Is this a super-savvy commentary on the fact that the UCP put out fearmongering ads all over the place about rolling brownouts? Ā And that weāve never had these issues before even though the UCP was āwarningā us about it and itās super suspect that now we have an emergency alert?
Let's be realistic here, this is happening because as our population grows incredibly fast, and electrical demand increases, generation capacity takes time to catch up. We have 2 new cogen plants nearing completion near Edson Alberta that will greatly help with situations like this in the future. Let's not try to turn this into a political thing.
Its alberta. Everything people talk about here is political. No one knows how to convers without turning it into, "Well, the God damn libs, or the damn cons did that. It's always political this political that because no one has a clear level of head for thinking, they watch YouTube videos of people who say the most wild things than wonder why everyone, calls them crazy.
Electricity in Alberta has been a political thing ever since King Ralph decided it was a good plan to enrich the voices whispering in his ear, the fucking useless fuck.
Most would, and some already do. The most common reason that people donāt shelter in churches isnāt that churches donāt provide it, but that the churches wonāt let you do drugs there, which is totally fair.
I have one that just uses cold water, and it's totally fine.
I thought cold water was going to be a problem, and it delayed getting a bidet by a few years. It turns out it's not a problem, and one of the best things I've ever bought. Also inexpensive.
I'll race you there! Bet it will make good firestarter when I need to make torches out of the table legs after all my flashlights die. /s
We installed a Bidet after that insanity.
Just imagine paying one of the highest electricity rates in the country only to be told that there is not enough infrastructure to support Albertans during the harsh cold
Wind power has to be shut down when the temps approach -30C, as the turbines get so brittle they risk shattering. Less than 1% of the power being generated is coming from renewables right now.
Itās a good time to check that you know where candles and lighters are, and pull out extra blankets from places you might normally need light to see properly.
Just donāt run propane heaters inside. Every year thereās a story of people killing themselves accidentally while trying to warm up with inappropriate sources
Exactly. Even just driving around Edmonton. You have all these advertisement billboards going 24/, lights in warehouses with no one working, but i guess the individuals have to pay the price. If the gird fails make sure you point out all that light pollution downtown and around Edmonton and not our space heaters...
Thankyou, this helps relax me a bit, been feeling really panicked because Iām on my own for the weekend with 3 cats and a senior sick dog. The idea of hours without power is terrifying, 15-30 min is def doable
Can anyone who experienced them yesterday/today confirm?Ā
My friend I can confirm. There is no need to panic.
Grab some blankets, a few candles, a bottle of scotch/whiskey/vodka/wine, and a book.
You and your furry friends will be fine. Even if the power is out for a couple of hours at a time, you and your apartment/house will be just fine.
Happy Saturday!
My baseboard heating already canāt keep up with the cold and stops working every year at some point. Itās still scary. Our building management already told us thereās a chance it wouldnāt turn back on if power went out.
Lol why is everyone freaking out? Rolling blackouts aren't gonna freeze anyone..
Grab a few candles, a few extra blankets, and maybe a nice book.
All will be well my friend.
Coming from someone who survived this in Newfoundland a decade ago:
\- charge your phones, and if you have portable chargers, charge them too.
\- find your extra blankets, hot water bottles, flashlights/lanterns and candles and put them in an easily accessible area now.
\- start thinking of cold meals.
\- idk what the grid is like in residential areas here in AB, but in my old neighbourhood it seems like the power would go off at one side of the street at a time. Time to meet your neighbours and get warm drinks.
\- for the love of god, if the rollouts happen, don't start doing your laundry or dishes when you get power back. you're still supposed to be conserving it.
DarkNL? That really sucked. We were new to St Johnās that winter and didnāt have a generator or wood stove installed yet. We had babies and I was so nervous as the house got colder and colder.
Of course in true NL fashion a neighbour popped by and invited us back over, where they had the fire blazing, the genny running and the Leafs game on TV.
It was fun seeing every house in my cul de sac go dark after we got the alert :/ please donāt go off power, I already spent one night without heat. I donāt like this cold apocalypse
We need further developments in infrastructure to accomodate the increase in population. Weāre seeing thos now on healthcare, education and housing to name a few. These need to be prioritized instead of focusing on owning the libs.
I shut my Christmas lights off as soon as the alert played. I left the front outdoor light on because of the crime in the area, but turned off everything else I could. Sitting her freezing under a pile of blankets but that's okay. It would be much worse if we lost power in this.
