Texas in Crisis

[BH]

I live in Corsicana, fifty miles south of Dallas. We pretty much have nothing to prepare us for supremely cold weather like they have up in New York or the Dakotas. No snow ploughs, nothing. It usually lasts a day or two and then warms up and goes away. Power is out in half the town, though I have gas stove tops keeping me warm in my apartment.

 

[Deepak]

I'm in Texas, fifty miles directly south from Dallas in Corsicana. Parts of the town have no power, parts do. Gas stove tops have kept my apartment warm though I dont use them while I sleep.

Be very careful here - stove tops aren’t designed for continuous use. Especially if you don’t have CO detectors.

 

[BH]

Thank you for caring about me. I only used them for a couple of hours and turned them off. I am with a relative that has power now.

 

[lpetrich]

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Biden’s response to the Texas freeze feels a lot different than Trump’s response to the California fires.

It’s nice to have a president that doesn’t consider whether a state voted for him relevant to providing emergency disaster relief." / Twitter
Or whether the state's governor has been nice to him.

Also nice to have a president who does not consider himself a super genius, and a president that one doesn't have to walk on eggshells when around him. Also a president who is willing to highlight his second in command and who seems like he would be very bothered if his admirers decided to lynch that person as a supposed traitor.

Like this:
Amid Winter Storms, Sens. Cruz, Cornyn Urge Biden to Approve Gov. Abbott's Request for Disaster Declaration | Ted Cruz | U.S. Senator for Texas

The Governor and local officials have informed us that the severity and magnitude of the storm is beyond the response capabilities of the state and local government. Prolonged sub-freezing temperatures, strained energy capacity, and treacherous roadways are just a few of the current dangers faced by all Texans. In the last three days, there have been 11 crash-related fatalities as road conditions deteriorate. More than 23,000 Texans have lost power, and frozen pipes have impacted water distribution across the state.

We respectfully urge you to approve the Governor's request for Public Assistance Category B and Direct Federal Assistance for all 254 Texas counties.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Texas Emergency Declaration | The White House

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of Texas and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm beginning on February 11, 2021, and continuing.

Good that he wants to be president of all the states, not just the ones that voted for him.

 

[lpetrich]

Half a year ago,
Dan Crenshaw on Twitter: "Alexa, show me what happens when you let Democrats control energy policy." / Twitter
responding to
MayorOfLA on Twitter: "It’s almost 3 p.m. Time to turn off major appliances, set the thermostat to 78 degrees (or use a fan instead), turn off excess lights and unplug any appliances you’re not using.

We need every Californian to help conserve energy. Please do your part. #FlexAlert" / Twitter

But now,
Indigo GRITS on Twitter: "@DanCrenshawTX Let's see. Eastern grid up and holding. Western grid up and holding. Texas grid down and gasping. Us over here in Democrat land seem to be doing fine, but y'all keep on just doing Texas if you feel like it's working. You like snow bathing? Got anything to melt snow for water?" / Twitter

As to why Texas has a separate electrical grid, this article explains why.
Why does Texas have its own power grid? | The Texas Tribune

Texas' secessionist inclinations have at least one modern outlet: the electric grid. There are three grids in the Lower 48 states: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection — and Texas.

The Texas grid is called ERCOT, and it is run by an agency of the same name — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT does not actually cover all of Texas. El Paso is on another grid, as is the upper Panhandle and a chunk of East Texas. This presumably has to do with the history of various utilities' service territories and the remoteness of the non-ERCOT locations (for example the Panhandle is closer to Kansas than to Dallas, notes Kenneth Starcher of the Alternative Energy Institute in Canyon), but Texplainer is still figuring out the particulars on this.

It was in part to avoid Federal regulation, by not crossing state lines.

Donna Imam on Twitter: "Tens of thousands of Austin residents have now had no power for over 30 hrs in below 20° weather.

Ted Cruz on the matter: (pic link)" / Twitter
He tweeted half a year ago:

California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.

Biden/Harris/AOC want to make CA's failed energy policy the standard nationwide.

