With back-to-back winter storms stretching across the U.S. and pummeling the East Coast, significant stress for the electric grid is coming to the forefront. Between widespread outages, travel disruptions and emergency alerts across multiple regions, grid edge technologies are being increasingly called and relied on. The storms are part of a larger pattern of climate-driven extreme weather that puts the aging grid infrastructure under strain. The news roundup below highlights real-time grid management and emergency operations, as well as regional vulnerabilities and rising demand on the grid.
Winter storm tests US electric grid as outages spread – POLITICO
The concern about energy supplies will grow in the coming days as Fern plunges millions into a cold spell that will put a significant draw on heating and electricity resources. The polar vortex conditions that plunged Arctic air all the way to the Gulf Coast are expected to drive temperatures even lower through the end of the week, running the risk of exhausting power supplies or debilitating the electricity grid.
The chief threat to the electric grid comes from ice and freezing rain that can topple trees and strain power lines. Given the storm’s expansive geographic range, utilities may have fewer personnel to dispatch to help neighboring regions deal with outages as they face disruptions in their own territories.
US Winter Storm Prompts Power Grid Emergencies, Travel Chaos – Bloomberg
As of late Saturday, more than 15,200 flights across the US were grounded through Monday, levels not seen since the government shutdown last year, airline tracking company FlightAware said. About 236,000 homes and businesses from Colorado to the Atlantic were without power at 3 a.m. New York time, with the bulk of them in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, PowerOutage.us said.
The combination of heavy snow and significant sleet accumulation will cause widespread travel disruptions that could last several days, the Weather Prediction Center said in its latest storm bulletin. It also warned of “catastrophic ice accumulation” from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
The Texas grid froze 5 years ago. Is it ready for this weekend’s winter storm? – Straight Arrow News
The recent launch of the real-time co-optimization system was years in the making, said Kevin Sarkinen, executive vice president at Open Access Technology International, a software company whose platforms help ERCOT and utility companies process information on how much power is flowing around the grid.
Sarkinen told SAN the new system is a “game changer” improving operations so that “emergency energy supply will be optimized in real time to meet the immediate needs of the grid.”
As for the storm, Sarkinen expressed confidence. Utilities and grid operators are “prepared for dealing with the unexpected,” he said.
The winter storm exposed the grid’s real weakness: Lots of old poles – Grist
As the country grapples with skyrocketing power demand, extreme weather events now spur contentious debates about what kinds of energy work best. Conservatives blamed the California heat wave blackouts in 2020 on renewable energy, and climate advocates blamed the freeze in Texas in 2021 on the state’s reliance on natural gas, with each side claiming that its resources are more reliable. Winter Storm Fern barreled across the country this week, resurrecting concerns over the grid in Texas, where the state has added ample solar batteries, and in New England, which lost access to hydropower from Canada.
Power Outages Could Rise as Freezing Temperatures Persist – The New York Times
The explosive winter storm that moved from the Southwest to the Northeast comes as electric grids struggle to manage a staggering rise in electricity demand from data centers, some of which support the development of artificial intelligence.
This is the first major test of the power system’s resilience during a potent winter storm in the era of huge data center expansion. In an unusual move, the Department of Energy late Sunday ordered the manager of Texas’ main electric grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, to direct data centers and other facilities that consume a lot of energy to begin using backup generators in an effort to prevent blackouts.
Like other grid operators, ERCOT issued weather alerts ahead of the storm but expected conditions on the system to remain normal.
Winter Storm Could Test Fragile Power Grid, Officials Warn Of Outages – Forbes
The southern states in the projected path of this storm are at heightened risk for power system and grid failures, as their infrastructure is not designed to withstand the forecasted extreme cold temperatures, snow, and ice. According to the National Weather Service, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas face a significant threat of extended power outages due to heavy ice accumulation. This situation poses substantial danger by impeding emergency response efforts, as hazardous road conditions may prevent timely assistance.
Even if regional power generation systems remain operational during the anticipated near-zero temperatures, the predicted volume of ice is likely to bring down numerous trees and power lines, increasing the likelihood of prolonged outages.
The challenges extend beyond grid infrastructure to include locations where energy is produced, such as power generating stations and wellheads.
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***News roundup guest post from FischTank PR interns Abby Collins and Candace Guthrie***
