Electrical Grid instability in Alberta today

[Cheese]

Folks,
Turn off your power...

· High demand, warm temperatures, limited wind output, a planned outage on the Alberta – British Columbia intertie, and an unplanned outage on the Alberta – Saskatchewan intertie caused the Alberta grid to enter Energy Emergency Alert 1 at 12:47 MPT, placing operating reserves resources on high alert. At 13:13, the Alberta grid entered Energy Emergency Alert 2, indicating that operating reserves resources were necessary to meet demand requirements. AESO also issued a press release urging the public to voluntarily reduce power usage due to supply shortfall.


We have been working today to help the Province by utilizing your demand response programs to help alleviate this issue. Instability will likely remain overnight and into tomorrow, your grid system remains in supply shortfall.

/end and thanks

[Regulator75]

I learned a word today. intertie.

[TorqueDog]

Crazy. Off goes the air conditioning. Fortunate for me I'm south facing so I get tons of light in here and most of the bulbs I've installed are low energy.

[cal_guy]

Wind power is currently producing 16MW at this moment with a maximum capacity 1088MW. Good thing is that it looks like the pressure is starting to ease as the marginal price of electricity is starting to drop.

[Cheese]

Yup...price was at or near $1000 today...crazy high

http://ets.aeso.ca/ets_web/ip/Market...HReportServlet

Usage

http://ets.aeso.ca/ets_web/ip/Market...DReportServlet

[SebC]

Originally Posted by cal_guy

Wind power is currently producing 16MW at this moment with a maximum capacity 1088MW.

Good work environmentalists.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Cheese

We have been working today to help the Province by utilizing your demand response programs to help alleviate this issue. Instability will likely remain overnight and into tomorrow, your grid system remains in supply shortfall.

Thanks for today, September 4th 2013.

You're welcome for the other 364 in the year.

[Tyler]

Man.. every time we get close to 30 degrees the whole province's power system seems to fail. What gives?

[rd_aaron]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Man.. every time we get close to 30 degrees the whole province's power system seems to fail. What gives?

Not enough capacity and/or generation. Alberta's electricity demand grows at a rate similar to adding a city the size of Red Deer to the grid every year while the system hasn't been upgraded for many years (until recently).

[SeeBass]

I guess every home is different but I have rarely found a want or need for AC in Calgary.

Maybe it is a bigger issue if you are in a treeless suburb and your bedroom is on the third floor.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

I guess every home is different but I have rarely found a want or need for AC in Calgary.

Maybe it is a bigger issue if you are in a treeless suburb and your bedroom is on the third floor.

Hello up there on your high horse!

I live innercity and have plenty of trees and shade in my yard, as well as a bedroom on the mainfloor and we have a lot of trouble with the place being way too hot. So we have, and need a portable AC unit in the bedroom in June and July thank you very much.

None of that has anything to do with suburbia hell... although we are looking to buy in the suburbs and will be installing AC.

[Street Pharmacist]

Here in Kamloops it's a virtual necessity. When it's 40 degrees outside it's unbearable. Central air is heaven

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Hello up there on your high horse!

I live innercity and have plenty of trees and shade in my yard, as well as a bedroom on the mainfloor and we have a lot of trouble with the place being way too hot. So we have, and need a portable AC unit in the bedroom in June and July thank you very much.

None of that has anything to do with suburbia hell... although we are looking to buy in the suburbs and will be installing AC.

Well sorry if my reasons for why a place might be hotter than another seems arrogant. Sometimes it is the age of the house that plays a big part of it too. I don't know if you get a breeze either. We get a decent breeze coming right off nosehill, sux in the winter though.
Before my bungalow reno our place was really warm at times too. We had put in two fans out of our roof (I don't know what they are actually called) and it made a huge difference. I still don't understand how it knows to expel hot air in summer but keep it in during the winter.

[Maccalus]

Needing A/C depends more on how the air flows through your house than size, style or age. I have no need for A/C in my house because I can get good airflow (due to the open design) through both floor from front to back of the house. It can get strong enough to blow papers around on some days. Some of my friend's houses (especially the older ones) get zero airflow and their houses consistently get 5-10 C hotter than mine on the hot days.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

My older 1970's house is covered by trees on both sides, but has poor air flow, even in the windy NW. When I got home from work yesterday the thermostat said it was 32c in the house... on goes the AC.