 

[lpetrich]

ryan cooper on Twitter: "root cause here, it seems, is that Texas has been skimping on maintenance and resilience upgrades (including wind de-icing gear), and its grid is mostly disconnected from the rest of the country (link)" / Twitter
noting
What went wrong with the Texas power grid?

Not being very well-prepared for cold is understandable, when one considers Texas's climate, but skimping on maintenance is another story.

Saikat Chakrabarti on Twitter: "People on the left don't watch conservative media, so entire false narratives in right wing media go unchallenged. The entire right is using the Texas blackouts right now to create a narrative about the failure of green energy. It's 100% false. It needs to be challenged head on." / Twitter
then
Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "We watch conservative media so you don’t have to. TYT will have an in-depth breakdown of the TX blackouts on tonight’s show." / Twitter

All the anti-renewable people are gloating "Ha ha. Their wind turbines froze." But that's also happened to Texas's fossil-fuel infrastructure.

Texas power outage: Why natural gas went down during the winter storm | The Texas Tribune - "Texas largely relies on natural gas — especially during times of high demand — to power the state. From pumping it out of the ground to the plants in city centers, experts say natural gas infrastructure was unprepared for the plunging temperatures brought by the winter storm."

Pipelines may seem safe, since natural gas is transmitted in gaseous rather than in liquid form, and since the boiling point of methane is far below any temperature on our planet. But natgas has to be pumped through the pipelines, and low temperatures can cause trouble for those pumps.

US deep freeze shutters Texas oil refineries, disrupts pipelines | Oil and Gas News | Al Jazeera - "Texas produces roughly 4.6 million barrels of oil a day and is home to some of the United States’ largest refineries, spread throughout the Gulf Coast."

 

[lpetrich]

It's possible to make wind turbines capable of operating in cold weather, even if doing so does not seem very necessary in Texas.
Wind Energy in Cold Climates

Based on actual measurements, icing can occur up to 20% of the time between the months of November and April. Wind turbines must therefore be able to sustain at least limited icing without incurring damage that would prevent normal operation.

Wind turbine manufacturers are increasingly recognizing the impacts of cold climate operation and are building turbines better equipped to handle winter conditions. With the installation of “cold weather packages” which provide heating to turbine components such as the gearbox, yaw and pitch motors and battery, some turbines can operate in temperatures down to -30C.

Various types of rotor blade de-icing and anti-icing mechanisms, such as heating and water-resistant coatings are currently being employed, as well as operational strategies to limit ice accumulation.

Ice protection systems for wind turbines in cold climate: characteristics, comparisons and analysis - ScienceDirect
The abstract only stated what work the authors done, and not the authors' conclusions.

 

[Jarhyn]

It's possible to make wind turbines capable of operating in cold weather, even if doing so does not seem very necessary in Texas.
Wind Energy in Cold Climates

Based on actual measurements, icing can occur up to 20% of the time between the months of November and April. Wind turbines must therefore be able to sustain at least limited icing without incurring damage that would prevent normal operation.

Wind turbine manufacturers are increasingly recognizing the impacts of cold climate operation and are building turbines better equipped to handle winter conditions. With the installation of “cold weather packages” which provide heating to turbine components such as the gearbox, yaw and pitch motors and battery, some turbines can operate in temperatures down to -30C.

Various types of rotor blade de-icing and anti-icing mechanisms, such as heating and water-resistant coatings are currently being employed, as well as operational strategies to limit ice accumulation.

Ice protection systems for wind turbines in cold climate: characteristics, comparisons and analysis - ScienceDirect
The abstract only stated what work the authors done, and not the authors' conclusions.

Also, the generators can be replaced cheaply with ones that don't fail on the cold; the most expensive part of a wind turbine is the pylon.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I live in Corsicana, fifty miles south of Dallas. We pretty much have nothing to prepare us for supremely cold weather like they have up in New York or the Dakotas. No snow ploughs, nothing. It usually lasts a day or two and then warms up and goes away. Power is out in half the town, though I have gas stove tops keeping me warm in my apartment.

I was living in El Paso and had to do the same thing. Just got up every morning and turned on the burners. Not fun but it worked. Didn't think about CO at the time, just getting warm. Shut them off when I left for work. Didn't have to use them in the evening as it was warmer by then. I guess this one is different.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

People are gonna die in Texas because Texas put profits over people.

