# Rolling Blackouts - Why Not Shut Down Industry **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988 "2021-02-15T21:06:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/21 "2021-02-16T09:19:49Z")
> [@ishamael69](#): > > I’m just wondering why they don’t impact industry before residential. Seems like having a heavy manufacturing shop shut down for a day or two would be less impact than shutting down electric-heated senior apartments for several hours. Cynical answer: large industry and corporations have more political clout than individuals. Wasn’t it Texas where the Lieutenant Governor said you shouldn’t shut down the economy during a pandemic and that he’d be happy to die to make sure his grandchildren had a thriving economy? Oh, yes, look [here](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/24/covid-19-texas-official-suggests-elderly-willing-die-economy/2905990001/) and [here](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-suggests-he-other-seniors-willing-n1167341) and [here…](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/dan-patrick-coronavirus-grandparents) It is possible there are people of some influence in your state that value business over humans. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/22 "2021-02-16T10:52:34Z")
> [@shh1313](#): > > We got our generator ready to go. Plenty of fuel, cast iron stove and 2 cords of seasonsed oak, misquote and pecan. My roommate does trees and last 2 summer’s we prepared. Where are you? Here in San Antonio I feel lucky to have a 1/2 cord I overbought 3 years ago still in the garage. Fortunately the hot water heater is gas, and it (the gas) is still flowing, so I am luckier than most of my neighbors, but to be honest, I moved here so I _wouldn’t_ have to have cords of wood handy, just in case. 😉 As for the food, I put the freezer items in a box and put it in the back yard, and the fridge items are in the garage which is a relatively balmy 38-degrees F. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/23 "2021-02-16T11:15:34Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > The liberals decided that it was an acceptable outcome when they began mandating “clean” energy. Stop it with this foolishness. Here in Texas we _embrace the fuck_ out of clean energy because, in addition to trillions of barrels of oil, we have metric fucktons of sun and wind all over the godforsaken areas of this state. Windmills are a booming industry and in the past 2 weeks I have seen no fewer than 3 _convoys_ of windmill turbines passing through 1604 in San Antonio on its way to Amarillo and the other wind farms which are being built all across the state. And, in addition, we have all this oil money… what better place to put it than in the energy sources of the future? 🙂 Texas leads in wind: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949470847_a3a1d3ccb1_b.jpg "2021-02-16\_05-10-57") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50949470847/) [https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/321](https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/321) We are (a distant, yes) #2 in solar: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949374091_ab38e9015d_b.jpg "2021-02-16\_05-11-47") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50949374091/) > **[Top 10 Solar States | SEIA](https://www.seia.org/research-resources/top-10-solar-states-0)** > > What are the top ten states in solar? Our infographic includes the number of megawatts installed, number of houses powered, and jobs generated. See if your state made the list. #1 in natural gas (this is a nice animated chart showing TX dominance in this industry throughout time): [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949474937_a4694f8a6f_b.jpg "2021-02-16\_05-12-41") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50949474937/) > **[Animated chart of the day: Top ten US states for natural gas production,...](https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/animated-chart-of-the-day-top-ten-us-states-for-natural-gas-production-1967-2018/)** > > Here’s another animated “bar chart race” visualization showing the top ten natural gas producing US states in every year from 1967 to 2018. Note that Pennsylvania isn’t in the top ten states until 2010, and then quickly rises to No. 2 by 2014, thanks... It’s almost impossible, knowing what is possible, to live in this state, look at all the sunlight, and _not_ think ‘let’s monetize this shit’. That wind site, above, has a map of wind _capacity_ too, and Texas looks poised to dominate as well: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949385826_a2774f70d1_b.jpg "2021-02-16\_05-17-24") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50949385826/) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/24 "2021-02-16T15:27:25Z")
As I understand it, the big issue this time around, like just about every time, is that a large chunk (~34,000 MW) of the conventional generation capacity is not sufficiently winterized, and is not actually generating power. Considering that the total demand at its largest was something like 70,000 MW, it’s pretty much entirely responsible for the issues we’re seeing. Only about ~6000 MW of wind capacity was shut down, and that was more or less expected. Why weren’t they sufficiently winterized? Because apparently ERCOT just gives the producers a stern talking-to after something like this, without any mandates coming from them, or from the State Legislature. In the absence of an enforceable mandate, the generation companies just don’t bother, as this sort of thing happens every 40 years or so on this scale, and every 10 on a lesser scale. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/25 "2021-02-16T16:01:50Z")
