to get hit with hurricanes. We have been without electricity for up to 2 weeks at a time. The local electric utility has an aggressive tree-trimming program, since the trees fall and knock down power lines.

The problem with relying on fuel for your generator is that service stations are prohibited from using tanks above ground. They are all underground. The pumps for these tanks use electricity. No electricity, no fuel.

Today almost everyone uses plastic cans to transport or store gasoline. From a retired firefighter, any amount is unsafe, but 10, 20 gallons is a serious hazard.

Always keep gasoline in a shed away from your house.

dobs108 (flaming emoji)

I'm not sure about Long Island but in costal S Carolina where my relatives are, many gas stations have generators to power their pumps during an outage.

Storing gasoline is indeed dangerous. To minimize risk, my brother in law keeps his 5 gal cans in his detached carport in a metal cabinet approved for fuel storage. It's still something of a risk but down there, they have little choice.