Modern living means our lights and air conditioning can come on with a flick of a switch — and it means turning on appliances whenever we like. But enjoying such a convenient lifestyle is already changing how we consume electricity, which is a suddenly more precious resource.
Global warming means heat waves are becoming more common and intense, and people are reaching more often for their HVAC systems to stay cool. Extreme weather events disrupt electricity generation and distribution. The result is that “rolling blackouts” is the new watchword.
You might be wondering if state grids are in meltdown or if consumers are to blame for power outages. Let’s investigate the causes of rolling blackouts and some solutions for the problem so we can get a better understanding of what it all means for us.
What Are Rolling Blackouts?
A rolling blackout is an intentional temporary power outage. Grid operators cut the electricity supply to specific parts of its network at selected times.
This last-resort action comes when electricity demand outstrips supply across the entire power grid. Controlled rolling blackouts stop the whole power grid from overloading and collapsing. As a result, some people are left without power for a period of time.
That said, emergency and critical services like hospitals, police stations, airport control towers, and fire departments are usually safe and omitted from rolling blackouts.
During rolling blackouts, grid operators ask utility companies to temporarily shut down small parts of the electricity network or larger areas. In some countries, the entire nation’s supply may be taken offline for a while.
What Causes Rolling Blackouts?
Rolling blackouts occur when there isn’t enough electricity generation to meet demand. This can happen in several ways.
Extreme weather, such as a heat wave, often means people consume more electricity as they use air conditioning to help keep cool. This spike in demand may accompany a reduction in supply.
Hot, windless days mean renewable energy sources like wind turbines may generate less power, and cloudy days may reduce the effectiveness of solar power electricity generation. Fossil fuel power plants may be offline or unable to take up the slack. In these situations, grid operators may respond by performing rolling blackouts during periods of peak demand.
Reduced supply can also occur when weather events like storms damage power plants or the distribution network. Rolling blackouts help power companies balance demand and supply.
Who Determines Rolling Blackout Schedules?
Electricity networks worldwide all have their protocols for rolling blackouts. Typically, a regulator will monitor electricity supply and demand levels and then command utility companies to impose rolling blackouts as necessary.
How Long Do Rolling Blackouts Last?
Rolling blackouts can last from an hour to several hours or longer. How long a rolling blackout lasts depends on how quickly utility companies can rebalance the grid.
What Are the Effects of Rolling Blackouts?
Rolling blackouts leave homes and businesses without power with potentially serious ramifications.
At home, people may not be able to work online, cook, heat or cool rooms, or enjoy any number of leisure pursuits. Using electrical equipment up to the start of a rolling blackout can damage them when the power cuts.
More prolonged rolling blackouts can spoil food in fridges and freezers. Those with medical conditions requiring electricity to power life-sustaining machines need a backup power source.
Businesses face losing revenue through sales and production losses. Sudden blackouts can damage machinery and wreak havoc on factory lines that require refrigeration or heating. Investment in backup power generators also comes with a cost.
The Lowdown on Rolling Blackouts in Texas
Texas has had issues with power outages and rolling blackouts as its power grid adapts to changing supply and demand requirements. Climate change has started bringing hotter and longer summers and extreme weather events like the historic 2021 winter storm to the Lone Star State. Let’s look at how this is already affecting the electricity network.
Who Oversees the Texas Electricity and Power Grid?
Around 90% of the Texas power grid is overseen by the non-profit ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Its primary role is grid reliability, balancing the supply and demand of electricity across the state’s independent power grid. ERCOT serves around 26 million Texans, and its work is overseen by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC or PUCT).
ERCOT works with energy providers like power plants and renewable energy sources to gauge the projected and actual supply levels of electricity. It also liaises with utility companies about anticipated customer energy demand based on weather forecasts and behaviors.
How Does Texas Produce Its Electricity?
In 2021, around half of Texas’ electricity came from natural gas power plants. Wind power accounted for a fifth, coal power plants 18%, nuclear some 8%, and solar power generation around 3% of the state’s electricity supply. Despite this diversity, the power grid’s reliability is often tested.
What Is an ERCOT Energy Conservation Request?
ERCOT’s staff monitor electricity production and demand and match that with weather forecasts. Sweltering summer temperatures and freezing winters provoke increases in energy use.
Oftentimes, ERCOT releases energy conservation requests anticipating these extreme weather events. The grid operator asks people to voluntarily reduce their energy consumption to reduce the grid’s stress. Measures could be as simple as turning up the HVAC thermostat a couple of degrees in summer, unplugging large appliances, and turning off unnecessary lights.
Energy conservation orders are an early intervention technique to stave off rolling blackouts. ERCOT has issued close to 50 energy conservation orders since 2008.
When Does ERCOT Announce Rolling Blackouts?
ERCOT’s role as grid operator means it has Energy Emergency Alerts, called EEAs, in place. There are three on a sliding scale of severity.
EEA1s occur when ERCOT anticipates a very short-lived imbalance between supply and demand. It draws power from all available resources, including neighboring grids.
EEA2s happen when ERCOT thinks the grid may take longer than 30 minutes to stabilize. In this scenario, ERCOT reduces or cuts the power available to industries that have agreed to such measures.
EEA3s follow the most extreme situations. ERCOT orders utility companies to reduce demand in selected areas — in other words, enact rolling blackouts. These enforced power cuts are meant to last 10-45 minutes before moving to another location, and utility companies decide where to implement the blackouts.
ERCOT has imposed system-wide rotating outages — considered a last resort — three times since its inception in 1970:
- December 22, 1989
- April 17, 2006
- February 2, 2011
The industry calls these rolling blackouts “planned outages” and “load shedding.” If you’re worried there may be an outage, you can follow Texas grid and market conditions online.