The datdata centers I’ve worked at pay a premium for utilities and services that most residential customers do not that allowed us priority and tighter SLA’s. If the power co absolutely had to cut power, they were contractually required to contact us directly x amount of days/hrs before hand. And they were required to keep us update on the situation every x hours. We of course had backup generators to keep things up during those times. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/26 "2021-02-16T16:02:16Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Why is this an acceptable outcome from a public utility? If you can’t meet demand, then you shouldn’t be the provider. No system has 100% uptime. I’m not familiar enough with Texas or power generation infrastructure, but it’s a political question about how much money to invest in power generation against this sort of relatively rare failure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/27 "2021-02-16T16:28:04Z")
Also a matter of sharing. Texas decided to go its own way with ERCOT, so it’s not able to lean on other grids right now. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection#/media/File:Nercmap.JPG) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection#/media/File:Nercmap.JPG) > **[PowerOutage.us](https://poweroutage.us/area/state/texas)** > > PowerOutage.us tracks, records, and aggregates power outages across the United States. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/28 "2021-02-16T16:45:16Z")
Here’s what I gleaned from the press conference. The people that have power are on essential grids and can’t be shut off to “roll” the outages, i.e. hospitals, water treatment plants, etc. are on those grids. They were planning to do rolling blackouts in the areas that currently don’t have power, but they can’t even turn one grid back on without overloading the system, so they ended up having to turn all of them off and leaving them off. What a cluster\*\*\*\* Plus the internet goes out every 5 minutes and barely 26. Google ERCOT PLEASE ! CBS AUSTIN has update And KXAN KWTX, they have so many ads the page won’t load. I can get on this site. Somebody tell what they said? Please! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/29 "2021-02-16T17:14:17Z")
> [@shh1313](#): > > 2 cords of seasonsed oak, **misquote** and pecan This was too apt not to point out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/30 "2021-02-16T17:20:24Z")
> [@ishamael69](#): > > I’m just wondering why they don’t impact industry before residential Because industry+commercial pays them more money. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/31 "2021-02-16T17:22:02Z")
Spell check in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/32 "2021-02-16T17:44:11Z")
Not expecting power for 1 more day, minimum, and rolling blackouts when it comes back on. I have decamped to the main room, closing off the house and covering the windows as much as possible, while keeping the water running of course. Fireplace on, I put some of the firewood in that white bag but am really saving it for this evening when things go to shit again: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50950537067_bd70dd3917_b.jpg "20210216\_082238") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50950537067/) Covered the blinds with blankets: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50950441806_abec5b3dfa_b.jpg "20210216\_073810") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50950441806/) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50950441801_9cfa147924_b.jpg "20210216\_073818") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50950441801/) Blocked off the colder parts of my house so that the air doesn’t circulate as well. The above has raised the temps in the main room by 10, 15 degrees F. Put the food in a box outside. Will say, much of my meals need heat. Food may become an issue if this lasts longer than 2, 3 days. Our future: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50950555452_138cc66873_b.jpg "2021-02-16\_11-43-44") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/50950555452/) ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/33 "2021-02-16T19:39:06Z")
## Hello! Kempner Texas reporting in. Report on City Data Forum Texas forum rolling blackouts topic 1. North of Lubbock Texas wind turbines shut down. 2. Wide spread Internet outages. Spectrum, Son ATT, some Verizon. I will say I’m only getting 2 to 3 g or nothing. Tell people of your lucky enough to get power unplug your tvs and computers all the expensive stuff. The power burned up my surge protectors. I’m done with all that. I’m leaving my generators running as needed. 3. Wide spread cell phone outages. 4. I will not be citing a not this because I can’t get on the websites because when I’m luck enough to get 2G all of their FRICKING ADS PREVENT THE WEBSITE FROM LOADING. TURN THAT CRAP OFF ON THE NEWS WEBSITES CANNOT ACCESS THE SITE BECAUSE IT TIMES OUT!!! THANK YOU AND IF SOMEONE WOULD UPDATE THIS THREAD US TEXANS WOULD APPRECIATE. JUST READ AND TYPE YOUR VERSION OF WHAT IT SAID. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/34 "2021-02-16T19:52:29Z")
CNN, MSNBC, Abc, CBS, PBS, Every news outlet I will be emailing very soon. Please turn off your ads in Texas so your newS site won’t time out while we try to FIND OUT WHATS GOING ON ! ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/35 "2021-02-16T20:52:12Z")
[I came up with this, hopefully it will be helpful.](https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/we-have-seen-nothing-like-this-ercot-ceo-says-agency-still-cant-predict-when-texas-power-outages-will-end/287-6fb9564b-fd08-4ec6-acf5-a022971720ad) "DALLAS — WFAA conducted a 20-minute interview with Bill Magness on Tuesday morning to discuss the electric crisis Texas is facing as temperatures plunged statewide. Magness is the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the state’s power flow. He spoke with Jason Whitely from inside the control room in northeast Austin that oversees the Texas electric grid. Among the highlights of the conversation: the number of megawatts offline on Tuesday has increased substantially since Monday, presenting more potential power problems for the state. Magness said about 45,000 megawatts of electricity was offline Tuesday morning. ERCOT said that figure was 34,000 megawatts Monday. For context, one megawatt of electricity can power about 500 homes a year. ERCOT said the outages are from 70 to 80 power plants in Texas are currently offline. Statewide, there are about 680 power plants in the state. ERCOT cannot get power from the country’s eastern power grid on Tuesday, Magness said, because it is in the middle of its own storm outages. Mexico can only provide 450 megawatts of electricity and ERCOT is not connected to the country’s western power grid. Magness said he understands the frustration, confusion and anger from Texans in the dark. He said his wife and eighth grader are at home without electricity themselves." The actual ERCOT webpage doesn’t have anything about the outages. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/36 "2021-02-16T20:57:02Z")