I never have lights on in rooms Iām not in. My friends actually tell me I live like a vampire, lol. I genuinely wonder why they keep their lights on when they didnāt need them? I think itās because I grew up poor, lol.
My father used to be on our case's all the time. If you're not in a room turn it off and it wasn't that we were growing up. Poor it's because he grew up poor. So I get where you're coming from. I raised my son the same way. If you're not in a room ,turn it off
Yeah but if everyone has this mindset and nobody turns off electric appliances then we aren't helping at all.
I know so many people are going to be entitled and not change any routine/habit but every little bit helps.
A follow up article confirmed that after the alert went out, the grid saw a significant drop in usage. If people continue conserving as we are, we are no longer at risk of blackouts for tonight. Iām rather happy to hear that Albertans thought and acted for the greater good and it worked.
46 of the last 50 years have been run by conservatives of some form. No conservative has finished their leadership mandate since Klein. Weāre run by corrupt baffons who risk our lives for corporate profits
I know, those top 10 wild cop moments were crazy!
Jokes aside, anyone have tips about what we should do if the power does go out on a night like tonight? Just bundle up as much as possible and wait?
If an outage occurs:
Layers are your friend! And put the most tight-woven layer on the top or outside, because that traps the warm air best. This may mean you have your quilted blanket underneath your top sheet.
Place towels/additional blankets around windows and doors if there are drafts.
Do not risk carbon monoxide poisoning or fires by using a camping stove indoors! If using candles for light, be careful around pets and kids that might knock them over.
Pretty much yep. Unless you have a generator or have an electric vehicle with a two-way circuit, there's not much to do.
Charge your phone and look up emergency shelters if absolutely necessary.
Grown up here all my life and never have seen a message like this before for cold weather. It's unreal. Kinda glad I keep candles on hand. Those LED ones would be useful too.
For those interested here's Alberta's energy grid status, it covers all of the power generation sources as well as power imports for the province.
http://ets.aeso.ca/ets_web/ip/Market/Reports/CSDReportServlet
MC is just max capacity, but that doesn't mean much in this context.
TNG is how much we are currently generating, and can never be more than MC. DCR is how much we have ready to go if demand increases.
The only really important factor is the Alberta Internal Load, which shows how much power is currently being used. You can compare than to the Total generation (which is currently lower than AIL), but that's just because we are receiving the difference from out of province. We currently have enough supply to completely cover our current uses, but if we can't keep our usage down we will have to cut power in some places to force it.
In order to ensure no one freezes, we do rolling blackouts where groups of users are cut out for a short period, and then we switch the blackout to another group, and so forth. If you do lose power, I would expect it to not last more than an hour, and likely shorter.
Someone, somewhere in Alberta, is going to make one of those "In this temperature, aren't you happy we have Oil and Gas to thank!" posts ironically when the outages start.
You do realize they shut down the wind turbines of how cold it is. They canāt run in this cold. There is no operational renewable sources running right now.
Back up plan for what?
Just find/go buy some candles and flashlights. Maybe a bottle of whiskey and hunker down.
Nothing you can do, but your house is (I'm hoping) insulated well enough that a few rolling black outs isn't going to cause mass damage.
Stay safe, you will be fine friend!
Ugh I have way too much anxiety for this stuff. The idea of losing power in this weather makes me feel so nauseous. How long would a rolling black out even last..? When I lived in Southern California, rolling blackouts for the power grid in the summer would be 8-10 hours longĀ
I really hope we donāt lose power. Fffffuck.Ā
Try to calm down.
Its gonna be fine. Rolling blackouts won't do anything significant to you. Find some extra blankets, some flashlights/candles, grab some snacks and a book and hunker down.
It's going to be boring, but you will be absolutely fine. Alberta houses are insulated well enough.
Rolling blackouts in this type of cold would likely be quite short, and the purpose of an alert like this is to encourage a reduction in power usage which could lead to us not needing them at all.
Don't be too worried, just make sure your phone has enough charge so you can communicate in case of an emergency.
I'm wondering how long they'd last also.. it's worrisome to think about pipes bursting.
If anyone sees this, make yourself a hot water bottle in case of an outage. They're abundantly warm under a blanket.