What Happened During the Texas Winter Storm of 2021?
In February 2021, ERCOT lost control of the power grid. Extremely low temperatures caused a spike in demand for electricity as people turned on heaters to keep warm.
At the same time, natural gas power stations’ equipment froze, power lines tumbled, and available electricity supply levels plummeted. Uncontrolled power outages occurred across the state. The winter storm left more than 200 dead and millions without power and water for days.
How Do I Know If It’s an Outage or a Rolling Blackout?
ERCOT announces all its energy conservation and rotating outage measures through local media, plus its Facebook page and Twitter feed. Most people will find out through a communication channel if a rolling blackout is coming.
Be aware that a power outage can occur within a property through tripped fuses or cable problems. Check your fuse box first if your electricity supply fails suddenly. If the power supply loss is not localized to your home, visit neighbors to see if they have the same issue.
If you have an outage and ERCOT hasn’t announced any cuts, you need to contact your local utility to find out about the power outage.
The principal utilities have power outage maps:
- Texas-New Mexico Power
- Oncor
- AEP Texas
- CenterPoint Energy
- Austin Energy
Track outages nationally at the Power Outage website.
Will There Be Blackouts in 2022-2023?
Rolling blackouts are difficult to predict a long time in advance. They are the last resort for grid operators, but they exist. As we’ve seen, ERCOT has issued far more energy conservation orders than rolling blackouts.
How Do You Survive a Rolling Blackout?
source
Rolling blackouts are not always pre-planned yet they require planning from everyone. At present, these rotating outages often happen during extreme weather events — you don’t want to get caught unprepared. It’s good practice to be prepared for long-term power outages as well as shorter interruptions.
How Should I Prepare for a Rolling Blackout?
Preparing for rolling blackouts is a wise move. Remember that winter and summer blackouts require different plans. The basics to cover are:
- Unplug appliances to protect them from power surges once power returns.
- Stock up on essentials like food (that don’t need refrigeration), water, and medicines.
- Keep candles and matches as well as flashlights and fresh batteries handy.
- Have an evacuation plan for all household members and pets.
- Buy a battery-operated, hand-crank, or solar-powered radio to help access local news reports.
Pro tip: Read our power outage guide for more.
Should I Unplug My Refrigerator During an Outage?
The best advice during any power outage is to unplug your refrigerator but keep the door closed. Unplugging the fridge isolates it from any power surges once the electricity flow returns. The closed door helps keep the cool air inside the refrigerator protecting the products within.
Can I Help Prevent Rolling Blackouts?
Yes! Everyone from Houston to New York to Beijing can help prevent rolling blackouts. How?
Energy efficiency at home reduces the stress on the power grid. The good news is that being energy efficient often involves a few simple changes to our everyday behaviors.
You could run energy-hungry appliances like dishwashers at night when the electricity demand is typically lower than during peak periods. Unplugging unused devices prevents idle appliances from using electricity — so-called energy vampires. Using ceiling fans instead of AC units is a great help too. Smart technology and an energy audit can also help you become more energy efficient.
Pro tip: Read our energy efficiency at home guide for more easy-to-do tips and hacks.
Rolling Blackout, Brownout, Power Outage: What’s Difference?
We know that rolling blackouts are intentional temporary power outages where no power is delivered to a specific area.
But a power outage is an unexpected total loss of electricity supply. This outage could have been caused by a weather event, faulty equipment, a power plant going offline with pre warning, or other unforeseen circumstances.
A brownout is a little different. A power grid still experiences a reduction in available electricity supply and cannot cope with demand. The difference is that properties receive a reduced amount of electricity, making lights appear dimmer and meaning some power-hungry appliances may not work correctly.
How Long Does a Brownout Last?
Brownouts can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. The exact length of time depends on the supply and demand issue type and how quickly the grip operators and utility companies can resolve the supply issues.
Does a UPS Protect Against Brownouts?
A UPS — an uninterruptible power source — can help protect vital equipment against brownouts, power outages, and rolling blackouts.
Plug essential and sensitive equipment like laptops and computers into a UPS. That way, once the power goes off, you have a limited time to save any work and protect your machine.
A surge protector offers the same protection from power spikes as a UPS but no power.
Which Countries Have Rolling Blackouts?
Rolling blackouts happen across the world for a variety of reasons — and some blackouts are literally out of this world. In 2001, a solar flare caused an outage in New Zealand.
Sudan’s citizens have experienced daily outages of up to six hours so far in 2022. South Africa has suffered similar disruptions, and problems with Uganda’s hydropower have meant rolling blackouts there too. Pakistan has long had blackout issues, compounded this year by the terrible flooding.
The economic powerhouse of China has endured rolling blackouts and electricity rationing for some time. Experts warn the United States’ overall grid resilience is not enough to counter the effects of climate change. The European Union is facing blackouts this winter after the Ukraine war disrupted natural gas supplies from Russia.
Learning to Live Alongside Rolling Blackouts
No country or county is immune to power outages or rolling blackouts. Energy systems are vulnerable to politics, extreme weather caused by climate change, and ever-increasing energy demands.
Grid operators like ERCOT in Texas try to balance supply and demand to ensure as smooth delivery of electricity to customers as possible. Energy efficiency, robust power grids, and planning can help avert the worst of most situations.
However, it pays to get ready for rolling blackouts and power outages. That way, you can protect yourself and your family, your property, and the precious finite resources of the planet we all share. Use our home energy efficiency checklist to find ways you can easily make a difference.
Brought to you by amigoenergy
All images licensed from Adobe Stock.
Featured image: