A lack of imagination caused the ERCOT grid failure. No one imagined a weeklong extreme cold spell, despite Hollywood blockbusters imagining extreme weather events and much, much worse. Neither the regulators nor the risk managers across the bulk power system thought much about the 200-page report issued in 2011 that highlighted Texas’ vulnerability to a cold-weather event. Two regulators outside of Texas, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), did imagine the possibility of an extreme cold spell.
Until the 2021 winter storm, Texans didn’t think much about the behind the light switch system called the bulk power system. Sure, the small collective of people, like me, who enjoy a plethora of acronyms and follow the day-to-day of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and ERCOT have thought a lot about the necessary reforms to our electric market, but not the average Texan. Texas is the second most po
EversourceNH
Nearly 20,000 people in New Hampshire were still without power due to high winds early Tuesday evening.
Most of the outages are with Eversource in Portsmouth and other parts of the Seacoast. The New Hampshire Electric Co-op also has large outages in the Lakes Region and Eastern White Mountains, including, as of 5:30 p.m., nearly 3,000 in Alton.
The utilities say gusty winds overnight and through the day damaged poles and wires, and brought down trees in some areas.
The winds have begun to die down some, but the damage like here on Middle Street in Portsmouth is substantial. We’re bringing nearly 100 contract crews from MA, NY, and Canada to assist in the restoration, and expect to be substantially complete by 11:59pm tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/IklH4UyStS
Thousands of Granite Staters were still without power Wednesday morning as crews continue to clean up downed trees and lines from strong winds.Winds have calmed, but gusts topping 50 mph for several hours Tuesday caused a significant amount of damage. View the latest outage numbers in these maps:Eversource Liberty Utilities New Hampshire Electric Co-op Unitil Downed lines were reported throughout the state. At the peak, tens of thousands of customers were without electricity. Weather alertsPower restoration efforts are underway, but it will take some time. All power is expected to be back on by midnight Wednesday night or sometime early Thursday morning. Some help is on the way, too. Almost 100 extra crews are coming in from other states and Canada.Eversource officials said they have hundreds of crews across the state dealing with significant outages in every region of New Hampshire.POWER OUTAGE INFORMATIONIf the power goes out, you are encouraged to call your electricity prov