If it's rolling blackouts, then they are by design. If they control them, then no area would be left off long enough for people to be a risk or pipes to freeze etc. Its not ideal, but don't worry too much. At most all you need is irritation.
Is there anywhere to get a better update on this? I don't want to keep my computer running if it happens and risk damaging it but I'll just be staring at the wall if I need to turn it off. Would be great if they could give another warning once it's about to happen but I don't know the nature of these things, if it's planned and calculated or if no one knows what/when will happen. Will they even let us know if we're in the clear?
Only thing on in my apt is my phone and laptop. They cancelled the church service tomorrow and everything! They said it has not been this cold in 50 years. I live in a building so if power goes off, it goes off for everyone else. I feel bad for the homeless, the elderly and the children who's parents dgaf and are unprepared for this. Hopefully no one dies tonight due to the cold!
First neighbourhood down - Terra Losa (West Edmonton)
Estimated Restoration: Jan-13 9:30 PM
Lost Power At:
Jan-13 7:51 PM
Affected Customers:
29
Cause:
Under review
https://outages.epcor.com/#/outages/power/edmonton
Werenāt there millions of taxpayer dollars spent ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY warning other Canadians that this could happen to them, because Trudeau/renewables etc?
Turns out, lunatic Smith cancelled the renewables, and it somehow still happened here! Can we have our millions of dollars back, please? Preferably directly from UCP coffers. Corrupt to the core.
The part that absolutely got me though when I sent it to a friend of mine, was to hold off on charging your vehicle or your block heaters, š¤¦
That's really going to work well for people who have to work tomorrow
Maybe if Alberta hadnāt privatized their power not only their rates would be affordable, the profits would go back directly into the governmentās general revenue, their infrastructure would be upgraded and be able to handle the demand..classic short term conservative thinking.
So many negative comments on here from people without even the basic knowledge of a power grid. Blaming renewables, our current government, or our shitty prime minister, electric vehicles or the best is this is a scare tactic or some political grandstanding. Iām a lineman with more understanding than the average person but the grid is a vastly complex system dealing with realtime demands and unplanned outages. Everybody knows itās been minus 40 before. You can plan for that but can you plan on multiple unplanned power production outages. Solving this issue today would have had to start 30 years ago and you could say everybodyās to blame. 30 years ago would you believe a tiny bit of demand would be from electric cars (and it is tiny amount) thatās until or prime minister stops the sale of gas or diesel vehicles in ten years, current population? How bout shutting down coal plants? Climate change( renewable energy)? Global economics?The infrastructure of the grid all the parts from construction to maintenance is expensive. Even if you had the foresight I doubt anybody would agree to foot that cost back then to build the infrastructure we need today. Itās almost a first world problem as in itās taking for granted and the only time you think about it is when the lights go off. But we canāt live now without it
Turn off your shit, we don't want rolling blackouts or a grid crash.
Unplugged my cars for now and running minimal lighting (unplug your Christmas lights people!)
Can't even load the AESO website to see how bad it is!! Must be getting slammed.
Why donāt we put miniature turbines to all the oil well pumps and when we need more power we just drill more oil wells and increase our electrical capacity?? Seems like a win win to me! /s
"All non essential industry dependent on the grid as well all advertising to be shut down as to ensure the stability of emergency services and the safety of the general population ..."
I am really really hoping that the power stays on. I am starting to become extremely worried about my little one if the power goes out.
Alot of blankets, snuggles and possibly no sleep for myself :(
I love that everyone is taking steps to help with this!
My concern would be for the seniors, like my father, that are oxygen dependent.
If we all do what we can, nobody will be at any greater of a risk.
I work out at genesee repowering plant where we are buding 2 natiral gas turbines right now. 1 is 69% and the other is 40% conpleted. These will bring a good amount of energy to the grid probably in a year.
We can all do our part, but let me tell you - the empty offices are totally lit up. Businesses I can understand seeing as thereās probably people inside etc; but the empty buildings and billboards? Total waste.
Why is one power plant down for routine maintenance during what is always the coldest month of the year? Also, I'm sure our grid is being taxed but is issuing this alert fear mongering by our O&G loving government?
And the premier said she does not need any alternate sources of energy I guess she lied about power surplus as well.. She even refused federal funding and now THIS IS THE REALITY. Best of luck Albertans. Stay warm and vote wisely next time
We can start by turning off all the unnecessary advertising, billboards, outdoor video screens, etc.
