Texas Extreme Weather and Blackouts | Ross Baldick | Smart Grid Seminar
Channel: Stanford ENERGY
Date: 2021-04-23

This presentation, discusses the effects on the electricity system in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region of the extreme cold weather in February 2021.  The weather context is initially discussed, including its effect on electric demand, and on outages of generation in the lead up to and during the rolling blackouts.  The reasons for the outages and blackouts are discussed, and the effect on wholesale prices are explained. Broader implications for other regions are suggested.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Ross Baldick Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.Sc. and B.E. degrees from the University of Sydney, Australia and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His current research involves optimization, economic theory, and statistical analysis applied to electric power system operations and electricity markets, the public policy and technical issues associated with electric transmission under electricity market restructuring, the robustness of the electricity system to terrorist interdiction, electrification of the transportation industry, and the economic and technical implications of integration of renewables. His book, Applied Optimization, emphasizes applications in electric power. Dr. Baldick is a Fellow of the IEEE and the recipient of the 2015 IEEE PES Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award.