2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

[Deej 76524]

[Guest Lobo]

this is literally the best map I can find of Austin Energy circuits.  Can't zoom in, but maybe one of you experts can type fast and say "enhance...enhance...enhance."  I'm guessing some time tomorrow night all circuits will be fair game to shut down, but this sorta paints a picture of what's what.  \

https://www.kut.org/austin/2011-02-11/why-did-your-power-go-out-and-theirs-didnt-austin-energys-grid-map-of-376-circuits

[fellside 1076]

Haven't had power in 41 hours.  I'm pretty sure the attempt at a rolling blackout went bad and they fucked up the whole grid. 

A rolling blackout would be a welcome development. I just wish I had any kind of idea when I'd get power or what was being done.  It's crazy how hard it is to get real information in 2021.  The city doesn't even know what the issue is or when it will be fixed. 

[Biff Tannen 45491]

1 minute ago, Lobo said:

this is literally the best map I can find of Austin Energy circuits.  Can't zoom in, but maybe one of you experts can type fast and say "enhance...enhance...enhance."  I'm guessing some time tomorrow night all circuits will be fair game to shut down, but this sorta paints a picture of what's what.  \

https://www.kut.org/austin/2011-02-11/why-did-your-power-go-out-and-theirs-didnt-austin-energys-grid-map-of-376-circuits

Pretty out of date from the jump:

Quote

Note: This story was published in 2011. Austin Energy was not able to provide KUT an updated map for 2021.

There was a month or so a few years back where I would lose power once a week or so and they did a fuck ton of work in my area.  I haven't lost power since.  Probably until tonight that is.

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, that's half my point.  It's fucked up you can't find a more updated map than that.  But also...for most parts of Austin that area already built-out...the circuit map hasn't changed that much.  Either you live close to a hospital/fire station or you don't.  Only a few hundred homes have changed circuits because of new firehouses in the last decade.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

54 minutes ago, Pancho said:

I'm doing my part by explaining those those on Nextdoor this has nothing to do with Sylvester Turner and have more to do with Hot Wheels, Danny, Cruz, and Corn.  They seem to be okay with that response so far as I get no replies to my reprimanding responses. 

Everyone knows it's all because of Turner and Judge Dora. Also Katrina refugees.

36 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Is it safe to assume at this point that if you haven't lost power at all yet, that you're on a grid that is tied to something considered critical? I can't make any sense of it, and I can't figure out for the life of me what would be near me that would qualify.

I haven't lost power either and I am in absolute bumfuck Brazoria county. The only thing I can think to possibly account for it -- 97 percent of the county was out last night -- is that I live on Brazoria County Road 911, and maybe we got exempted through some clerical error that classed our country road as emergency street or some shit. 

[Updawg 2261]

Is it safe to assume at this point that if you haven't lost power at all yet, that you're on a grid that is tied to something considered critical? I can't make any sense of it, and I can't figure out for the life of me what would be near me that would qualify.

I don’t think it’s safe to assume anything at this point. Is there a nursing home or hospital? The grids can be laid out weird as well.

[gsoda3 3234]

9 minutes ago, Lobo said:

this is literally the best map I can find of Austin Energy circuits.  Can't zoom in, but maybe one of you experts can type fast and say "enhance...enhance...enhance."  I'm guessing some time tomorrow night all circuits will be fair game to shut down, but this sorta paints a picture of what's what.  \

https://www.kut.org/austin/2011-02-11/why-did-your-power-go-out-and-theirs-didnt-austin-energys-grid-map-of-376-circuits

 

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, that's half my point.  It's fucked up you can't find a more updated map than that.  But also...for most parts of Austin that area already built-out...the circuit map hasn't changed that much.  Either you live close to a hospital/fire station or you don't.  Only a few hundred homes have changed circuits because of new firehouses in the last decade.  