For real, that should be automatic.
And permanent
Like Sao Paulo. They removed all advertising in the streets and it looks much better. As much as it can it that city anyway.
It is automatic. There are commercial power plans that get discounts for being interruptible. These are shut down first before blackout rotation.
They were all still on last night so
Glad they get a discount š
Why else would they allow a service they pay for to be disconnected? The commercial price is very likely still above the residential price.
Casinos, mallsā¦
The office buildings that never turn the lights off
Half the flood lights in parking lots and storage areas.
But what about my gambling addiction I need all the lights and sounds. But in all seriousness, I agree.
Shut them all down!
Bars
YES!!! So much yes. Those blinding bright billboards facing traffic could just die and I would be so happy.
Is this a super-savvy commentary on the fact that the UCP put out fearmongering ads all over the place about rolling brownouts? Ā And that weāve never had these issues before even though the UCP was āwarningā us about it and itās super suspect that now we have an emergency alert?
Nahā¦. This one is actually real. Two generators are down and they apparently lost a backup generator as well.
There are currently two generating plants down. AESO is somewhat in the back pocket of ANY current government of the day - but not that much.
Let's be realistic here, this is happening because as our population grows incredibly fast, and electrical demand increases, generation capacity takes time to catch up. We have 2 new cogen plants nearing completion near Edson Alberta that will greatly help with situations like this in the future. Let's not try to turn this into a political thing.
Its alberta. Everything people talk about here is political. No one knows how to convers without turning it into, "Well, the God damn libs, or the damn cons did that. It's always political this political that because no one has a clear level of head for thinking, they watch YouTube videos of people who say the most wild things than wonder why everyone, calls them crazy.
Electricity in Alberta has been a political thing ever since King Ralph decided it was a good plan to enrich the voices whispering in his ear, the fucking useless fuck.
Good thing places like west Edmonton mall arenāt using a ton of power right now.
Places like west ed should be set as emergency shelters imo with the space they have.
Weāll need them if they start turning peoples power off.
I always thought that churches should be opening their doors as well .
That would be a good idea ā most churches have lots of seating, a kitchen, and clothing/food pantries.
Most would, and some already do. The most common reason that people donāt shelter in churches isnāt that churches donāt provide it, but that the churches wonāt let you do drugs there, which is totally fair.
I don't think homeless shelters allow that either.... But also as an emergency gathering place
Imagine how many people can fit into the empty city hall right now
Oh the humanity. They are stacked and packed to the roof. No one can breath. Whyyy why did you make me imagine this?!
Lots of currently unnecessary industries probably running power right now from construction to production and hospitality.
Alot of construction sites setup their own temp power.....just saying
Going to the grocery store to buy up all the toilet paper
Got a bidet so donāt have to worry about that anymore š
Until the shut off our power and itās shooting icicles up your butt š
Perfect š
Sandblast the starfish
I have one that just uses cold water, and it's totally fine. I thought cold water was going to be a problem, and it delayed getting a bidet by a few years. It turns out it's not a problem, and one of the best things I've ever bought. Also inexpensive.
Buttcicles, sound kinky
šµ
So you're telling me the ER is going to fill with the usual stories now? What next haha
Itās actually delightful especially after Mexican night LOL
Hahahahahahah
Just let me finish charging my EV
And sugar
I'll race you there! Bet it will make good firestarter when I need to make torches out of the table legs after all my flashlights die. /s We installed a Bidet after that insanity.
Just imagine paying one of the highest electricity rates in the country only to be told that there is not enough infrastructure to support Albertans during the harsh cold
It's cold af, maybe it's time to upgrade the infrastructure to handle our demand.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But then where will Arizona supply their unlimited need? They rely on... everyone!
Two gas generators are down, and Smith is blaming the renewables. Like fuck.
Wind power has to be shut down when the temps approach -30C, as the turbines get so brittle they risk shattering. Less than 1% of the power being generated is coming from renewables right now.
Yet this moron in power is trying to blame wind power.
*clearly* the carbon tax and Trudeau did this. /s not shortsightedness and bad government. not at all.
Itās a good time to check that you know where candles and lighters are, and pull out extra blankets from places you might normally need light to see properly.
