Power Blackouts hit Texas

[Branwen]

I received this notice in my e-mail from the Emergency Email & Wireless Network. It's a free service that you can sign up for to get Electronic Notification of any Severe Weather Changes in your area along with other notices such as Pandemics of Avian Flu, Mumps, and just about anything else.

Here is the link: Power Blackouts hit Texas (http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/templates/templatestandard1.asp?articleid=26&zoneid=1)

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Regards

[Isabelle Fawkes]

I can attest to a brown-out here in Ft Worth. It happened last night around 6:00pm and lasted about half an hour. With the heat rising into the century mark again today I expect more of the same.

!!!Thanks for the links they should come in handy!!!

[Buxom Wench]

Yup, heard on the news that Texas was being set-up for rolling blackouts today due to the extra electrical use. Good luck and stay hydrated!!!

[Buxom Wench]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/wireStory?id=1853798&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Hot Temperatures Force Blackouts in TexasHot Temperatures, Power Demand Force Blackouts in Texas

By STEVE QUINN

HOUSTON Apr 18, 2006 (AP)— Faced with the prospect of another day of record heat, the state's power suppliers urged Texans to cut down on their electricity use in the hopes of avoiding more rolling blackouts.

Power companies throughout the state imposed the blackouts Monday because of an electricity shortage during unseasonably hot weather. Thousands of people were caught without electricity for short periods of time as highs reached into the low 100s, and police rushed to direct traffic during the afternoon rush hour.

Highs were expected to reach into the upper 90s on Tuesday before returning to a more normal range in the 70s and 80s on Wednesday.

"We are asking everybody to pitch in and do the best they can by minimizing electric consumption between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., the peak hours," said Paul Wattles, spokesman for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the state's electricity grid.

As much as 15 percent of the state's power supply was already off line for seasonal maintenance to brace for the summer's energy usage peaks, but four power generating plants also shut down unexpectedly, Wattles said. Officials were pushing to get power flowing again from the generators that had been idled.

ERCOT said operations were back to normal by Monday evening.

The typical usage for Texas in April is about 40,000 megawatts a day, but the state pushed 52,000 megawatts on Monday, Wattles said. The rollouts were limited to the ERCOT grid, which provides electricity to about 80 percent of the state.

A recorded high of 101 degrees at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport broke the previous high of 94, set in 1913 and matched in 1925, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures reached 107 degrees in Laredo.

The rolling blackouts, which lasted for a little more than two hours, were the first in the ERCOT region since Dec. 22, 1989, during a winter ice storm.