HELCO warns potential rolling power outages

[terracore]

HAWAIʻI ISLAND - The Hawaiʻi island power utility hopes to avoid rolling outages, as Hamakua Energy Partners - the island’s largest independent power producer - is unavailable.

• Hawaiian Electric is asking customers to conserve electricity from 5 to 9 p.m. starting tonight and each night this week in order to avoid rolling outages.
  
  
• Hamakua Energy Partners, the largest independent power producer on the Big Island, is currently unavailable.
  
  
• Also, Hawaiian Electric’s Hill Plant Unit No. 5 is undergoing annual scheduled maintenance, while wind resources are forecast to be low.
  
  
• Hawaiian Electric says it is requesting maximum output available from Puna Geothermal Venture.
  

From the Hawaiian Electric news release issued on Monday afternoon:

Hawaiian Electric is asking Hawaiʻi Island customers to conserve electricity from 5 to 9 p.m. starting tonight and each night this week.
The need to conserve is prompted by the unavailability of the island’s largest independent power producer, Hamakua Energy Partners. In addition, wind resources are forecast to be low.
Currently, Hawaiian Electric expects to have enough generating capacity available to meet the early evening peak demand. Energy conservation by the public can help ensure sufficient power is available to meet demand, which increases in the early evening. Suggested steps include turning off or reducing use of lights and air conditioners, delaying showers, laundry and dishwashing activities, and going out for dinner or minimizing cooking until later in the evening.
Hawaiian Electric is also taking these steps:
1.) Asking large commercial customers, including hotels and resorts, to voluntarily reduce energy use, especially heavy equipment and air conditioning;
2.) Accelerating repair and maintenance on its own units;
3.) Running units longer and on different schedules than usual to ensure sufficient generation is available
4.) Requesting maximum output available from Puna Geothermal Venture
Hamakua Energy Partners, an independent power producer, normally supplies 60 megawatts of power, but is currently unavailable. It is not known when the units will be returned to service. In addition, Hawaiian Electric’s Hill Plant Unit No. 5 is undergoing annual scheduled maintenance. It normally supplies 14 megawatts of power.
By reducing demand, Hawaiian Electric can ensure enough electricity is available and prevent the need to initiate rolling, 30-minute outages. If rolling outages are necessary, Hawaiian Electric will make every effort to use social media to notify customers in the affected areas in advance. Please check @HIElectricLight on Twitter for updates.

https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2022/...this-week/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

going out for dinner or minimizing cooking until later in the evening.

Yes, driving 10 or 20 miles so someone can cook your food in a location different from cooking at home should save some kilowatts.  Or maybe make a salad and sandwiches?

[Obie]

I have had a smart meter in Ohio since 2008. The power company routinely turns off my electric water heater remotely.

If I had central air they could shut that off too.

I've never had a rolling outage.

[terracore]

I have had a smart meter in Ohio since 2008. The power company routinely turns off my electric water heater remotely.

If I had central air they could shut that off too.

I've never had a rolling outage.

I didn't have a smart meter but they put a gizmo on my water heater in Alaska that would cause it to not turn on for a period of time if the power went out after it was restored.  I guess it made it easier to unroll the blackout if there were less water heaters immediately kicking on.  I don't remember what it was exactly but I got a credit on my bill every month for allowing it that totally made it worth it.

[randomq]

Yeah, I had the free smart thermostat that they could cut off. The fan would still blow but it would cut off the compressor during peak times.

[TomK]

going out for dinner or minimizing cooking until later in the evening.

Yes, driving 10 or 20 miles so someone can cook your food in a location different from cooking at home should save some kilowatts.  Or maybe make a salad and sandwiches?

The restaurants are cooking food anyway, so an additional meal really doesn't make much difference in terms of power usage, and driving to a restaurant to have dinner might not be particularly green but doesn't put a strain on the grid. I agree that sandwiches and/or a salad are a better option but then it depends on what you have in the sandwiches or on top of the salad.

['elepaio]

How you driving there Tom ?
I love these .. Brown and Blackouts. Takes me home again ..

Now imagine the poor person who committed to e car. No LUXURY of big $$$$$olar system to charge off grid during or can afford ICE back up car. How they getting to work today ? What they say to boss ?

Will this be the new norm ? The grid cannot even keep up now when current system blinks.

What say you EV folks ?? Please explain how its all gonna work out.

I hope you can comprehend my incoherent gibberish bra.

LOL

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

an additional meal really doesn't make much difference in terms of power usage

Mostly true, they have a somewhat fixed cost of opening for business.  But restaurants with grills and gas stoves and kiawe wood ovens use far less electricity than electric ovens.  So way not say that?  Also, a homeowner has a fixed cost of running a fridge which is a high energy appliance.  It uses power whether you eat at a restaurant or at home.  If you have a gas stove it would use less electricity than getting a pizza at a restaurant which uses an electric oven.

And HELCO recommending driving.  It may not use electricity but it'a short sighted in reducing overall energy consumption and our carbon footprint.  Almost like trimming tree branches 6" under the power lines so the tree company needs to come back in a year or two and trim again.


What say you EV folks ?? Please explain how its all gonna work out.

The current energy shortage is from 5-9 PM.   I can schedule my car to charge from 10 PM to whenever.  Or plug it in before I go to sleep.  You asked in another thread what we EV owners do while our cars charge.  We sleep.  We don't have to pull in to a gas station, wait 5 or 10 minutes for the guy in front of us to pay at the register because he doesn't have a credit card, then pump a highly flammable liquid into a tank under the vehicle we sit on top of, oblivious.

[Obie]

California just asked residents to not charge their EV's.

The state that is going all electric.
No more new cars that not EV after 2035.

Californians can keep driving and buying gas-powered vehicles after 2035, but no new models will be sold in the state thereafter. It remains unclear if the already vulnerable electric grid can handle this shift.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The California Flex Alert is like HELCO’s request for Big Island to lower electricity consumption in the evening hours.  From their statement you could also conclude that they’ve asked residents to stop using refrigerators, if your news opinion network had a political agenda against refrigerators.

"During a Flex Alert, consumers are urged to reduce energy use from 4-9 p.m. when the system is most stressed because demand for electricity remains high and there is less solar energy available," the release said.

The top conservation actions are to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher to reduce air conditioner use, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights, it said.