(Texas) Wind power woes not sole issue in near blackouts

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5583763.html

March 1, 2008, 12:40AM

Wind power woes not sole issue in near blackouts

By TOM FOWLER

Texas' near miss with rolling blackouts Tuesday night may appear at first blush to be a sign of the failings of wind power — more than 80 percent of the state's wind turbine energy went offline when a North Texas cold front stilled the air.

But the state's grid operators say a problem they could normally handle was complicated when a number of traditional power plant operators failed to provide the amount of electricity to the grid as promised.

The details behind the close call may seem esoteric, but it's an important distinction to make in a state where wind power is the fastest-growing source of new projects and the margin between power supply and demand grows tighter.

No one named

Luminant, the Dallas-based power plant operator part of the firm formerly called TXU, said Friday one of its plants took longer than expected to respond to a call for more power Tuesday night as the grid's resources dipped dangerously low.

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