Joachim Gessner’s Post

Last week's unprecedented heat caused New England's grid operator to declare a Level 1 emergency and electricity prices briefly jumped to almost $2,000 per megawatt-hour — ten times the usual day-ahead cost! https://lnkd.in/ezw2enwS To ensure reliability, utilities must proactively embrace new hourly demand flexibility, including energy efficiency, demand response, and other behind-the-meter solutions. This proven strategy can be rolled out quickly and cost-effectively through a performance-based approach. Performance-based markets that pay for hourly savings incentivize innovation and often find peak savings in unexpected places. This was the basis of California's highly successful market access program, created in response to the heat storm that caused rolling blackouts in the summer of 2020. The key is accurate, consistent, and transparent measurement to provide a price signal that allows these solutions to work together as comprehensive virtual power plants. Learn more about this approach here: https://lnkd.in/eky3htyY #demandflexibility #gridsolutions

🌡️ No surprise, Texas Heat is Pushing the Limits of the Grid Under normal circumstances of the grid, ERCOT energy prices are around $35 per megawatt hour. Last night at peak demand, prices hit $5,000 dollars per megawatt hour - A 143x increase. Just yesterday, Texans set an unofficial record for electricity use, with power demand surging to a whopping 85,559 megawatts. With the heat index soaring, businesses, schools, and homes across the state are cranking up their air conditioners, pushing the grid to its brink. For Texas business owners, this isn't just a headline—it's a call to action. As electricity prices spike and demand tests new records, there's a critical opportunity to not only reduce your energy costs but also support the stability of our power grid. By participating in ERCOT's demand response programs, your business can help alleviate the strain during peak hours, particularly when solar energy wanes and traditional power plants are at full tilt. These programs offer incentives for reducing power usage at critical times, helping you manage costs while playing a vital role in preventing outages. Don't just join the movement. Protect your bottom line while supporting Texas. #Texas #ERCOT #DemandResponse #EnergyEfficiency #BusinessStrategy #Sustainability #PowerGrid #RenewableEnergy #ClimateResilience Media Source: Bloomberg

Energy and Electricity in Texas in a Minute 2 of 3 https://lnkd.in/gv8ig9Cd

Frigid temperatures have been no stranger to most Americans across the U.S. the past several winters, and amid the growing shift from coal to natural gas for electricity generation, it’s becoming even more critical for America to invest in #NaturalGas infrastructure to meet growing energy demand and ensure access to clean, affordable and reliable energy, especially during extreme cold outbreaks.   Read more on the vulnerability of America’s electrical grid from Tom Winter and Kevin Monahan:

ERCOT asks Texas power generators to delay outages in expected heat this week. The state has seen power demand continuously rise with population and business growth. While ERCOT has not yet asked Texans to conserve power, there are a number of solutions that the state needs to implement to avoid spiking demand and electricity prices. Improving energy efficiency and utility goals, implementing weatherization for homes and businesses, and compensating residential customers for demand response—shifting their energy load and use during peak times—are straightforward measures that will have a meaningful impact on the #txenergy grid. https://ow.ly/cG5f50Rgv3h

With several electricity supply scares over the weekend of frigid temperatures, we have seen more inquiries for battery storage this week than all of last year. People just don't trust that we have enough supply or stability to our grids, so they want to make and store their own And it's really no surprise, while many people throughout the province have debated the makeup of the energy mix of our grid. The real problems have less to do with the mix and more to do with the intention. Almost a decade ago the AESO that actually does a fantastic job running our grid and providing options to our government, provided a report recommending the move to a capacity market to ensure supply to our growing energy demand. We were moving in that direction when we suddenly stepped back from it. This would have prevented these issues and created a stable price environment. But there is even more, The principle of a deregulated energy market that we currently use is that it works on basic capitalist principles. As in if there is enough demand, generation will fill the market and balance the price. The problem is that we capped this price at $1000 CAD/MWh unlike many other markets with much higher caps. A couple examples would be Washington State which is more than double our cap had a natural gas facility go down on Saturday due to weather and BC was able to fill that void due to the price. Texas for example now has a cap of $5000 USD/MWh which has seen its energy storage 10x since the famous winter storm of 2021 to a massive 5000 MWs, expected to 10,000 MWs before the end of the year. Texas has a higher peak but a lower average due the competitive environment they operate. *Albertans looking to take advantage of the $5000 Greener homes rebate with the $40,000 interest free loan only have until the end of February to get approved for the grant. Solar and batteries are eligible #albertaenergy #canadianenergy

