Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by Animats on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:11AM
(#26140318)
No, voltage can be dropped a bit. "Brownouts" are a thing. But they're less effective than they used to be, because everything with a switching power supply will draw more current if the input voltage drops. That's now a big fraction of the load.
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Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by LeoPanthera on Monday February 15, 2021 @05:14AM
(#26141186)
Surely it’s not a big fraction of the load tonight. This whole problem is being caused by heaters.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by puetzk on Monday February 15, 2021 @11:22AM
(#26144135)
But heaters on thermostats will just run more if they are putting out less wattage. So across your whole population of houses, you won't move that part of demand much (maybe a few were already running at 100% duty cycle).