Anyone know why Texas has its own power grid? Does it really use that much power? Maybe something to do with oil?
They keep mentioning on the news that Texas has its own grid but nobody has given any background. Thanks!
Wow – what a prescient question.
Maybe Texas had a good idea.
You’re thinking of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Texas did this to form a self-contained power system. About 85-90% of the power consumed in Texas comes from within the ERCOT region of Texas.
For a map of this region, see here:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/prim2/chapter7.html
Interties send power in and out of the region to the other grids, and to Mexico, but only in small amounts. According to a quickly Googled source alleged to be in the PUC of Texas, there is only a net outflow of 150MW from the ERCOT region, compared to 62,000 MW generated in-state.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hreg/message/1509
At one time, it was thought that the ERCOT would include portions of Oklahoma, Louisiana, and other South and Southwest States, but this never happened.
Being separate from the rest of the US, ERCOT is not controlled by FERC or NERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Council, respectively.
You can find some other hints as to why under this link. It says about what I would say, but I sadly do not have the time to type more, as I’m dealing with power-related issues in NY State…
Who are "they’??
Where I live, our electricity is provided by Xcel Energy, formerly SPS. Serves the northern Panhandle and into southern Colorado IIRC. Other parts of the Panhandle are served by a different provider, can’t recall the name, but there are Rural Electric Co-Ops all around here. The power for Xcel is mostly generated by the Polk Station near Amarillo…it is a coal powered plant. A 80MW wind farm was recently added to the Xcel grid.
A quick Google shows that other states evidently call the power lines within their borders the “Power Grid” I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, just the way the amount of power each state consumes is measured.
Duke of Rat – Look at the first link in Anthracite’s reply, specifically this image:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/prim2/fig15.gif
It sounds like you’re part of what’s called the “Eastern Interconnection”.
Acording to this Power Point on dereg in Texas:
http://www.tppa.com/events/mtgArchives/docs/ercot2003.ppt
3rd page
“Texas Interconnected System (TIS) was formed in WW2 to supply power to aluminum smelters on the gulf coast”
Not much other useful info after that, though.