Voluntary Energy Reduction
Voluntary Energy Reduction
For the past few weeks, it’s been a nearly everyday ask from ERCOT and relayed via AE.
Does anybody know if these voluntary energy reductions have any impact? The TX grid is managed so horribly. Fuck PUC.
You know what would have an impact?
- Improving grid capacity so that excess wind and soar could be utilized during heat waves.
- Incentivizing solar panel installation further by offering better rebates across the state for homes and businesses.
- Paying more for energy that’s sent back to the grid. If you don’t pay well, then users are just going to hoard it by charging their cars during peak production hours, or storing it in an on-site battery.
A few things no one considers:
Population growth in Texas still rises year over year, with corresponding demands on the grid. Every year just about, we see a new record for power usage.
Renewables are much harder to manage than fossil plants (solar and wind are not steady sources), and we have steadily increased the percentages of renewables.
The Eastern and Western interconnects have their own problems, occasionally major ones.
Lastly, this was a records-breaking summer with all the above factors in play and it is holding up so far.