People all over the internet will offer apologetics for Texas because it's more important to them to be right about the market than to be compassionate for their fellow humans.

I know there is no Hell, so I'm digging one in the back yard because these people have to go there, even if they only stay long enough to get their asses singed.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It's possible to make wind turbines capable of operating in cold weather, even if doing so does not seem very necessary in Texas.
Wind Energy in Cold Climates

Based on actual measurements, icing can occur up to 20% of the time between the months of November and April. Wind turbines must therefore be able to sustain at least limited icing without incurring damage that would prevent normal operation.

Wind turbine manufacturers are increasingly recognizing the impacts of cold climate operation and are building turbines better equipped to handle winter conditions. With the installation of “cold weather packages” which provide heating to turbine components such as the gearbox, yaw and pitch motors and battery, some turbines can operate in temperatures down to -30C.

Various types of rotor blade de-icing and anti-icing mechanisms, such as heating and water-resistant coatings are currently being employed, as well as operational strategies to limit ice accumulation.

Ice protection systems for wind turbines in cold climate: characteristics, comparisons and analysis - ScienceDirect
The abstract only stated what work the authors done, and not the authors' conclusions.

PEI (Prince Edward Island) in the Canadian Maritimes has a decent amount of wind turbines... and cold weather.

They seem to be fine.

The wind farms generated 75,531 megawatt-hours of energy in February. That's 11 per cent more than the previous best month, 67,850 in December 2018.

 

[Jarhyn]

PEI (Prince Edward Island) in the Canadian Maritimes has a decent amount of wind turbines... and cold weather.

They seem to be fine.

The wind farms generated 75,531 megawatt-hours of energy in February. That's 11 per cent more than the previous best month, 67,850 in December 2018.

So to be clear here, the liberals are declaring a state of emergency and doing something about it...

While the republicans are busy spinning lies about wind power.

That sounds pretty on-brand for both.

 

[lpetrich]

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Very on brand for republicans to blame power outages in a state that they run entirely on the Green New Deal proposed by democrats that hasn’t even been voted on yet let alone taken effect." / Twitter

Texas lawmakers' tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm | TheHill
"GOP lawmakers dinged Democrats when in 2019 massive heat waves in California caused widespread power outages that impacted 30 of the state's 58 counties. "

Brandon Friedman on Twitter: "Here are three Texas Republicans mocking California power outages last year and my Dallas bathtub this morning, a literal block of ice (link)" / Twitter

I'm reminded of how LA Gov Bobby Jindal mocked volcano monitoring back in 2009. Jindal Comment On Volcano Monitoring Causes Some To Erupt : It's All Politics : NPR - I thought at the time that does he also think that hurricane monitoring is frivolous Federal spending?


Ted Cruz on Twitter: "I got no defense. *

A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down.

Not good. Stay safe!" / Twitter

 

[Harry Bosch]

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Very on brand for republicans to blame power outages in a state that they run entirely on the Green New Deal proposed by democrats that hasn’t even been voted on yet let alone taken effect." / Twitter

Texas lawmakers' tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm | TheHill
"GOP lawmakers dinged Democrats when in 2019 massive heat waves in California caused widespread power outages that impacted 30 of the state's 58 counties. "

Brandon Friedman on Twitter: "Here are three Texas Republicans mocking California power outages last year and my Dallas bathtub this morning, a literal block of ice (link)" / Twitter

I'm reminded of how LA Gov Bobby Jindal mocked volcano monitoring back in 2009. Jindal Comment On Volcano Monitoring Causes Some To Erupt : It's All Politics : NPR - I thought at the time that does he also think that hurricane monitoring is frivolous Federal spending?


Ted Cruz on Twitter: "I got no defense. ????????????*

A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down.

Not good. Stay safe!" / Twitter

Lpetrich: thank you for doing all this research. The best way to fight the right is to rely on researched evidence and links. Any, the Texans are being incredibly hypocritical. Having said that, Biden, as the uniter, needs to help Texas.

