Which it was. Neighboring ISO (SPP) still massive discount to ERCOT prices. I am in the wholesale power business and understand this shit way better than anyone else here, trust me. This is nothing.
No. The DC ties from SPP were maxed out for the duration. The DC ties from Mexico did not flow in because ERCOT banned gas exports which blacked out northern Mexico. There was no more gen running in ERCOT that was available, prices were so incredibly high that even the tiniest generator would have made a killing. The problem was mainly that gas supply was not available due to frozen wellheads.
I believe you are in the industry and probably know a lot better than I do, but this situation really doesn't make sense to me. The limitations of needing to declare emergencies (which I do not know the specifics of but I'm sure it isn't just a The-Office-esque "I DECLARE EMERGENCY" being yelled out the window), having to buy outside power, and having to radically overcharge for over generation had no real effect? I don't understand why, if they wanted full power generation to be available to save lives, they wouldn't just say "for these 5 days lets not worry about a few tenths of a percent extra emissions on the year, go ahead and run full bore right out the gate." Why instead did the whole order read like it was 100% about telling them how and when they cannot run over the enviro regs? I guess it is plausible that even had they said "go ahead and run full bore" it still would have ended up this way, but when it does end up this way hindsight certainly puts into perspective that they care more about insignificantly increased gas emissions than they do about immediate threats to people's lives. I mean, the order literally says "if you end up having to deliver power over your enviro quotas, you have to charge people $1500/mwh." I mean, you're in a situation where people can't heat their homes and the federal government is arbitrarily price gouging to curtail usage? WTF is that about?
It wasn’t even close to enough. They ran everything they had. There were problems with wind gen but it paled in comparison to the problems with gas production and distribution.
Which it was. Neighboring ISO (SPP) still massive discount to ERCOT prices. I am in the wholesale power business and understand this shit way better than anyone else here, trust me. This is nothing.
So this is ERCOT not understanding that, or not giving a shit and saying "fuck it"?
There wasn’t enough power dude. Like short by 30gw. Environmental shit didn’t matter. They would have burned the family pets if they could have.
You seem a little hostile there bud, it was an honest question, you said this is what you do for a living.
So again, the problem here was that ERCOT could have raised output or bought from out of state, but didn't?
No. The DC ties from SPP were maxed out for the duration. The DC ties from Mexico did not flow in because ERCOT banned gas exports which blacked out northern Mexico. There was no more gen running in ERCOT that was available, prices were so incredibly high that even the tiniest generator would have made a killing. The problem was mainly that gas supply was not available due to frozen wellheads.
I believe you are in the industry and probably know a lot better than I do, but this situation really doesn't make sense to me. The limitations of needing to declare emergencies (which I do not know the specifics of but I'm sure it isn't just a The-Office-esque "I DECLARE EMERGENCY" being yelled out the window), having to buy outside power, and having to radically overcharge for over generation had no real effect? I don't understand why, if they wanted full power generation to be available to save lives, they wouldn't just say "for these 5 days lets not worry about a few tenths of a percent extra emissions on the year, go ahead and run full bore right out the gate." Why instead did the whole order read like it was 100% about telling them how and when they cannot run over the enviro regs? I guess it is plausible that even had they said "go ahead and run full bore" it still would have ended up this way, but when it does end up this way hindsight certainly puts into perspective that they care more about insignificantly increased gas emissions than they do about immediate threats to people's lives. I mean, the order literally says "if you end up having to deliver power over your enviro quotas, you have to charge people $1500/mwh." I mean, you're in a situation where people can't heat their homes and the federal government is arbitrarily price gouging to curtail usage? WTF is that about?
The gen wasn’t there. The regulations didn’t matter. A massive amount of gas gen couldn’t run because the gas supply simply was not there.
Ok. Did something go wrong or did they run everything and it simply wasn't enough even full bore?
It wasn’t even close to enough. They ran everything they had. There were problems with wind gen but it paled in comparison to the problems with gas production and distribution.