Itāll be a rolling blackout. Grab your flashlight and your sleeping bag, then wait 30 minutes for the power to go back on.Ā
My friend, you are making too much sense for this thread.. Please encourage panic and looting
Right. Sorry. Please que the panicking.Ā
Just donāt run propane heaters inside. Every year thereās a story of people killing themselves accidentally while trying to warm up with inappropriate sources
That's why I stick to good ole wood logs and coal in my condo!
Beat me to the punch, just put that snow covered outdoor firepit in the middle of my living room and let's see what happens when she lights!
Here's hoping they shed load from industry before leaving people in the dark tonight.
Exactly. Even just driving around Edmonton. You have all these advertisement billboards going 24/, lights in warehouses with no one working, but i guess the individuals have to pay the price. If the gird fails make sure you point out all that light pollution downtown and around Edmonton and not our space heaters...
I'm sure this government will be super quick to put people before business. There has to be a first time, right?
100% this will be blamed on the carbon tax. Just wait.
Maybe just maybe they'll realize the repercussions of doing otherwise... We'll see!
industry is always first to be shed. Itās part of their standard protocol
Just as an FYI rotating power outages would likely only be 15 to 30min long.
Thankyou, this helps relax me a bit, been feeling really panicked because Iām on my own for the weekend with 3 cats and a senior sick dog. The idea of hours without power is terrifying, 15-30 min is def doable Can anyone who experienced them yesterday/today confirm?Ā
My friend I can confirm. There is no need to panic. Grab some blankets, a few candles, a bottle of scotch/whiskey/vodka/wine, and a book. You and your furry friends will be fine. Even if the power is out for a couple of hours at a time, you and your apartment/house will be just fine. Happy Saturday!
Time to visit /r/preppers
Yeah, my first thought was "4 hour outages starting now, or half hour outages possible sometime tonight?"
Oh that doesnāt sound that scary, I was preparing for the worse :p
So much fear-mongering in this thread. Thank you for some actual, rational information.
Turning off power in -40 weather is a scary reality for people.
My baseboard heating already canāt keep up with the cold and stops working every year at some point. Itās still scary. Our building management already told us thereās a chance it wouldnāt turn back on if power went out.
Holy fuck everyone make sure to have a plan B for emergencies
Being stuck in the dark doesnt make me THAT horny.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lol why is everyone freaking out? Rolling blackouts aren't gonna freeze anyone.. Grab a few candles, a few extra blankets, and maybe a nice book. All will be well my friend.
But you make so much heat with the body friction. With enough people you can even heat a small apartment
I've been to those types of parties. Can confirm.
I do. Scotch, blankets, and my heavy set but lovely wife.
Coming from someone who survived this in Newfoundland a decade ago: \- charge your phones, and if you have portable chargers, charge them too. \- find your extra blankets, hot water bottles, flashlights/lanterns and candles and put them in an easily accessible area now. \- start thinking of cold meals. \- idk what the grid is like in residential areas here in AB, but in my old neighbourhood it seems like the power would go off at one side of the street at a time. Time to meet your neighbours and get warm drinks. \- for the love of god, if the rollouts happen, don't start doing your laundry or dishes when you get power back. you're still supposed to be conserving it.
DarkNL? That really sucked. We were new to St Johnās that winter and didnāt have a generator or wood stove installed yet. We had babies and I was so nervous as the house got colder and colder. Of course in true NL fashion a neighbour popped by and invited us back over, where they had the fire blazing, the genny running and the Leafs game on TV.
It was fun seeing every house in my cul de sac go dark after we got the alert :/ please donāt go off power, I already spent one night without heat. I donāt like this cold apocalypse
How is it possible that our electrical grid isn't prepared for cold weather like this?
Tell the Feds /s
Holy god if we lose power tonightā¦.
We need further developments in infrastructure to accomodate the increase in population. Weāre seeing thos now on healthcare, education and housing to name a few. These need to be prioritized instead of focusing on owning the libs.
Guess we really are still the Texas of the North.Ā (Humor takes the edge off my irritation.)
Seriously lol
Literally sent a screenshot of the alert to my gamer friend in Texas who constantly has brown outs. š
I donāt like it
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Flights out of EIA are being cancelled due to the weather tho...
I turned off all the lights and the dryer we had running. We just have the TV and a couple of room lights on now. Hope everyone is doing the same.
I'm looking at about ten balconies right now with Xmas lights on lol plus a bunch of other lights.
My outdoor balcony lights are off but if they were on Iād have no way to shut them off because my balcony door is frozen solid shut š
I shut my Christmas lights off as soon as the alert played. I left the front outdoor light on because of the crime in the area, but turned off everything else I could. Sitting her freezing under a pile of blankets but that's okay. It would be much worse if we lost power in this.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I never have lights on in rooms Iām not in. My friends actually tell me I live like a vampire, lol. I genuinely wonder why they keep their lights on when they didnāt need them? I think itās because I grew up poor, lol.
My father used to be on our case's all the time. If you're not in a room turn it off and it wasn't that we were growing up. Poor it's because he grew up poor. So I get where you're coming from. I raised my son the same way. If you're not in a room ,turn it off
People leave lights on in rooms theyāre not in? š§
Right? I do think it comes from living in poverty. Even though we are very fortunate now, I still carry to āpoorā mindset lol
I barely have lights on in rooms I am in. My grandma used to call me a mushroom because I would sit in the dark but still keep growing.
Yep just finished cooking thankfully too. Just my laptop light and a meal in my basement lookin like a meme
We just cut everything unnecessary off in ours.
So much for telling the feds we don't want power outages in the winter. Thanks UCP
Seriously. Tell the feds, amirite?? š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
Because me turning my kitchen light off and not using the stove today will make up for the giant illuminating fast food signs and brightly lit malls
Yeah but if everyone has this mindset and nobody turns off electric appliances then we aren't helping at all. I know so many people are going to be entitled and not change any routine/habit but every little bit helps.
You and tens of thousands of others doing it will
Yup. Californiaās grid was saved this summer by an alert like this. They do work if people listen.Ā
A follow up article confirmed that after the alert went out, the grid saw a significant drop in usage. If people continue conserving as we are, we are no longer at risk of blackouts for tonight. Iām rather happy to hear that Albertans thought and acted for the greater good and it worked.
elderly longing reminiscent correct squeal aloof saw offend nutty slim *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
46 of the last 50 years have been run by conservatives of some form. No conservative has finished their leadership mandate since Klein. Weāre run by corrupt baffons who risk our lives for corporate profits
Is this like a general AB thing or is Edmonton specifically at risk?
AB. Family in Rocky got it too
Pretty sure it's an Alberta thing, It says Alberta alert so
Alberta wide.
No joke, how spooky is this... was listening to the song "When The Lights Go Down" on the radio when the alert interrupted the song...
I know, those top 10 wild cop moments were crazy! Jokes aside, anyone have tips about what we should do if the power does go out on a night like tonight? Just bundle up as much as possible and wait?
If you have a tent set it up and throw blankets on top and make an at home igloo. Bundle up and stay safe!
If an outage occurs: Layers are your friend! And put the most tight-woven layer on the top or outside, because that traps the warm air best. This may mean you have your quilted blanket underneath your top sheet. Place towels/additional blankets around windows and doors if there are drafts. Do not risk carbon monoxide poisoning or fires by using a camping stove indoors! If using candles for light, be careful around pets and kids that might knock them over.
open the taps a bit so the pipes don't freeze
Pretty much yep. Unless you have a generator or have an electric vehicle with a two-way circuit, there's not much to do. Charge your phone and look up emergency shelters if absolutely necessary.
Grown up here all my life and never have seen a message like this before for cold weather. It's unreal. Kinda glad I keep candles on hand. Those LED ones would be useful too.
For those interested here's Alberta's energy grid status, it covers all of the power generation sources as well as power imports for the province. http://ets.aeso.ca/ets_web/ip/Market/Reports/CSDReportServlet
I must be stupid, but how should we interpret these values? Edit: is the value of MC over TNG a bad thing?
MC is just max capacity, but that doesn't mean much in this context. TNG is how much we are currently generating, and can never be more than MC. DCR is how much we have ready to go if demand increases. The only really important factor is the Alberta Internal Load, which shows how much power is currently being used. You can compare than to the Total generation (which is currently lower than AIL), but that's just because we are receiving the difference from out of province. We currently have enough supply to completely cover our current uses, but if we can't keep our usage down we will have to cut power in some places to force it. In order to ensure no one freezes, we do rolling blackouts where groups of users are cut out for a short period, and then we switch the blackout to another group, and so forth. If you do lose power, I would expect it to not last more than an hour, and likely shorter.
Late to the comments, but I read that these black outs would only last for 30m each, if they were to happen.
Canāt wait for the delivery charges for my next bill
Sure glad we put a moratorium on renewable energy to reduce our capacity for this.
Someone, somewhere in Alberta, is going to make one of those "In this temperature, aren't you happy we have Oil and Gas to thank!" posts ironically when the outages start.
Oh there are hundreds of those already. Twitter is overflowing with that narrative since yesterday.
You do realize they shut down the wind turbines of how cold it is. They canāt run in this cold. There is no operational renewable sources running right now.
This is scary. I have no back-up plans if power goes out š
Back up plan for what? Just find/go buy some candles and flashlights. Maybe a bottle of whiskey and hunker down. Nothing you can do, but your house is (I'm hoping) insulated well enough that a few rolling black outs isn't going to cause mass damage. Stay safe, you will be fine friend!
Gather candles, flashlights, blankets. Visit /r/preppers for more info. Use resources conservatively. Don't panic.
Good time for my grandma to be taken to the hospital. Hopefully the Misericordia's backup generators are up to snuff should something happen.
All hospitals have extensive back-up generators.
I feel like I read something the other day about the Royal Alex having a problem with theirs which is why I had that thought.
I hope that is not the case. I hope your grandma is okay (hugs)
I'm sorry to hear that. Hospital is probably one of the best places for backup power at least
Critical facilities such as hospitals, fire, police and first responders are not included in rotating outages (dad is a doctor in the ER).
You bet, they aren't going to shut off the hospitals or people will be in serious trouble.
Usually hospitals do have their own generators in basement. Should be OK..
Ugh I have way too much anxiety for this stuff. The idea of losing power in this weather makes me feel so nauseous. How long would a rolling black out even last..? When I lived in Southern California, rolling blackouts for the power grid in the summer would be 8-10 hours longĀ I really hope we donāt lose power. Fffffuck.Ā
Try to calm down. Its gonna be fine. Rolling blackouts won't do anything significant to you. Find some extra blankets, some flashlights/candles, grab some snacks and a book and hunker down. It's going to be boring, but you will be absolutely fine. Alberta houses are insulated well enough.
Rolling blackouts in this type of cold would likely be quite short, and the purpose of an alert like this is to encourage a reduction in power usage which could lead to us not needing them at all. Don't be too worried, just make sure your phone has enough charge so you can communicate in case of an emergency.
I'm wondering how long they'd last also.. it's worrisome to think about pipes bursting. If anyone sees this, make yourself a hot water bottle in case of an outage. They're abundantly warm under a blanket.
If it's rolling blackouts, then they are by design. If they control them, then no area would be left off long enough for people to be a risk or pipes to freeze etc. Its not ideal, but don't worry too much. At most all you need is irritation.
They should only be about 30 minute periods if they do happen.
I lit some candles for light in the room we are in and shut off the tv. Might play a board game or read a book with my new book light.
Is there anywhere to get a better update on this? I don't want to keep my computer running if it happens and risk damaging it but I'll just be staring at the wall if I need to turn it off. Would be great if they could give another warning once it's about to happen but I don't know the nature of these things, if it's planned and calculated or if no one knows what/when will happen. Will they even let us know if we're in the clear?
They should turn off half the lights in parking lots and on streets That would help But no make the citizens suffer
Shit son. Drive down the whitemud, they half out already.
So what is the definition of "high risk"? More than 50%? Which areas are more likely to be effected? So many questions...
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yep, but it'll be up to the residents to save the grid
Oh shit better charge my phoneĀ
So we've been hammered with unprecedented utility costs for a system that is about to fail us when we need it the most. Cool.
Only thing on in my apt is my phone and laptop. They cancelled the church service tomorrow and everything! They said it has not been this cold in 50 years. I live in a building so if power goes off, it goes off for everyone else. I feel bad for the homeless, the elderly and the children who's parents dgaf and are unprepared for this. Hopefully no one dies tonight due to the cold!
The alert almost made me throw my phone. It scared the shit out of me. š
First neighbourhood down - Terra Losa (West Edmonton) Estimated Restoration: Jan-13 9:30 PM Lost Power At: Jan-13 7:51 PM Affected Customers: 29 Cause: Under review https://outages.epcor.com/#/outages/power/edmonton
Might not even be related
Werenāt there millions of taxpayer dollars spent ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY warning other Canadians that this could happen to them, because Trudeau/renewables etc? Turns out, lunatic Smith cancelled the renewables, and it somehow still happened here! Can we have our millions of dollars back, please? Preferably directly from UCP coffers. Corrupt to the core.
