ERCOT’s ‘Ring of Fire’ warning: Coming eclipse will impact Texas power grid

THE MOON WILL PASS IN FRONT OF THE SUN THIS SATURDAY, PARTIALLY OBSCURING IT AND CREATING A RARE CIRCLE OF LIGHT FOR THOSE IN ITS PATH FROM OREGON TO TEXAS.

IT’S CALLED THE RING OF FIRE AND WE HAVEN’T SEEN ONE OF THESE FROM THE US SINCE 2012.

WHILE IT’LL BE QUITE THE SPECTACLE–EVEN ATTRACTING TOURISTS–THIS ECLIPSE WILL HAVE AN UNWANTED EFFECT ON THE ALREADY-STRAINED TEXAS POWER GRID.

THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, THE ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS—ERCOT— REPEATEDLY ASKED RESIDENTS TO CONSERVE POWER. ERCOT ALSO GAVE MILLIONS IN ENERGY CREDITS TO CURTAIL BITCOIN MINING.

SOLAR POWER HAS HELPED THE STATE WITHSTAND RECORD-BREAKING DEMAND IN RECENT MONTHS, BUT THE RESOURCE IS VULNERABLE TO DISRUPTIONS LIKE AN ECLIPSE.

ERCOT SAYS THE ECLIPSE WILL IMPACT SOLAR POWER PRODUCTION BETWEEN 10:15AM AND 1:45PM CENTRAL TIME. LESS SUNLIGHT MEANS LESS SOLAR POWER.

LAST MONTH, ERCOT OFFICIALS SAID THEY WERE PREPARING FOR THE ECLIPSE, FORECASTING SOLAR GENERATION DURING THE ECLIPSE, ACCORDING THE CHRON.’S REPORTING.

AS OF ITS LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT, ERCOT “EXPECTS GRID CONDITIONS TO BE NORMAL.” MEANING, THEY DON’T EXPECT RESIDENTS TO NOTICE A CHANGE.

THE NEXT RING OF FIRE WILL BE VISIBLE FROM THE U.S. IN 2046.

THIS WEEKEND, IF YOU’RE NOT IN ITS PATH, WHICH COVERS CITIES LIKE EUGENE, ALBUQUERQUE, SANTA FE, SAN ANTONIO AND CORPUS CHRISTI, YOU’LL SEE A PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.