 

[Jarhyn]

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Very on brand for republicans to blame power outages in a state that they run entirely on the Green New Deal proposed by democrats that hasn’t even been voted on yet let alone taken effect." / Twitter

Texas lawmakers' tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm | TheHill
"GOP lawmakers dinged Democrats when in 2019 massive heat waves in California caused widespread power outages that impacted 30 of the state's 58 counties. "

Brandon Friedman on Twitter: "Here are three Texas Republicans mocking California power outages last year and my Dallas bathtub this morning, a literal block of ice (link)" / Twitter

I'm reminded of how LA Gov Bobby Jindal mocked volcano monitoring back in 2009. Jindal Comment On Volcano Monitoring Causes Some To Erupt : It's All Politics : NPR - I thought at the time that does he also think that hurricane monitoring is frivolous Federal spending?


Ted Cruz on Twitter: "I got no defense. *

A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down.

Not good. Stay safe!" / Twitter

LOL, that tweet. I clicked it to see that it was real. I'm actually shocked with the honesty. It's like a slap in the face, or a polar bear plunge.

We need to look out for Texas. It would have been easier if the texas government hadn't been so shitty in the past. But before long texas is going to go blue from shit like this.

Are the right wing political whores still blasting wind power?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Very on brand for republicans to blame power outages in a state that they run entirely on the Green New Deal proposed by democrats that hasn’t even been voted on yet let alone taken effect." / Twitter

Texas lawmakers' tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm | TheHill
"GOP lawmakers dinged Democrats when in 2019 massive heat waves in California caused widespread power outages that impacted 30 of the state's 58 counties. "

Brandon Friedman on Twitter: "Here are three Texas Republicans mocking California power outages last year and my Dallas bathtub this morning, a literal block of ice (link)" / Twitter

I'm reminded of how LA Gov Bobby Jindal mocked volcano monitoring back in 2009. Jindal Comment On Volcano Monitoring Causes Some To Erupt : It's All Politics : NPR - I thought at the time that does he also think that hurricane monitoring is frivolous Federal spending?


Ted Cruz on Twitter: "I got no defense. ????????????*

A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down.

Not good. Stay safe!" / Twitter

LOL, that tweet. I clicked it to see that it was real. I'm actually shocked with the honesty. It's like a slap in the face, or a polar bear plunge.

We need to look out for Texas. It would have been easier if the texas government hadn't been so shitty in the past. But before long texas is going to go blue from shit like this.

Are the right wing political whores still blasting wind power?

I remember when Reagan took office and had the solar panels removed at the White House. Stupidity is endemic in many members of our species.

 

[barbos]

This crisis is my fault.
Just Yesterday I was discussing importance of passive homes with some idiots in Russia and said "One day you have gas for heating, next day you don't" And idiot replied "When such a thing ever happened?"
I did not know that was going to happen so soon. Maybe I should discuss Trump's health now?

 

[lpetrich]

The right-wingers are jumping up and down on renewable energy and the Green New deal.

Acyn Torabi on Twitter: "Abbott: This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America... (vid link)" / Twitter
then
Chris Hayes on Twitter: "Sorry but this is utterly psychotic. There’s an emergency in Texas *right now* and he’s dunking on the Green New Deal with complete lies about the source of the problem." / Twitter


Justin Baragona on Twitter: "Chris Hayes calls out Fox News for lying about windmills being the source of power outages in Texas,. "They want to take every policy issue and turn it into some painful culture war idiocy... They want to turn into a culture war, like the libs don’t want you to have power." (link)" / Twitter

Justin Baragona on Twitter: "Meanwhile, Tucker is gonna Tucker. (link)" / Twitter
"Massive green energy failure during TX cold snap"

Justin Baragona on Twitter: "And Tucker's expert to talk about the situation with Texas windmills isn't from Texas and apparently isn't overly familiar with windmills.

"Well, you know, Tucker, I don’t know enough about windmills. They are not that prevalent in this area." (link)" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

steven monacelli on Twitter: "We need an investigation into why these "rolling" outages haven't been rolling into rich enclaves like Highland Park and Preston Hollow or into Downtown Dallas commercial buildings while other parts of the city have remained without power for the entire day." / Twitter

Andrew Lawrence on Twitter: "Texas Gov. Abbott blames solar and wind for the blackouts in his state and says "this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America" (link)" / Twitter
then
Steve Vladeck on Twitter: "Even @ERCOT_ISO has confirmed that most of the generating loss has come from (largely deregulated) gas and nuclear facilities.

