Huntsville utilities power outage

In mid-February, a catastrophic power outage in Texas left more than 4 million households stranded for days without electricity amid freezing weather. More than 46 gigawatts of power capacity went offline under the extreme cold weather event, putting pressure on the power grid system and resulting in broad-based failure. Gas supplies — which provide 60 percent of the state power in winter — proved to be particularly vulnerable with many wellheads and pipelines frozen . The story of a system failure resulting from the lack of “winterization equipment” actually goes far beyond the headlines focused on reduced gas supplies, coal and nuclear power plant shutdowns, and frozen wind turbines. The Texas grid failure is a stark reminder of how extreme weather events are becoming more destructive, testing power infrastructure resilience to their limits and highlights the way that outdated power system management conventions are no longer a fit for our interconnected lives. When the power ... » Learn More about Lessons from Texas: Extreme weather and power grid resilience

The Department of Energy (DoE) has urged power distributors to ensure sufficient power supply for the government’s vaccine rollout by the end of the first quarter. In an advisory, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi ordered distribution utilities (DUs) to “[e]nsure continuous reliable and stable electric power supply to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine cold storage facilities and health care facilities through the provision of backup generating sets and/or distribution system reconfiguration.” He also instructed them to update their respective emergency response protocols and business continuity plans “to be responsive to the prioritization to the Covid-19 vaccines cold storage facilities and healthcare facilities in cases of power outages.” This comes after Cusi, in a February 16, advisory, asked DUs to provide the necessary support for these facilities. ... » Learn More about Power distributors told to ensure enough supply

The outage of power plants and higher electricity demand inched up prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, Inc. (Iemop) said the spot market price averaged at P4.16 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in March, higher than the P2.22 per kWh recorded in February. Iemop largely attributed the spike in spot prices “to the higher frequency of unplanned generator outages and rise in demand.” “Supply levels are generally sufficient to support the demand requirement. However, there are instances of thin supply margin due to unplanned outages,” said Iemop, the WESM operator. Several power plants, mostly coal-fired power plants, were on scheduled maintenance or forced power outage during the March billing period. Iemop said from the original planned daily outage capacity of 996 megawatts (MW) for March, the average generator outage capacity increased to 2,575 MW. Demand peaked at 12,582 MW in March that occurred on ... » Learn More about Power spot market prices up due to higher demand

Customers may see a reduction in their power bills for February after the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) hinted at lowering rates. In a message to reporters on Thursday, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said “the initial data suggests that the generation costs for February have a very strong likelihood of a decrease due to higher demand in the Luzon grid in January, as compared to December.” “With Luzon peak demand in January increasing compared to December 2020, this swing in demand means that the fixed costs from power suppliers may be spread over higher energy volume, resulting in lower effective rates to consumers, compared to last month,” he added. The official also said Meralco was still waiting for the final billings from the various power suppliers, adding that the company aimed to announce rates early next month. This came after the power distributor increased them by P0.2744 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which translates to an additional P55 in the total bill of households ... » Learn More about Power rates seen to drop in Feb

SINGAPORE - The Republic is looking to develop its power generation capacity to ensure electricity supply remains reliable, with some power plants here near retirement and appetite for electricity set to grow in view of emerging sectors such as electric vehicles, data centres and agri-technology. There is currently an overcapacity in the electricity market - a legacy of the investments made by private companies about a decade ago in anticipation of bullish demand that did not materialise. Despite this, Singapore may need new power generation capacity from as early as 2025, depending on when plants are retired, said the Energy Market Authority (EMA) in response to queries from The Straits Times. EMA added that it is studying multiple options to ensure Singapore's power system remains reliable, sustainable and affordable. For instance, EMA called a tender earlier this month for consultancy services on the development of new fast-response generation capacity, which will serve as ... » Learn More about Singapore looks to grow power generation capacity