 

here's another that might help if you compare side by side.  especially for the boundary areas.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-energy-responds-to-outages-due-to-snow-thousands-of-customers-without-power

Edited February 17, 2021 by gsoda3

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, I've been following maps like that religiously for days.  My point is an updated map of what type of circuit your home is on is incredibly hard to find.  And it's not for security reasons, it's just laziness on the part of Austin Energy and ERCOT.  that NPR map from ten years ago is 90% accurate...you just can't zoom in on it.  I have the Austin Energy outages map tab open almost all day on my laptop.  What we're talking about is the circuit map, it's completely different.  But you can have all my rep if you can find a more accurate version with zooming capability.  It would help a lot of folks out.  Anyway, stay warm everyone.  I forgot it's Fat Tuesday, let's go get drunk in the garage. 

[The Ace of Aces 5106]

1 hour ago, Nicole44 said:

When I have the money to build a home I am referring back to this thread.  Maybe the next 24 plus hours won’t be as bad as forecasted. Hope. Hang in there! Don’t hesitate to reach out for help. There is no shame in that at all. Glad to see some many good Surlies! 

What’s infuriating is it cost pennies on the dollar to remedy most all the issues Texans are experiencing right now. Insulation, proper shut offs, and not putting fucking mains OUTSIDE is asinine even if cold hardly ever strikes. My house in Pennsylvania is a newish cheap-ass house and it’s better insulated than the McMansions in Southlake. Sticking to code minimums is stupid. Also every house should have a fireplace that I can burn wood or gas without power. 

[BradInATX 9208]

14 minutes ago, Updawg said:

I don’t think it’s safe to assume anything at this point. Is there a nursing home or hospital? The grids can be laid out weird as well.

Not that I know of. Maybe just lucky so far. Who knows.

[HOOKEM4 5016]

13 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

What’s infuriating is it cost pennies on the dollar to remedy most all the issues Texans are experiencing right now. Insulation, proper shut offs, and not putting fucking mains OUTSIDE is asinine even if cold hardly ever strikes. My house in Pennsylvania is a newish cheap-ass house and it’s better insulated than the McMansions in Southlake. Sticking to code minimums is stupid. Also every house should have a fireplace that I can burn wood or gas without power. 

This is a stupid take and you should feel bad you are so stupid. Read that again and then post less.

[texhorn 351]

And here comes the pouring freezing rain in 78633.

[dcar00 14028]

21 minutes ago, Lobo said:

this is literally the best map I can find of Austin Energy circuits.  Can't zoom in, but maybe one of you experts can type fast and say "enhance...enhance...enhance."  I'm guessing some time tomorrow night all circuits will be fair game to shut down, but this sorta paints a picture of what's what.  \

https://www.kut.org/austin/2011-02-11/why-did-your-power-go-out-and-theirs-didnt-austin-energys-grid-map-of-376-circuits

we're gonna need an open records request on this.  good stuff. now I know why I have been getting fucked for 53 hours out over the last 6 days.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Not that I know of. Maybe just lucky so far. Who knows.

We'd been without power for about ten days after Ike in Houston...My son was about 12 then. So all of a sudden the whole other side of the street comes roaring into life and my son loses his shit and runs into his room to go hit up his Playstation...Nothing. So he had a meltdown...His mom has a wicked sense of humor...."Poor Little MaC," she said to his face while he was rage crying. "Always on the wrong side of the street."

Fuckers over there were on another circuit and we were out for another three days or so. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Literally the home behind me 
 Going on 48 hrs with no power 

Sorry for partying

[atomheartbevo 89396]

51 minutes ago, Lobo said:

"You guys remember that Texas storm of 2021...boy the state really Ercot'd that one."  

2021 trying to outdo 2020.

 

[Post Oak 20182]

1 hour ago, Bateshorn said:

I get it, but I’m just being a pedantic person who lived in Maine. You honestly can’t heat a big room with a fireplace.  If you’ve ever been in a pre-revolutionary era house (this is easily one of the more snobby/east coast/bo bo things I’ve ever posted on this site) all the rooms are tiny, chopped up floor plan,  and everyone sat in wing backs facing the fireplace with lap blankets. Rum fires are better than your average post war deep fire place, but your still sending all the convective heat up the flue. 
 

