The Texas power system failed in extreme weather. The same could happen in N.C. [View all]

Texas is in the dark. Could that happen here?

Many Texans have been without electricity for days as the power system operator struggles to bring its customers back online. North Carolinians may be asking themselves, “Could that happen here?”

To understand our risk, we need to be clear about the causes of the Texas disaster. Power systems are designed to meet the hours of highest demand, which has typically been hot summer days when people are running air conditioners. But in some regions, winter heating is driving those peaks in electricity demand.

In Texas, the bitter cold spell sent electricity demand soaring far beyond previous records. In addition, the grid was not designed to handle these extremes. The natural gas system was the biggest contributor to this failure with frozen delivery infrastructure reducing fuel supply. This supply reduction was exacerbated by the need to prioritize natural gas for home heating over electricity supply at a time of record demand. So when their governor sought to blame renewable energy for this catastrophe, his comments were disingenuous at best. Solar is a bit player in Texas and the unavailability of any wind turbines is minor compared to these thermal plant outages.

So can this happen in North Carolina? Certainly, but we do have a few factors working in our favor. While over half of the electricity in Texas comes from natural gas, our region has a more diverse mix of electricity sources. We also have a greater reserve margin than Texas – meaning that we have more “extra” power plant capacity to serve as a buffer. Perhaps most importantly, while Texas is largely an isolated grid, we are part of a large interconnected network spanning the Dakotas to Maine to Florida. This means that we can rely on our neighbors for help in meeting peak demand.

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article249374940.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)