SINGAPORE - Residents from about 633 households staying in five Housing Board blocks in Tampines can now track their blocks' utilities usage at "Eco Boards" installed at their lift lobbies under a pilot programme. The digital boards provide real-time figures of the block's aggregated water and electricity consumption and the resulting carbon emissions generated over the previous 24 hours. They also offer residents helpful tips on lowering their utilities consumption and will allow the residents to participate in energy-saving challenges through competitions with other blocks. Speaking at the launch event on Saturday morning (Dec 12) held at Block 878A in Tampines Avenue 8, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said the Eco Boards are part of the Tampines Town Council's effort to make the estate Singapore's first "eco town". Mr Masagos, who is the MP for the Tampines West ward of Tampines GRC, noted that Singapore is aiming to reduce the amount of water ... » Learn More about ‘Eco Boards’ to track residents’ utilities use launched at five HDB blocks in Tampines

After reducing rates this month, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Tuesday hinted that the cost of electricity could go up in April. “Based on early, initial projections, there may be higher generation charge for the month of April 2021 due to observed increase in WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) prices,” Meralco Vice President Joe Zaldarriaga said. Zaldarriaga said peak demand in Luzon surged by more than 900 megawatts (MW) in March due to warmer temperature and large capacities on outage persisted, remaining in excess of 3,400 MW on the average. The daily load weighted average price (LWAP) in the region reached P8 per kilowatt hour (kWh) during the week of March 1 and P9 per kWh during the week of March 15. In comparison, the daily LWAP was below P3 per kWh for most of February. Earlier, Meralco announced a decrease of P0.3598 per kWh for March, bringing the overall rates to P8.3195 per kWh from P8.6793 per kWh in February. The power distributor said this ... » Learn More about Power rate hike looms in April

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The local electric cooperative has imposed back-billing to many residential accounts, following a massive installation of new electric meters here. The Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamelco) said the back-bill is a catch-up bill sent when a power consumer is incorrectly charged for energy usage. It covers a longer period than the usual billing cycle and will likely be for a larger-than-usual amount. Zamelco General Manager Gannymede Tiu said, “[In] the past several months until December 19, we conducted massive installation of kilowatt-hour meters (kWh) to more than 10,000 consumers, [who have had] no installed meters for [a number of] years back.” Tiu said many residential accounts here have no electric meters and Zamelco only billed them through “averaging” or the minimum amount, compared to consumers’ actual electricity usage. He added that the back-billing of customers is to ensure all power consumers pay for the utilities they use. “That is the ... » Learn More about Zamboanga consumers face higher power rates

THE Northeastern Mindanao area will now experience greater reliability of power transmission services as the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) energized its new Butuan-Placer 138 kiloVolt (kV) line 2 earlier this month. In a statement on Friday, NGCP said its P1.1 billion Energy Regulatory Commission-approved project involves the construction of 100 kilometers of overhead transmission lines, which connect Butuan Substation in Agusan del Norte to Placer Substation in Surigao del Norte. With the new line in place, cooperatives in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur will benefit from improved voltage level, reduced transmission system losses and the mitigation of unwanted power interruption in the area. The project is one of the components of the Mindanao Reliability Compliance Project 1. The old existing Butuan-Placer line, which has been in operation since 1995, was reinforced with a second, alternative circuit to avert load dropping, caused by unplanned outages. ... » Learn More about Northeastern Mindanao gets improved power services

TENAGA Nasional Bhd (TNB) has briefed the Johor Ruler on two of its major projects in the state. Its chairman Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said among the matters discussed during his audience with Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar was the Sultan Iskandar Power Station in Pasir Gudang. “The power station will reach its 40-year tenure in 2022, therefore it will cease operating in August next year. “TNB and our partners have built the new Southern Power Generation (SPG), also located in Pasir Gudang, to replace the old plant. “SPG is expected to generate more than 1,400MW of electricity from its two 725MW power plants, ” he said in a press conference. Mahdzir earlier presented RM500,000 in school assistance to Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohamad under TNB’s Back to School programme to help students statewide. Mahdzir said the launch of the new power station was slated to take place this year. He further said that he had also informed Sultan Ibrahim about the ... » Learn More about Utility company briefs Johor Ruler on major projects in state