Grid

In trial run for hurricane season, South Miami’s solar-powered mayor went off the grid

Mon, 2019-04-15 20:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Solar panels on the roof of South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard’s energy-efficient home in South Miami on Saturday, April 13, 2019. Stoddard went off the grid for seven days to test the house’s readiness for hurricane season and used only solar panels and two Tesla wall batteries to power his home. Daniel A. Varela ***@***.***

miamiherald.com - by Linda Robertson - April 15, 2019

Hurricane season is coming and Philip Stoddard is ready . . .

. . . Stoddard, a champion of solar energy and green living, took his family on a trial run in preparation for the next Irma or Andrew . . .

. . . He turned off the main power switch located in a panel on the side of his house . . . For the next seven days, he and his family were able to operate the central air-conditioning unit during an unseasonably hot March week, all appliances, computers, lights, TV, solar water heater with an electric on-demand booster, and backyard pond pump, and charge the car without once running out of juice.

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Microgrids as Resilient Energy Infrastructure

Thu, 2018-03-29 07:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Microgrid at Princeton University

utilitydive.com - March 20, 2018

The National Academy of Sciences defines “resilience” as the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events. Since the September 2017 DOE NOPR to FERC, the energy industry has been working overtime to better define resilience. FERC unanimously set aside the “90 days on-site fuel storage” provision espoused by DOE and opened a new docket (AD18-7) to more fully examine the current state of grid resiliency, asking the nation’s seven RTO’s and ISO’s to provide their definition of resiliency relative to the bulk power system by March 9. Those ISO/RTO comments reflected regional variances as expected while sharing a common thread of the paradigm shift underway from central station power plants to more distributed generation . . .

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AEP CEO: Harvey 'devastated' transmission, distribution system in south Texas

Sat, 2017-09-02 17:15 — Maeryn Obley

Flooding during Hurricane Harvey.

Image: Flooding during Hurricane Harvey.

utilitydive.com - Robert Walton - September 1st 2017

Dive Brief:

American Electric Power's transmission and distribution system in its south Texas service territory has been "devastated," CEO Nick Akins told Bloomberg yesterday.

In an interview with the financial news provider, Akins said several transmission lines are down including over 20 miles on one system that is "laying on the ground."

While utilities struggle to bring power back online to affected communities, the operator for most of the state said the grid remains in stable condition and Electric Reliability Council of Texas competitive markets continue to operate.

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Beaumont water system knocked out by rising floodwaters

Thu, 2017-08-31 08:49 — Maeryn Obley

Keith Delahoussaye puts single bottles of water into a box after grabbing them from the cooler at a Beaumont convenience store early Thursday morning. Photo/Scott Eslinger-KBMT

Image: Keith Delahoussaye puts single bottles of water into a box after grabbing them from the cooler at a Beaumont convenience store early Thursday morning. Photo/Scott Eslinger-KBMT

12newsnow.com - August 31st 2017

The City of Beaumont has lost it's water supply after rising waters due to Tropical Storm Harvey knocked out the systems main input pump.

The city of Beaumont is anticipated to lose water pressure in the system in the next three to four hours according to a release from the City of Beaumont.

As news of the water system spread people began buying up water wherever they could find it.

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Are Solar and Wind Really Killing Coal, Nuclear and Grid Reliability?

Wed, 2017-05-17 00:20 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Lessons from the Lone Star State: A surge in wind power on the Texas grid didn’t cause reliability problems (and brought down electricity prices) because regulators improved the efficiency of wholesale electricity markets. Sarah Fields Photography/Shutterstock.com

theconversation.com - by Joshua D. Rhodes, Michael E. Webber, Thomas Deetjen and Todd Davidson - May 11, 2017

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in April requested a study to assess the effect of renewable energy policies on nuclear and coal-fired power plants.

Some energy analysts responded with confusion, as the subject has been extensively studied by grid operators and the Department of Energy’s own national labs. Others were more critical, saying the intent of the review is to favor the use of nuclear and coal over renewable sources.

So, are wind and solar killing coal and nuclear? Yes, but not by themselves and not for the reasons most people think. Are wind and solar killing grid reliability? No, not where the grid’s technology and regulations have been modernized. In those places, overall grid operation has improved, not worsened.

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Mayor: Why My Texas Town Ditched Fossil Fuel

Mon, 2015-04-20 17:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Cattle graze beneath turbines at the Penascal Wind Power Project in Kenedy County, Texas. Officials in Georgetown, Texas announced that the city will transition from fossil-fuel generated electricity to power solely produced using renewable energy by 2017. Business Wire

Dale Ross is the Mayor of Georgetown, Texas. - 100% renewable energy made good business sense

time.com - by Dale Ross - March 27, 2015

Georgetown is a city of 54,000 just north of Austin known for beautiful Victorian-era architecture around our historic courthouse square. Founded in 1848, we are home to Southwestern University, a small liberal arts college.

The City of Georgetown recently announced that our municipal electric utility will move to 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2017. That probably caught some folks by surprise.

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