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists warns that gas-fired power plants have made overstated claims of reliability, making consumers vulnerable to widespread blackouts. “In a world with a rapidly changing climate and increasingly frequent gas plant failures, we must reassess the role of this resource in ensuring grid reliability," writes the USC. "Gas plants are vulnerable to a range of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, cold snaps, and droughts, with the most catastrophic failures occurring in winter.” The U.S. has suffered five separate large-scale grid outages in the past 11 years, mostly driven by the failure of gas-fired power during periods of extreme cold. “Each event caused significant, unplanned losses of generation capacity due to freezing equipment, disrupted fuel supplies, and other system failures... The connection between cold-weather failures at gas wells, compressor stations, and other key links in the nation’s gas pipeline delivery network and the ability of gas-fired power plants to serve the grid when they’re most needed are even less understood and accounted for.” UCS also warns that gas plants can underperform during heatwaves when cooling power is most needed, and that drought can “hamstring” water-dependent power plants. https://lnkd.in/gYuxiSfy

Good article - and I am glad we are getting more gas for now But I hate that the State of Texas has had to become a bank - not anything I think a state should do and I hate that that fund will expand. This is a patch at best and does not solve the situation. If the amount of solar on the EROCT interconnect actually gets built, (155GW) - we still have a mess of a grid to work around, then more transmission and screams (already started) for Ercot interconnection. So no problem solved in real life and it will end up being more expensive for us as the end consumer. They need to stop the patching and more patching of their legislative mistakes. We cannot endlessly just keep allowing whoever wants to be a generator on the grid - (we no longer have a free market system, so lets admit it and move on) there needs to be some rules "for the public good"... (lord...I hate that statement!).... but in this case I think it is time to say how much of each generation type has what percentage of generation on the grid - then let them all bid for a slot and we then will get cheaper prices in the long run. If Texas stands behind their generators, maybe the banks will fall n line too! Time to take a stand - we are much bigger than most countries and we don't have to follow Europe's path to de industrialization or the federal governments. rant over.. https://lnkd.in/ga-jw4WV

Our CEO Craig de Laine contributed this piece to today’s Herald Sun. Craig shared insights into the crucial role gas played when the electricity network was damaged and a major coal generator went offline following heavy storm activity on February 13. Fast starting gas generators drew immediate supply from the market and stepped up to provide more than 20 per cent of the State’s power during the evening peak demand. Craig said, “The reliability that gas provided to the State’s energy system cannot be understated. In areas where the electricity grid was unable to supply power, gas customers were still able to cook a hot meal on their gas cooktop. In fact, fewer than five of our 1.5 million gas customers were without supply during the recent storms.” Craig also shared concerns held by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), that reliability is a key challenge in Victoria and, unless prompt action is taken, AEMO predicts more frequent and severe electricity blackouts to come this decade (2023 Electricity Statement of Opportunities (aemo.com.au) – p3, p58). Craig urged policy makers to take this into consideration as we look to the future – that our governments need to provide more energy options, not fewer. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g_hatUwm #GasReliability #EnergySecurity 

Texas Is Warned of Blackout Risk as Sun Sets This Summer - Texas warned of potential blackouts after the sun sets - Soaring demand, extreme weather are behind supply concerns May 16, 2024 The risk of power failures this summer remains elevated for many parts of North America amid soaring demand and generator shutdowns. The main Texas grid is especially vulnerable at sunset when solar generation plunges and demand remains high, with the riskiest hour from 8 to 9 p.m. in August, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said in its summer assessment Wednesday. There’s an 18% probability a grid emergency will be declared and a nearly 15% chance for controlled blackouts in that period. https://lnkd.in/gBzzJ32v