Fireplaces suck as heating devices. 

I want a masonry heater in my next place

[atomheartbevo 89396]

 

46 minutes ago, Deej said:

 

He must have deleted that tweet, but this one is up:

 

[atomheartbevo 89396]

1 hour ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Just got word that MIL who has had power the whole time just lost it. She near a hospital. I wonder if if it finally got to the point that even circuits near hospitals are getting taken off. 

We are near multiple hospitals, but I have a feeling that is going to be tested tonight.

Our heat is off of gas, so I'm running the temperature up a little just in case.

I do think there are enough non-critical areas still with power, that will be shut down before they start taking out hospitals.

[troph 24560]

Jimmy gonna Jimmy. 

[Biff Tannen 45491]

19 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

We'd been without power for about ten days after Ike in Houston...My son was about 12 then. So all of a sudden the whole other side of the street comes roaring into life and my son loses his shit and runs into his room to go hit up his Playstation...Nothing. So he had a meltdown...His mom has a wicked sense of humor...."Poor Little MaC," she said to his face while he was rage crying. "Always on the wrong side of the street."

Fuckers over there were on another circuit and we were out for another three days or so. 

Man, that's brutal.

[gsoda3 3234]

So.... Spence and team are forecasting we get another one to two inches of snow wed night into Thurs midday. And that we might not get above freezing on Wednesday.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Wouldn’t the time be now(overnight) if other areas of the country were going to have coordinated rolling blackouts?

We’re supposed to be on standby for potential blackouts tomorrow from 6am to 10am

[Somnio 751]

23 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Sorry for partying

YOLO

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

6 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Man, that's brutal.

Yeah we've been divorced a long time

[Pato del Muerto 52336]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

Yeah, mine was built in 2010 and when we moved in the builder was clear to point out the water cut off valve in the wall in the garage.  I've never used it, but I damn sure hope it works if I need it in the next few days.

My house has one down in the crawl space, on the city side of the meter.  I’ve had to use it twice, both positemp shower valves have broken once.  Crawl space access is at the NE corner of the house, and the cutoff and meters are centrally located on the south wall, so it’s around 60 feet of army crawl on pea gravel with a midline obstacle of squeezing through studs on a cement foot. 
both times I’ve said to myself that I’ll install shutoff valves for earth bathtub right under them since they are both close to the hatch and the lines are exposed, but I’ve been too lazy to do it so far. 
 

actually the second time I had the kids come with me to close it and sent them solo when it was time to open it again. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Pato del Muerto

[Somnio 751]

Just went outside for some fresh air.  Frozen mist, and the ground icy as fuck is my weather update.

[gsoda3 3234]

Wouldn’t the time be now(overnight) if other areas of the country were going to have coordinated rolling blackouts?

We’re supposed to be on standby for potential blackouts tomorrow from 6am to 10am

Texas's grid isn't connected to the rest of the country except for the panhandle and east texas areas. We can't buy power from anywhere else.

[atomheartbevo 89396]

42 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I haven't lost power either and I am in absolute bumfuck Brazoria county. The only thing I can think to possibly account for it -- 97 percent of the county was out last night -- is that I live on Brazoria County Road 911, and maybe we got exempted through some clerical error that classed our country road as emergency street or some shit. 

My sister is rural, with a small utility company, and she's kept her power.  I saw one organization/lobbying group that had around 75 electric coops in Texas with around 3 million customers, so around 40,000 or so customers apiece on average some will be bigger (Pedernales has 300,000 for instance), which means some are probably in the 20,000 - 30,000 range.

I'm wondering if it's based on the fact that it's easier to flip the proverbial switch and turn off power to 50,000 or 100,000 people in a small area of Houston, than dealing with some Bum Fuck, Texas utility situation where a coop/whatever has 25,000 customers, many of whom are rural and not using much electricity right now compared to a big city that might have large industrial and commercial customers.

