Level 2 power alert in AB last night.

[LEP]

It's funny you're all so smugly using this in your ridiculous campaign against renewables but forget the history. How can you be short of power in AB with the economy in recession and that expensive Altalink powerline that was put in place to prevent brownouts in Calgary (according to the PCs) A line that Albertans are paying for on every power bill as the operator was granted a 7% profit on the money they didn't spend building it. Truth is despite the PC denials that line was built to sell power to the US - liquidating Woodland's coal reserves and sending it south at AB taxpayer expense with the proceeds straight into corporate pockets. Maybe you should be asking the PC government why the power supply is short not blaming it on wind farms or solar?

I believe your beloved NDP shut down a bunch of coal fired plants, Grassy. Paid them to quit I believe.

[J88]

Level 2 power alert in AB last night

I don’t know what’s worse burning to death in Australia or freezing to death in Canada. Maby we need some You Tubers videoing freezing to death here

[Hamloc]

It's funny you're all so smugly using this in your ridiculous campaign against renewables but forget the history. How can you be short of power in AB with the economy in recession and that expensive Altalink powerline that was put in place to prevent brownouts in Calgary (according to the PCs) A line that Albertans are paying for on every power bill as the operator was granted a 7% profit on the money they didn't spend building it. Truth is despite the PC denials that line was built to sell power to the US - liquidating Woodland's coal reserves and sending it south at AB taxpayer expense with the proceeds straight into corporate pockets. Maybe you should be asking the PC government why the power supply is short not blaming it on wind farms or solar?

Grassfarmer I believe record consumption was due to extreme cold. When I went to bed ambient temperature was -40, when I got up this morning it had warmed up to a balmy -37. Red Deer was was -41.6 at 7 am, record low for the date according to environment Canada was -40.6 in 1950. Also when I looked at 7 am our windmills were generating 16, yes 16 megawatts of electricity out of a potential 1781. As for my "ridiculous campaign against renewables", I would say what about the federal Green Party, federal NDP party, for that matter the federal Liberal party's campaign against common sense? They all promote wind and solar as a replacement for fossil fuels in electrical generation. I have no issue with clean energy sources that make sense like hydroelectric and nuclear but to promote intermittent forms of generation like wind and solar as the be all and end all just won't work for 365 days a year in Alberta. All the computer modelling and examples of how it works in other geographic locations won't change how it will work here. I prefer actual measured performance to pie in the sky computer models. Enjoy your day.

[J88]

Level 2 power alert in AB last night

You know if stuff starts freezing up and then you have insurance claims then those companies seek damage for who is responsible is the gov’t responsible or is there a list of environmentalists they can sue for damage done ( sarcasm )

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Grassfarmer I believe record consumption was due to extreme cold. When I went to bed ambient temperature was -40, when I got up this morning it had warmed up to a balmy -37. Red Deer was was -41.6 at 7 am, record low for the date according to environment Canada was -40.6 in 1950. Also when I looked at 7 am our windmills were generating 16, yes 16 megawatts of electricity out of a potential 1781. As for my "ridiculous campaign against renewables", I would say what about the federal Green Party, federal NDP party, for that matter the federal Liberal party's campaign against common sense? They all promote wind and solar as a replacement for fossil fuels in electrical generation. I have no issue with clean energy sources that make sense like hydroelectric and nuclear but to promote intermittent forms of generation like wind and solar as the be all and end all just won't work for 365 days a year in Alberta. All the computer modelling and examples of how it works in other geographic locations won't change how it will work here. I prefer actual measured performance to pie in the sky computer models. Enjoy your day.

16 out of 1781 is well under 1% of nameplate. Yes, that is a cherry picked in time figure, but there is no rule saying it can't go below that, or stay at these levels for days or weeks at a time. At some point as that divisor approaches zero, while the answer(power consumption) attempts to stay constant, the dividend( the number of wind farms required) approaches infinity.

There are other proven reliable and cost effective sources of energy that do not require burning non-renewable fossil fuels.

And at the present time, we are flaring off massive quantities of natural gas that could otherwise be producing electricity 24/7/365.

I realize that a decade and a half ago when many of these concepts got their big boost, with natural gas looking very much finite and ever more expensive, they might have made better sense than they do now.

[grassfarmer]

The folks that quote the AESO figures for wind need to be able to explain why hydro doesn't work either in cold weather. When you get done explaining that maybe explain why several of the gas and coal facilities are producing nothing either.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

The folks that quote the AESO figures for wind need to be able to explain why hydro doesn't work either in cold weather. When you get done explaining that maybe explain why several of the gas and coal facilities are producing nothing either.

[ATTACH]5489[/ATTACH]

I'd like to know the answer too. Water levels shouldn't be low after the summer we had. Lots of zeros in coal and gas. Maybe some can't compete cost wise with co-generation, and newer combined cycle? Not an ideal time of year to do intentional planned maintenance.

[Guest]

The folks that quote the AESO figures for wind need to be able to explain why hydro doesn't work either in cold weather. When you get done explaining that maybe explain why several of the gas and coal facilities are producing nothing either.

[ATTACH]5489[/ATTACH]

Interesting , someone should answer that ?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Interesting , someone should answer that ?

I'm trying. I just called and asked. The relevant party is supposed to call me back with an answer.

Within 3 business days. I'll keep you posted.

[Hamloc]

The folks that quote the AESO figures for wind need to be able to explain why hydro doesn't work either in cold weather. When you get done explaining that maybe explain why several of the gas and coal facilities are producing nothing either.

[ATTACH]5489[/ATTACH]

In doing a quick bit of googling I found a press release from TransAlta stating that Sundance #3 and #5 have been mothballed until Nov. 1,2021 while TransAlta assesses market prices and conditions. It should also be noted that TransAlta has applied and I believe been approved to convert 3-6 from coal to natural gas. As for Sheerness 1 and 2 in Hannah both have been approved for conversion to natural gas. I have a cousin that works in the Hannah area and I believe that conversion has already begun on the one plant which would explain why the one is not producing. As for Hydro certainly an interesting question.

[ajl]

Some of those hydro stations are irrigation projects and likely only work during irrigation season.

[rumrocks]

I was surprised to learn that the city of Lethbridge uses more power in summer than the winter.

Higher amperage for air conditioning compressors and blower motor vs blower motors on furnaces plus auto block heaters, who would have guessed, Lethbridge winters are warmer than Red Deer, but still, am
I missing something.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6412450/cold-snap-energy-use-alberta-lethbridge/ https://globalnews.ca/news/6412450/cold-snap-energy-use-alberta-lethbridge/





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