COLOMBIA, SC (WIS) – It has been a cold, dark day for thousands of Americans hard hit by freezing temperatures, snow and ice. Texas is the hardest hit, and blackouts have affected millions because the state’s power grid has failed.
So why did it fail and could it happen in South Carolina?
Dominion Energy’s president of Electrical Operations, Keller Kissam, says the Lone Star State has an isolated power grid. Unlike South Carolina, they cannot count on the help of their neighbors when their resources are low, and Texas is having to institute continuous blackouts to prevent its network from collapsing.
“We have an advantage over what is going on in Texas,” said Kissam. “We communicate with other dealerships in the southeast and say hey, we need 200 megawatts of additional power today, or we have additional power to sell to you.”
Since Palmetto State has an interconnected network and is not deregulated, freezing temperatures or snow would probably not lead to forced power outages, according to Kissam.
“We can have electricity flowing into our system from another utility, or we can be flowing into another utility, and it’s perfect,” he explained. “Customers never see that.”
At the moment, more than 420 Dominion Energy employees from South Carolina and contractors are in Virginia helping to turn on the lights in thousands of homes, while the community has been hit by a historic ice storm.
“People say we are not getting snow and ice here in South Carolina. I bet your attackers are happy, but through mutual help, they are working,” said Kissam.
These electricians are working long hours, sleeping in their trucks and hotel rooms, and are prepared to be there for the next few days, as more ice hits Virginia on Thursday.
But South Carolina attackers did not travel to Texas.
“There is nothing my attacker can do in Texas,” explained Kissam. “Look, in Virginia, there are energy poles on the ground and tree branches, that kind of thing. In Texas, it’s about balancing a checkbook, and that’s the simplest I can say. “
Renewable energy sources, like frozen wind turbines and the lack of sun or snow on solar panels, is another argument behind what is causing the blackouts in Texas. Kissam says that while Dominion’s solar capacity is greater than any other generation source, it cannot be relied on exclusively.
“I wish we could get all of our energy from the sun, but the result is that it is limited because the sun doesn’t always shine and there is nothing anyone can do to make that happen,” he noted.
Kissam also said that the deregulation of the electricity market in Texas, which was considered but not approved in South Carolina, did not encourage Texas energy companies to reinvest or upgrade their systems. He argues that this is one of the reasons why South Carolina should not deregulate its market.
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