[Biff Tannen 45491]

4 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Wouldn’t the time be now(overnight) if other areas of the country were going to have coordinated rolling blackouts?

We’re supposed to be on standby for potential blackouts tomorrow from 6am to 10am

ERCOT coordinate with other parts of the country?  I'm confused.  This here is TEXAS.  We do what we want.  Don't need any of you other United States type people telling us how to do shit.

 

We lose a lot of business in Europe because German people phone up, "Wir haben fünf Millionen Deutschmark..."

"Just fuck off, will you, mate?  He was speaking German. I told him to go away. Fuck off. "

"I dunno, something about fünf million in Deutschmarks. I told him to get knotted. We don't want his deustchy markys. "We do? We do want that? I'm terribly sorry.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

Texas's grid isn't connected to the rest of the country except for the panhandle and east texas areas. We can't buy power from anywhere else.

My grid is SPP, hooked up to the panhandle.

[atomheartbevo 89396]

1 hour ago, Dewey said:

Hospitals have huge generators,  they usually kick on about 5 seconds or less after main power fails. They have a team of maintenance people who test them regularly, not sure how often, if you're near a hospital when one kicks on, it's pretty damn noticeable. Inside the hospital,  most won't even notice the switch, like a flicker of a light and they've switched from main to generator. 

I worked at a large tech company here in Austin, and our labs/server rooms/etc. had special sockets that were dedicated to "critical" infrastructure - in the event of a power outage, our big-ass generators that were adjacent to the buildings would kick on within seconds, and those specially marked sockets would stay on.  It was impressive when they tested them out.  They had folks dedicated to making sure those things would come on as needed.

Hospitals would have an even bigger infrastructure for staying online.

But nobody wants to test how well those backup plans work right now.  Imagine if the heart hospital over by Central Market on North Lamar would go down.

[atomheartbevo 89396]

1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

Its a good thing to understand how to cut off water to your house and its amazing how many homeowners don't know.

I would put it at an easy 75% or more who couldn't do it if they had to.

[gsoda3 3234]

My grid is SPP, hooked up to the panhandle.

What communication have you been getting from them? Are they load balancing bc of texas/oklahoma?

[MissingInAction 24807]

I have a feeling the switch s about to get flipped hard once everyone is asleep.

Edited February 17, 2021 by MissingInAction

[washparkhorn 9934]

2 hours ago, troph said:

Depends on what you need... but this is the brand.

https://www.generac.com/all-products/generators/home-backup-generators#?cat=6&cat=214&cat=217&cat=249

 

Don't forget to check out Cummins . . . 

https://homegenerators.cummins.com/

 

[atomheartbevo 89396]

3 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I have a feeling the switch s about to get flipped hard once everyone is asleep.

From earlier

It's going to turn out they are cutting off Austin folks, so that some high school natatorium (water park) and football stadium  across the state can keep their lights on and their pools heated.

[dcar00 14028]

8 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

From earlier

It's going to turn out they are cutting off Austin folks, so that some high school natatorium (water park) and football stadium  across the state can keep their lights on and their pools heated.

That map is bullshit.  get the fucking firehouses, police sub stations, etc some goddam generators and quit forcing load shed on certain areas only and BTW fuck downtown.  let Adler twist in the fucking wind for 20 hours in sub freezing temps.

[89Horn 1492]

29 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

34 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Wouldn’t the time be now(overnight) if other areas of the country were going to have coordinated rolling blackouts?

We’re supposed to be on standby for potential blackouts tomorrow from 6am to 10am

Texas's grid isn't connected to the rest of the country except for the panhandle and east texas areas. We can't buy power from anywhere else.

The ERCOT grid does have several DC ties to the eastern interconnect through the SPP and to Mexico but capacity for support is minimal in situations we are currently facing.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

What communication have you been getting from them? Are they load balancing bc of texas/oklahoma?

