{"id":296025,"date":"2024-01-16T13:15:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T12:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=296025"},"modified":"2024-01-16T13:15:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T12:15:28","slug":"how-did-alberta-wind-up-facing-blackouts-in-the-extreme-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=296025","title":{"rendered":"How did Alberta wind up facing blackouts in the extreme cold?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t cedarsand<\/a>: \u201c\u2026 at this time of year, we don\u2019t have any solar power \u2026 Over the last couple of days, the wind has dropped off dramatically. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

How did Alberta wind up facing blackouts in the extreme cold? A Q and A with AESO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of the article:
Jonny Wakefield<\/a><\/strong>
Published Jan 14, 2024 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hit the demand peak<\/a> on Thursday and it looked like we were going to be fine, there was no indication that we were going to be in a situation where we might have to shed load like we did last night. Suddenly 48 hours later, there\u2019s warnings of potential brownouts and blackouts. I\u2019m wondering how we got from a fairly stable situation on Thursday to what we experienced last night and might experience again this evening? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the extreme cold<\/strong>, we are seeing very, very high demand. We set an all-time record<\/a> Thursday night, 12,384 megawatts. The key difference \u2014 and there\u2019s never one single factor that puts us into a grid alert \u2014 it\u2019s the extreme cold, we\u2019ve had reduced imports and very little wind. And of course, when we get into the peak period from 4-7 p.m., at this time of year, we don\u2019t have any solar power.<\/strong> So on Thursday, we were in a bit better situation, because we had strong wind, we had 1,200 megawatts approximately throughout the peak period from four to seven. So that really made a difference. Over the last couple of days, the wind has dropped off dramatically.<\/strong> We\u2019ve also had a couple of natural gas plants, one is offline,<\/strong> and one is operating at reduced capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/edmontonjournal.com\/news\/local-news\/how-did-alberta-wind-up-facing-blackouts-in-the-cold<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

State politicians were quick to point the main weak link was renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Premiers pan green-energy plans as cold weather strains Alberta\u2019s electricity grid<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Drinkwater
Published Jan. 15, 2024 3:47 p.m. AEST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDMONTON \u2013  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, wind is generating almost no power. When renewables are unreliable, as they are now, natural gas plants must increase capacity to keep Albertans safe,\u201d Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media Friday, shortly after the province\u2019s grid operator issued an appeal for consumers to conserve electricity to protect the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day later, following a second grid alert that warned of potential rotating blackouts, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe posted that surplus power it was sending Alberta\u2019s way was coming from natural gas and coal-fired power plants.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ones the Trudeau government is telling us to shut down<\/strong> (which we won\u2019t),\u201d Moe said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/edmonton.ctvnews.ca\/premiers-pan-green-energy-plans-as-cold-weather-strains-alberta-s-electricity-grid-1.6725876<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wake up Canada. No amount of renewable capacity can save you, when wind and solar both fail at the same time. The only reason the Alberta grid clung to life during the wind fail is coal and gas power, from Alberta and Saskatchewan \u2013 power plants which the Federal Government is pressuring Saskatchewan to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who continue to support Prime Minister Trudeau\u2019s reckless crusade against reliable energy, the blood of your friends and neighbours will be on your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the\u00a0extreme cold, we are seeing very, very high demand. We set an\u00a0all-time record\u00a0Thursday night, 12,384 megawatts. The key difference \u2014 and there\u2019s never one single factor that puts us into a grid alert \u2014 it\u2019s the extreme cold, we\u2019ve had reduced imports and very little wind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":296027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"With the\u00a0extreme cold, we are seeing very, very high demand. We set an\u00a0all-time record\u00a0Thursday night, 12,384 megawatts. The key difference \u2014 and there\u2019s never one single factor that puts us into a grid alert \u2014 it\u2019s the extreme cold, we\u2019ve had reduced imp","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818320,691818279,691818771,691825724,691826305,691819094],"class_list":{"0":"post-296025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-blackouts","10":"tag-canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau","11":"tag-extreme-cold","12":"tag-premier-scott-moe","13":"tag-renewable-green-energy","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-16-131353.png?fit=1299%2C716&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1f0B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":295346,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=295346","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":0},"title":"Rolling Blackouts Narrowly Avoided In\u00a0Alberta","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A critical emergency alert was issued on Saturday evening urging Albertans to reduce electricity use to minimize potential outages across the province.","rel":"","context":"In \"Alberta\"","block_context":{"text":"Alberta","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=alberta"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-174454-1.png?fit=1180%2C603&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":297691,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=297691","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":1},"title":"Freezing to Fight Global Warming","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In mid-January 2024, Alberta's grid experienced record electricity demand as Artic air sent temperatures plunging. Meanwhile, wind and solar output all but disappeared. Some things look great on paper until they are tested with the cold, hard reality.","rel":"","context":"In \"Alberta's grid\"","block_context":{"text":"Alberta's grid","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=albertas-grid"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0AP18067644492119.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0AP18067644492119.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0AP18067644492119.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0AP18067644492119.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0AP18067644492119.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292793,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292793","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":2},"title":"NERC ducks extreme cold grid threats","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/12\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"UNITED STATES - AUGUST 15: Manhattan skyline is dark as the sun comes up on the morning after a massive power failure caused the largest power outage in the nation's history, affecting 50 million people in parts of seven states and Canada. (Photo by Mike Albans\/NY Daily News Archive via\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackouts\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackouts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackouts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0o-NEW-YORK-BLACKOUT-2003-facebook.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0o-NEW-YORK-BLACKOUT-2003-facebook.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0o-NEW-YORK-BLACKOUT-2003-facebook.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0o-NEW-YORK-BLACKOUT-2003-facebook.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0o-NEW-YORK-BLACKOUT-2003-facebook.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239537,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239537","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":3},"title":"Frozen Wind Turbines & Solar Panels Leave Thousands of Americans Freezing In The Dark","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Far from threatening human existence, coal and gas have, once again, literally saved thousands of American lives. A bout of what is now known as \u2018extreme weather\u2019 demonstrates how extremely stupid it is to rely upon sunshine and breezes for power.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-609.png?fit=1001%2C755&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-609.png?fit=1001%2C755&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-609.png?fit=1001%2C755&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-609.png?fit=1001%2C755&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":233627,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=233627","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":4},"title":"Experts warn: Today (December 12, 2022) Europe threatens power shutdowns","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Experts warn of blackouts and a rolling blackouts.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-291.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-291.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-291.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-291.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-291.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":295366,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=295366","url_meta":{"origin":296025,"position":5},"title":"Alberta Grid Under Stress: EV Drivers Under Duress","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When magical thinking meets a polar vortex cold, hard reality follows","rel":"","context":"In \"Alberta\"","block_context":{"text":"Alberta","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=alberta"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-185606.png?fit=1200%2C620&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-185606.png?fit=1200%2C620&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-185606.png?fit=1200%2C620&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-185606.png?fit=1200%2C620&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Screenshot-2024-01-15-185606.png?fit=1200%2C620&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=296025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296029,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296025\/revisions\/296029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/296027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=296025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=296025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}