TEXAS SAVED BY WIND, SMART GRID

Texas Heat Wave: More Demand Response Needed; Texas can do better than barely averting rolling blackouts.
Katherine Tweed, August 9, 2011 (Greentech Media)

"…Texas’ power grid set record level power use for three consecutive days [in early August]…The high demand topped off at 68,294 megawatts…The near-peak electricity use continued…with the grid operator ERCOT calling on demand response…despite slightly lower consumption. Wind contributed about 2,000 megawatts during some of the most crucial hours…

"ERCOT issued a level 2 alert for rolling blackouts, although they were ultimately avoided. The grid survived, but there is still a lot of room for improvement…ERCOT did not call on its demand response services on the record-setting day, but rather the following day when some generation units were offline. ERCOT used about 1,150 MW of responsive reserves…and another 440 MW of emergency interruptible load shed…"

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"The demand for energy sent prices sky high, topping out at $2,500 per megawatt-hour…more than 50 times the on-peak wholesale average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

"With wind and demand response coming to the rescue, ERCOT and other regions are being buoyed during heat waves by technology and generation enabled by a smarter grid…[It’s] not a win for smart grid, but more like advancing through the early rounds…"