Welcome winter. My, how we’ve missed you.
Igloos and ice skates. Frozen mustaches. Glistening fields of white.
Rolling blackouts.
OK, we could do without the latter.
This prolonged arctic blast is one for the books, toppling century-old records and turning the Great Plains into Siberia.
It’s also putting an unprecedented strain on the Midwest’s power grid as we crank up the heat, going beyond worst-case scenarios grid operators had planned for. For some, the results have been catastrophic.
In Texas, a systemwide failure has led several of the country’s largest oil refineries to suspend production due to the snow and ice, leaving millions without power.
The disrupted energy systems — particularly oil and natural gas — are roiling energy markets.
On Monday, the wholesale price of electricity surged by more than a thousand percent.
The weather has also meant a halt to some businesses and industries. In Kansas City, Ford Motor halted production for one week beginning Saturday in order to alleviate energy demands so more households could stay warm.
The Southwest Power Pool, of which Kansas belongs along with 13 other states, ordered controlled rolling cutoffs of electric service due to the high demand by consumers that is overwhelming its available generation. It’s the first time in its history for such a decision.
For those who do have power, “please try to live almost like you don’t,” pleaded Austin, Texas mayor Steve Adler.
Adler speaks for leaders across the country as the storm makes its way east.
SO WHAT are the takeaways from the power failures?
Diversification. And more back-up.
Many of the gas-fired power plants were knocked offline due to the icy conditions as well as a shortage of natural gas due to the high demand by consumers.
The bitter cold also posed problems for industries that rely on coal.
Because it’s stored outside, once its moisture content freezes it turns into a concrete-like substance that requires it to then be broken up into manageable chunks.
Once frozen, the inferior product also doesn’t generate as much electricity as it normally would, according to experts, in addition to being a terrible pollutant when burned.
Utilities that have broad power portfolios that include wind and solar, fare better in such instances.