Rather than taking ownership for *any* of this crisis, @GregAbbott_TX is lying about its cause—to try to score cheap (and inaccurate) political points." / Twitter

County Judge KP George on Twitter: "Why is our Governor on FOX with political hacks complaining about...windmills? I invite him to visit 90 yr olds in Fort Bend w/o heat, water, or power on O2 tanks. Stop the rhetoric. We need leadership, not empty presidential ambitions. We already have empty power grids... (link)" / Twitter
Fox News -- it figures.
County Judge KP George on Twitter: "There is unbelievable human suffering right now, while our first responder crews are at stretched capacities. We need SOLUTIONS. The State, ERCOT, CenterPoint, etc. knew of the storm yet here we are with ZERO solutions & ZERO ETAs. My residents are boiling snow to flush toilets." / Twitter
and
County Judge KP George on Twitter: "This is full failed leadership...in the Energy Capital of the world.

Not "windmills." (link)" / Twitter
noting
Texas’ power grid crumples under the cold | Ars Technica - "Competition for natural gas and frozen wind turbines are only some of the problems."

So while having Texas' full wind-generating capacity online would help, the problems with meeting demand appear to lie elsewhere. An ERCOT director told Bloomberg that problems were widespread across generating sources, including coal, natural gas, and even nuclear plants. In the past, severe cold has caused US supplies of natural gas to be constrained, as use in residential heating competes with its use in generating electricity. But that doesn't explain the shortfalls in coal and nuclear, and the ERCOT executive wasn't willing to speculate.

 

[Jarhyn]

steven monacelli on Twitter: "We need an investigation into why these "rolling" outages haven't been rolling into rich enclaves like Highland Park and Preston Hollow or into Downtown Dallas commercial buildings while other parts of the city have remained without power for the entire day." / Twitter

Andrew Lawrence on Twitter: "Texas Gov. Abbott blames solar and wind for the blackouts in his state and says "this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America" (link)" / Twitter
then
Steve Vladeck on Twitter: "Even @ERCOT_ISO has confirmed that most of the generating loss has come from (largely deregulated) gas and nuclear facilities.

Rather than taking ownership for *any* of this crisis, @GregAbbott_TX is lying about its cause—to try to score cheap (and inaccurate) political points." / Twitter

County Judge KP George on Twitter: "Why is our Governor on FOX with political hacks complaining about...windmills? I invite him to visit 90 yr olds in Fort Bend w/o heat, water, or power on O2 tanks. Stop the rhetoric. We need leadership, not empty presidential ambitions. We already have empty power grids... (link)" / Twitter
Fox News -- it figures.
County Judge KP George on Twitter: "There is unbelievable human suffering right now, while our first responder crews are at stretched capacities. We need SOLUTIONS. The State, ERCOT, CenterPoint, etc. knew of the storm yet here we are with ZERO solutions & ZERO ETAs. My residents are boiling snow to flush toilets." / Twitter
and
County Judge KP George on Twitter: "This is full failed leadership...in the Energy Capital of the world.

Not "windmills." (link)" / Twitter
noting
Texas’ power grid crumples under the cold | Ars Technica - "Competition for natural gas and frozen wind turbines are only some of the problems."

So while having Texas' full wind-generating capacity online would help, the problems with meeting demand appear to lie elsewhere. An ERCOT director told Bloomberg that problems were widespread across generating sources, including coal, natural gas, and even nuclear plants. In the past, severe cold has caused US supplies of natural gas to be constrained, as use in residential heating competes with its use in generating electricity. But that doesn't explain the shortfalls in coal and nuclear, and the ERCOT executive wasn't willing to speculate.

"ERCOT representative wasn't willing to speculate"...

Sounds to me like structural support infrastructure for power lines wasn't designed with ice weight involved, that pipes were not buried with cold snaps in mind, and that gas lines and pumps were not placed with cold weather expansion/contraction in mind.