Rolling Blackouts in Texas

This morning, we are experiencing rolling blackouts in Texas, and throughout the U.S. This is not new for many states, but it is new for states like Texas that have more robust grids than those of the ailing northeast. In Texas, it is not the age of the grid, but rather a recent flood of immigration from the northern states due to the economy, causing massive population growth in Texas. Basically, the population in Texas is growing faster than the electrical grid can be expanded to take the extra load. As the U.S. economy continues to dive, this trend will only get worse. If our grid is this vulnerable from just a few extra people running their heat, imagine what would happen if there was a disaster that affected part of the grid. If so, the power could go down for days or weeks state wide like it does in the northern states. When this happens in the northern states, there are always casualties, and access to food is limited. To compound this problem, the number of "Black Start" power plants in Texas has been reduced to only a hand full. By "Black Start", I mean a power plant that has the ability to make electricity when the grid is completely down. In other words, it takes electricity to make electricity, and you can't start up a power plant with a little generator from Home Depot. I have spent the last 12 years working for an electrical utility in Texas, so I have some insight into this. If we lose the grid, in order to bring it back up, the "Black Start" power plants will have to physically isolate themselves from the rest of the grid, then bring their generators online, and only then can they start up their first turbines to start making electricity. Once this is done, these "Black Start" power plants can start to physically reconnect themselves to other isolated grid sections and bring up additional power plants around the state. Once all of the power plants are up around the state, they can start serving power to the population. This could take weeks or months. Even if we were able to get power from another state, the physical reconnecting would still be required. Currently while we have electricity, we can re-route power automatically using SCADA systems, which are computer controlled physical connections, but with no power, the SCADA systems will not work. All of these reconnections will have to be done with a human crew, under conditions that could include snow, ice, flooding, etc. Additionally, many utilities have put so much trust in the computerized systems, that the physical means to re-route the power don't even exist anymore, which would greatly complicate efforts to restore power. Basically, a loss of the grid in Texas now would be a devastating disaster, but the dominoes are already lined up and ready to fall due to overpopulation, an undersized grid, reliance on computer technology, decommissioning of older "Black Start" power plants, and the lack of public knowledge and involvement.

As individuals, we can do little to change what is happening with the growth of the state, or the condition of the electric grid, but we can help ourselves individually and in small groups. The root problem individually, is our dependence on electricity. We use it for heating, but it is also required to maintain our food supply. You cannot run the gas pumps to fuel the trucks that deliver food without electricity. Your local store only has about three days of food on hand based on average demand, and the shelves can be picked clean in minutes during and leading up to a disaster. This is why everyone should keep at least several weeks worth of food on hand at all times, if not a few months worth. The last thing you need to be doing in a disaster or in bad weather is to be out buying the last food scraps on the shelf. As for heat, everyone needs to be able to warm some part of their home without electricity. This usually means using propane, natural gas, or wood. Even some gas heating systems still require a small amount of electricity to operate, so learn how your system works and prepare accordingly. I personally use electricity to heat my home primarily, but I also have propane heat, and a wood burning stove. Many homes today are built with a fireplace that will run on gas or wood, so just make sure you have plenty of fuel on hand at all times. If you have a little food, fuel, and water stored up, you can concentrate on staying warm and safe.

-Richard