[strider3700]

I believe those large winter electric usage spikes took place during very high natural gas and heating oil price periods. People switched to space heaters to try and keep costs down. I'm not worried about usage causing a blackout this winter. I wouldn't bet against a bad storm and poorly maintained grid resulting in serious outages in various parts of the country though.

[Starvid]

As power consumption is always highest in midwinter and the power supply is pretty stretched we have a 10 % chance of blackouts every year. That is, we get blackouts if we get a 10-year winter, a winter so cold it on average only happens once in ten years.

Well, this year we have an extra problem. As power consumption is always lowest during the hottest part of summer, that's when we refuel our nukes. But this year our two biggest (identical) nukes have broken down due to failure in the control rods, and IIRC they'll be offline at least til christmas. Further IIRC our smallest reactor is offline for some reason or other. In total, a third of our nuke capacity is offline.

Given that nukes produce half our electricity in any given year this sounds worse than it is, because the hydro output can be surged for a limited time even though this depletes the reserves behind the dams. But it still aggravates our ten year blackout problem, where every megawatt counts, as we also usually surge the hydro output in winter.

Best hopes for a warm winter!

[IslandCrow]

I have a heat pump, and when it gets that cold I make sure the wood burning stoves are lit as well.

Last winter was mild where I am, but I did get through it without the need for the 'supplimentary heating coils' to be activated once!

As in the natural world bio-diversity is a benefit, so with planning for the effects of a crumbling society as it faces peak credit/debt/oil, it is good to have more than one source of heating.

[Starvid]

This just in: one of the two big ones, O3, will start on Christmas eve itself. What a great christmas present! (In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th, not the 25th).


This is what the reactor hall of O3 looks like.

[KevO]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', 'T')his does leave me wondering what's been happening to CO[sub]2[/sub] emissions since electricity is mostly derived from fossil fuels.

[pup55]

I have to agree with the cornucopians on this one, the lights are being shut off as we speak.

The exception to this might be cutbacks in the maintenance budgets for some of these utilities, which would make the already fragile grid more vulnerable to some big ice event or other screwup that might happen roughly east of the mississippi.

The problem is more like: how are these quasi-private institutions going to weather a turndown in growth? They have invested a lot in infrastructure, just like everybody else, with a growth-oriented strategy.... How do they manage shrinkage?

A lot of this was not an issue when these companies were more heavily regulated, but you have to be a little concerned about the financial situation in some of the weaker ones.

[MarkJ]

No problems in my region of the Northeast. Most everyone uses natural gas, heating oil, kerosene, propane, wood, pellets or coal for space heating. Supplemental heat from gas/propane/wood/pellet fireplaces & stoves is big in my region as well.

We have mostly hydronic heat in my region. Many homes and commercial buildings with boilers generally produce domestic hot water with tankless boiler coils or indirect water heaters which reduces electricity consumption as well.

Extended winter electricity outages are common in my region due to wet snow, ice, fallen trees/branches, wind, accidents etc, hence why many people have extra gas, multiple or larger heating oil/kerosene/propane tanks, extra food & water, generators, inverters, chain saws and supplemental/backup heat.

Whenever there's an extended power outage, generators sell out quickly.

Locals often cut and move fallen trees out of the road before the town, village, county or utility crews get to them. Provides people with firewood as well.

[Tanada]

Sing i didn't see anyone else mention on this thread, slowing economy and closed industrial facilities makes a big dent in electricity consumption. With all those manufactories closed their is less industrial demand and hence a larger buffer in the overall system.

[jbeckton]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', 'H')istorically there is the well-known summer air conditioning electricity usage peak.

Not too long ago it was demonstrated that a winter electricity usage peak also was occurring.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'T')his just in: one of the two big ones, O3, will start on Christmas eve itself. What a great christmas present! (In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th, not the 25th).
...
This is what the reactor hall of O3 looks like.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'T')his just in: one of the two big ones, O3, will start on Christmas eve itself. What a great christmas present! (In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th, not the 25th).
...
This is what the reactor hall of O3 looks like.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'F')inite in theory, but unlimited in practice. I recently had a chat with a member of the NEA uranium reserve data council (or something like that) and he told me the thing I have have always suspected: there is very much uranium out there, but no one knows exactly how much as people haven't really been bothered to look much for it.

[jbeckton]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'F')inite in theory, but unlimited in practice. I recently had a chat with a member of the NEA uranium reserve data council (or something like that) and he told me the thing I have have always suspected: there is very much uranium out there, but no one knows exactly how much as people haven't really been bothered to look much for it.

[oowolf]

Looks like we're about to get a major arctic storm with record lows all the way into southern California, with an even worse storm coming just before Christmas. Should be interesting.
Get the word out.

[Ludi]

30% chance of snow here tonight. Central Texas about 30 degrees n latitude.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'F')inite in theory, but unlimited in practice. I recently had a chat with a member of the NEA uranium reserve data council (or something like that) and he told me the thing I have have always suspected: there is very much uranium out there, but no one knows exactly how much as people haven't really been bothered to look much for it.

[Golgo13]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'F')inite in theory, but unlimited in practice. I recently had a chat with a member of the NEA uranium reserve data council (or something like that) and he told me the thing I have have always suspected: there is very much uranium out there, but no one knows exactly how much as people haven't really been bothered to look much for it.

You can be sure that people are lying to you when they say uranium will last for X years, because no one really knows

[JJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '3')0% chance of snow here tonight. Central Texas about 30 degrees n latitude.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Golgo13', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'F')inite in theory, but unlimited in practice. I recently had a chat with a member of the NEA uranium reserve data council (or something like that) and he told me the thing I have have always suspected: there is very much uranium out there, but no one knows exactly how much as people haven't really been bothered to look much for it.

You can be sure that people are lying to you when they say uranium will last for X years, because no one really knows

[wisconsin_cur]

A neighboring county announced that they were having some peak demand and those who had signed up for automated reduction of their electric usage (like air conditioners in the south in the summer except electric hot water heaters and baseboard heat) would have their appliances turned off. Peak demand was to last until 8pm.