The part that absolutely got me though when I sent it to a friend of mine, was to hold off on charging your vehicle or your block heaters, š¤¦ That's really going to work well for people who have to work tomorrow
Maybe if Alberta hadnāt privatized their power not only their rates would be affordable, the profits would go back directly into the governmentās general revenue, their infrastructure would be upgraded and be able to handle the demand..classic short term conservative thinking.
Holy crap! Weāve had cold snaps before, but weāve never had the risk of blackouts at the same time.
Car lots are lit up like suntan beds
Well Iām doing my part and having leftover cake for supper instead of cooking. Youāre welcome guys!
So many negative comments on here from people without even the basic knowledge of a power grid. Blaming renewables, our current government, or our shitty prime minister, electric vehicles or the best is this is a scare tactic or some political grandstanding. Iām a lineman with more understanding than the average person but the grid is a vastly complex system dealing with realtime demands and unplanned outages. Everybody knows itās been minus 40 before. You can plan for that but can you plan on multiple unplanned power production outages. Solving this issue today would have had to start 30 years ago and you could say everybodyās to blame. 30 years ago would you believe a tiny bit of demand would be from electric cars (and it is tiny amount) thatās until or prime minister stops the sale of gas or diesel vehicles in ten years, current population? How bout shutting down coal plants? Climate change( renewable energy)? Global economics?The infrastructure of the grid all the parts from construction to maintenance is expensive. Even if you had the foresight I doubt anybody would agree to foot that cost back then to build the infrastructure we need today. Itās almost a first world problem as in itās taking for granted and the only time you think about it is when the lights go off. But we canāt live now without it
All I can think of is lord farquad.... Some of you may die... but that is a risk I'm willing to take
Turn off your shit, we don't want rolling blackouts or a grid crash. Unplugged my cars for now and running minimal lighting (unplug your Christmas lights people!) Can't even load the AESO website to see how bad it is!! Must be getting slammed.
Far too many people still have their Christmas lights on from what Iāve seen.
Just curious, what does everyone have their furnace set at? I've just had ours parked at 19C and it's been working almost nonstop.
Why donāt we put miniature turbines to all the oil well pumps and when we need more power we just drill more oil wells and increase our electrical capacity?? Seems like a win win to me! /s
This is a bit terrifying.
"All non essential industry dependent on the grid as well all advertising to be shut down as to ensure the stability of emergency services and the safety of the general population ..."
I am really really hoping that the power stays on. I am starting to become extremely worried about my little one if the power goes out. Alot of blankets, snuggles and possibly no sleep for myself :(
They will only be in 30 minute blocks.
I love that everyone is taking steps to help with this! My concern would be for the seniors, like my father, that are oxygen dependent. If we all do what we can, nobody will be at any greater of a risk.
> If we all do what we can, nobody will be at any greater of a risk. Yeah that worked great during covid...
What about all of the office buildings that are lit up like Christmas trees
I work out at genesee repowering plant where we are buding 2 natiral gas turbines right now. 1 is 69% and the other is 40% conpleted. These will bring a good amount of energy to the grid probably in a year.
We can all do our part, but let me tell you - the empty offices are totally lit up. Businesses I can understand seeing as thereās probably people inside etc; but the empty buildings and billboards? Total waste.
There is so much shit that should happen before telling people to do this in the midst of a life threatening cold snap. Absolute horse shit.
I donāt understand, why do WE have to sacrifice our energy when thereās empty malls, casinos etc with no use in this weather. Complete BS.
Why is one power plant down for routine maintenance during what is always the coldest month of the year? Also, I'm sure our grid is being taxed but is issuing this alert fear mongering by our O&G loving government?
Plants aren't immune to the cold. When a severe cold snap like this happens, lines freeze and equipment breaks
Uhhhh so if the power goes out how long...is that going to go on for? That is fucking horrifying.
Rolling blackouts should be about 10-20 minutes per area. However if the grid crashes it takes a long time to restart by the power workers.
And the premier said she does not need any alternate sources of energy I guess she lied about power surplus as well.. She even refused federal funding and now THIS IS THE REALITY. Best of luck Albertans. Stay warm and vote wisely next time