I have called KXAN and explained to them and emailed all the prominant print and new media major corporations. I have explained about the very slow internet, yes we are grateful to have slow internet, we cannot ACCESS YOUR WEBSITES DUE TO ALL IF YOUR ADS. We are TIMED OUT. I still don’t know and SOME OF US INCLUDING MYSELF DON’T KNOW WHEN THE NEW STORM: WILL EFFECT: Austin, Houston, SAN Antonio, College Station, Temple, SAN Antonio and other towns in between. What time should we expect it should it head south? Now can one of you please tell me what you’ve heard. Remember I am only ‘still accessing’ Straight Dope Message Board and another Large Web Fórum because I’m timed out. The reason I’m posting here is because your is your message boss is not full of ads and neither is the site. I will be referring people here and the other forum that have slow internet. Also Thank Straight Dope for allowing me to get information out. I sincerely hope you will tell me some news. A Big Thank you from me! Regards, Stephanie ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/37 "2021-02-16T21:10:07Z")
I have called KXAN and explained to them and emailed all the prominant print and new media major corporations. I have explained about the very slow internet, yes we are grateful to have slow internet, we cannot ACCESS YOUR WEBSITES DUE TO ALL IF YOUR ADS. We are TIMED OUT. I still don’t know and SOME OF US INCLUDING MYSELF DON’T KNOW WHEN THE NEW STORM: WILL EFFECT: Austin, Houston, SAN Antonio, College Station, Temple, SAN Antonio and other towns in between. What time should we expect it should it head south? Now can one of you please tell me what you’ve heard. Remember I am only ‘still accessing’ Straight Dope Message Board and another Large Web Fórum because I’m timed out because being timed because the ADS . The reason I’m posting here is because your is your message board is not full of ads and neither is the other site. I will be referring people here and the other forum that have slow internet. Also Thank You Straight Dope for allowing me to get information out. I sincerely hope you will tell me some news. A Big Thank you from me! Regards, Stephanie ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/38 "2021-02-16T21:16:21Z")
Sorry about the double post. Edit didn’t give enough time. This SO FRUSTRATING! I hope you can figure out what I said. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/39 "2021-02-16T21:21:47Z")
[I also found this about the weather.](https://weather.com/safety/winter/news/2021-02-14-cross-country-winter-storm-northwest-south-midwest-east). It basically says you folks are screwed because you have a new storm hitting tonight. **Forecast Timing** _Tuesday-Tuesday Night_ Snowfall from this storm will spread out of the southern Rockies into western parts of Oklahoma and Texas during the day on Tuesday. Tuesday night, widespread snow could impact areas from northern Texas and Oklahoma to Arkansas and Missouri. This includes Dallas-Fort Worth, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Springfield, Missouri. Freezing rain and sleet will break out from central and eastern parts of Texas into northwest Louisiana. This ice will make travel conditions dangerous and could also damage trees and power lines. _Wednesday-Wednesday Night_ Snow will continue to spread northeastward from out of Oklahoma and northern Texas into parts of Arkansas, Missouri, western Tennessee and the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. Freezing rain and sleet could hamper travel from central and eastern Texas into portions of northern and western Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley. It’s possible that ice accumulations might be heavy enough to cause tree damage and power outages in some areas. Wednesday night, snow could expand farther east through the Ohio Valley, central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Significant icing might develop to the east of the Appalachians as far south as south-central and southwest Virginia and north-central and western North Carolina. _Wednesday-Wednesday Night_ Snow will continue to spread northeastward from out of Oklahoma and northern Texas into parts of Arkansas, Missouri, western Tennessee and the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. Freezing rain and sleet could hamper travel from central and eastern Texas into portions of northern and western Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley. It’s possible that ice accumulations might be heavy enough to cause tree damage and power outages in some areas. Wednesday night, snow could expand farther east through the Ohio Valley, central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Significant icing might develop to the east of the Appalachians as far south as south-central and southwest Virginia and north-central and western North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988/40 "2021-02-16T21:38:14Z")
> [@shh1313](#): > > Sorry about the double post. Edit didn’t give enough time. > > This SO FRUSTRATING! I hope you can figure out what I said. Don’t worry about your posts being pretty - you’ve got enough on your mind already. Tell us what you need and we’ll try to help. I’m going to try to get you some usable forecasts for those cities you named and post them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-blackouts-why-not-shut-down-industry/932988.md?page=3)