Table Rock Lake generates power amid energy crisis
During the winter storm, generators including the ones at the dam at Table Rock Lake created hydro-power for about seven days straight.
February 25, 2021
Kadee Brosseau DeCourley
The national energy shortage during last week’s winter weather caused rolling blackouts in some areas of the Ozarks. While most homes in Stone County didn’t go dark, at least not for extended periods of time, electric companies urged local customers to conserve energy.
However, that call for conserving energy stretched well beyond Missouri. Homes from here to Texas continued to pull more and more power as heating systems worked extra hard to keep people warm in frigid temperatures. That put a tremendous strain on the nation’s power grid, calling for help from hydropower.
“They’ll call and say ‘Hey, the energy grid is taking a hit. We need more power.’” Jay Townsend, Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said.
During the winter storm, generators including the ones at the dam at Table Rock Lake, created hydropower for about seven days straight.
“We produced enough hydropower to supply power to 8,500 homes for an entire year,” Townsend said.
It is not unusual for hydropower to supplement other forms of power. It is often generated when there is a high demand on the power grid, like on very hot days in the summer or on very cold days in the winter. However, it is unusual for so much hydropower to be needed for so long.
“Normally, when our hydropower generators come on, we are going to turn them off again in a few hours when the demand is over. The big difference this time is we ran them around the clock to meet the power demands and reduce the number of rolling blackouts,” Townsend said.
The hydropower not only helped keep people warm here in the Ozarks, but also to the south. The energy helped lessen the blow in places like Texas, where prolonged power outages forced families out of their homes.
“They have had a very devastating time down there in Texas,” Townsend said. “Well, one of the great things about what we were able to do, because we are a part of a larger Southwestern Power Administration, was that when a demand is needed, it doesn’t really matter where it comes from, we just have to feed the lines. So, we were actually meeting demands in Texas and Oklahoma and in Missouri and in Arkansas.”
In Stone County, Table Rock Lake is most known for its recreational opportunities and flood control, but Townsend said the benefits of hydropower created on Table Rock reach well beyond the Ozarks.
“Those reservoirs that we typically play on were able to produce a lot of energy over those seven days,” Townsend said. “They used it immediately to keep homes up and running, to keep the stoves going. It was really a big deal.”
While wind turbines can freeze and cloudy days can inhibit solar energy creation, hydropower production is resilient. Townsend said the frigid temperatures caused parts of the lake to freeze, but the turbines well below the surface stood strong.
“A lot of people ask us, how do you generate power when the lake is frozen? Our penstalks, big giant tubes, they’re down deep in the lake pulling from areas that won’t freeze,” Townsend said.
He said the lake we know and love came through in a big way last week, helping to lessen the impact of a national energy crisis.
“The engineers that designed these dams and had the foresight to put them in, knew that we could come across a day and a time like this,” Townsend said. “We were absolutely prepared for this event.”
Kadee Brosseau DeCourley
The national energy shortage during last week’s winter weather caused rolling blackouts in some areas of the Ozarks. While most homes in Stone County didn’t go dark, at least not for extended periods of time, electric companies urged local customers to conserve energy.
However, that call for conserving energy stretched well beyond Missouri. Homes from here to Texas continued to pull more and more power as heating systems worked extra hard to keep people warm in frigid temperatures. That put a tremendous strain on the nation’s power grid, calling for help from hydropower.
“They’ll call and say ‘Hey, the energy grid is taking a hit. We need more power.’” Jay Townsend, Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said.
During the winter storm, generators including the ones at the dam at Table Rock Lake, created hydropower for about seven days straight.
“We produced enough hydropower to supply power to 8,500 homes for an entire year,” Townsend said.
It is not unusual for hydropower to supplement other forms of power. It is often generated when there is a high demand on the power grid, like on very hot days in the summer or on very cold days in the winter. However, it is unusual for so much hydropower to be needed for so long.
“Normally, when our hydropower generators come on, we are going to turn them off again in a few hours when the demand is over. The big difference this time is we ran them around the clock to meet the power demands and reduce the number of rolling blackouts,” Townsend said.
The hydropower not only helped keep people warm here in the Ozarks, but also to the south. The energy helped lessen the blow in places like Texas, where prolonged power outages forced families out of their homes.
“They have had a very devastating time down there in Texas,” Townsend said. “Well, one of the great things about what we were able to do, because we are a part of a larger Southwestern Power Administration, was that when a demand is needed, it doesn’t really matter where it comes from, we just have to feed the lines. So, we were actually meeting demands in Texas and Oklahoma and in Missouri and in Arkansas.”
In Stone County, Table Rock Lake is most known for its recreational opportunities and flood control, but Townsend said the benefits of hydropower created on Table Rock reach well beyond the Ozarks.
“Those reservoirs that we typically play on were able to produce a lot of energy over those seven days,” Townsend said. “They used it immediately to keep homes up and running, to keep the stoves going. It was really a big deal.”
While wind turbines can freeze and cloudy days can inhibit solar energy creation, hydropower production is resilient. Townsend said the frigid temperatures caused parts of the lake to freeze, but the turbines well below the surface stood strong.
“A lot of people ask us, how do you generate power when the lake is frozen? Our penstalks, big giant tubes, they’re down deep in the lake pulling from areas that won’t freeze,” Townsend said.
He said the lake we know and love came through in a big way last week, helping to lessen the impact of a national energy crisis.
“The engineers that designed these dams and had the foresight to put them in, knew that we could come across a day and a time like this,” Townsend said. “We were absolutely prepared for this event.”