PRESS RELEASE: Potential for Additional Rolling Blackouts in Moorhead Requested by Southwest Power Pool

For Immediate Release on Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Moorhead Public Service (MPS) has been notified that there is a potential for rolling blackouts possibly tonight between the hours of 4:00 PM and 10:00 PM, as well as tomorrow morning between the hours of 6:00 AM and 10:00 AM.

Situational Information:
Due to the current widespread and extreme cold weather conditions, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) declared an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) Level 3 this morning, which means that generating capacity has dropped below the demand for electricity. This resulted in the need for rolling outages across the SPP footprint―a region-wide event affecting consumers from multiple utilities. As of this afternoon, the SPP has downgraded the EEA to a Level 1. This is declared when all available resources have been committed to meet obligations, and SPP is at risk of not meeting required operating reserves.
SPP is a regional transmission organization that oversees the bulk electric grid and wholesale power market in the central United States on behalf of a diverse group of utilities and transmission companies in 17 states. Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) are both transmission owners in SPP and both serve the power supply needs of MPS, which means that Moorhead is affected by this event.

MPS continues to stay alert for this emergency, as it is a quickly changing situation. MPS will provide more information to customers if MPS needs to reinitiate more rolling blackouts upon request by SPP. While we hope this is never needed, the temporary outages help protect the grid from longer, more sustained outages.

Was what my public service said on FB 6 hrs ago. We didn’t get a power outage tonight... this morning from 9:50-10:10 we did. Bismarck ND is the other notable town with SPP who had a blackout this morning

.

[troph 24560]

35 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Don't forget to check out Cummins . . . 

https://homegenerators.cummins.com/

 

That’s what she said.

[DonkeyCigars 144]

46 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I would put it at an easy 75% or more who couldn't do it if they had to.

Man, I even have the long skinny tool that you twist so you don’t have to get on your hands and knees or struggle. And I’m definitely not handy. I pay to change a light bulb dang near, but I can kill the water.

[ztejas 43262]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

I have a feeling the switch s about to get flipped hard once everyone is asleep.

Jokes on them we haven't had power for 46 hours now.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

So before our power went out again, then came back, I took this bucket that I found to a busted valve of the irrigation system to the neighborhood park that my HOA fees pay for and filled it up to flush our toilets. That’s a run on sentence that incriminates me in a couple of ways, but I don’t care...come get me law dogs.  Or corndogs. 

[Paper_jam 828]

Is there any Austin radio station with live news & information on this emergency? It seems like there ought to be as radio is the most reliable way to get info out to everyone when power is out. Tried 590 Klbj but worthless.

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

I would put it at an easy 75% or more who couldn't do it if they had to.

Speaking of this, had an upstairs bathroom frozen water line burst about an hour ago. Sending water cascading down in the middle of the night. Luckily mostly of the water down into over the porch and outside. Went outside to turn off the valve with a wrench and couldn’t fucking do it. Couldn’t move it. Spent close to an hour on it.

Wife decided to post our predicament on next door and that fucking site came through with some handyman saying use a screwdriver to torque the wrench at an angle to get the valve to move.  Totally worked. So don’t ever say next door isn’t good for nothing. 

[Biff Tannen 45491]

Did all you people with bursting pipes lose power for a good bit of time?  If I’ve been dripping and running every faucet in the house every hour for the past 3 days for nothing I will lose my shit. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

Did all you people with bursting pipes lose power for a good bit of time?  If I’ve been dripping and running every faucet in the house every hour for the past 3 days for nothing I will lose my shit. 

I only lost power on Friday and Saturday and after that I’ve been very lucky. 

My problem, and actually benefit, is the upstairs bathroom lines are in locations that don’t get the benefit of the warmth of the house but if they do break, which they just did, don’t really flood the house either.  The rest of my lines have held up due to still having power now. 

[Pimphand 5592]

6 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Did all you people with bursting pipes lose power for a good bit of time?  If I’ve been dripping and running every faucet in the house every hour for the past 3 days for nothing I will lose my shit.