Taming Unruly Wind Power

For decades, electric companies have swung into emergency mode when demand soars on blistering hot days, appealing to households to use less power. But with the rise of wind energy, utilities in the Pacific Northwest are sometimes dealing with the opposite: moments when there is too much electricity for the grid to soak up.

So in a novel pilot project, they have recruited consumers to draw in excess electricity when that happens, storing it in a basement water heater or a space heater outfitted by the utility. The effort is rooted in some brushes with danger.

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When excess supply threatens Bonneville’s grid, an operator in a control room hundreds of miles away will now dial up a volunteer’s water heater, raising the thermostat by 60 more degrees. Ceramic bricks in a nearby electric space heater can be warmed to hundreds of degrees.

The devices then function as thermal batteries, capable of giving back the energy when it is needed. Microchips run both systems, ensuring that tap-water and room temperatures in the home hardly vary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/business/energy-environment/as-wind-energy-use-grows-utilities-seek-to-stabilize-power-grid.html?_r=1

"We Spent Billions on Wind Power… and All I Got Was a Rolling Blackout
Posted on February 2, 2011 by Anthony Watts
By Mike Smith, Meteorological Musings

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said 7,000 megawatts of generating capacity tripped <"tripped" means failed>Tuesday night, leaving the state without enough juice. That's enough capacity to power about 1.4 million homes."

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/02/02/we-spent-billions-on-wind-power-and-all-i-got-was-a-rolling-blackout/

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 23 million Texas customers - representing 85 percent of the state's electric load and 75 percent of the Texas land area."

http://www.ercot.com/about/