Texas in Crisis

[GenesisNemesis]

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.

Nah, let's mindlessly blame the evil commie democrats instead.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yeah, why shrug and say "We weren't prepared for such a historic cold spell" when you can blame "Ocasio-Cortez" and "wind mills".

 

[Keith&Co.]

Having said that, Biden, as the uniter, needs to help Texas.

Uniter or not, to Biden there are Americans suffering. Helping them is the ONLY answer.

 

[lpetrich]

"Christian, Father of 3, Aerospace Engineer, Marine, and Candidate for Congress in Texas - 14. End illegal immigration /H1B / affirmative action - #AmericaFirst"
FoxworthForCongress on Twitter: "16 degrees. No power for over 24 hours and now no water.

Our system is over loaded from too many people flooding in and from too much money being spent overseas" / Twitter
then
Nick Martin on Twitter: "I gotta admit, blaming a winter snow storm on immigrants is a type of scapegoating I don't remember seeing before." / Twitter


Bryan William Jones on Twitter: "This is a good time to note that the electrical grid in Texas was deregulated, privatized, and removed from interconnected networks to avoid federal regulation and increase profits to a small number of wealthy individuals." / Twitter
then
Jamaal Bowman on Twitter: "The crisis in Texas right now is not an accident.

This is the result of energy policy that puts corporate profits over human life — and we’re going to end that reckless greed with a Green New Deal and transformative energy policy." / Twitter

 

[Deepak]

I always knew those shifty immigrants were after our BTUs

 

[Elixir]

Natural gas, not wind turbines, main driver of Texas power shortage

The numbers show that natural gas plants were the biggest cause of the power shortfall, not wind.
The state’s grid operator said Feb. 15 that about 34 gigawatts of power were offline. But of that, about 4 gigawatts was due to problems with wind turbines. The rest came mainly from the state’s primary sources, natural gas and coal.

But fuck "the numbers", right Trausti? Blame the DEMONKRATZ and their commie wind power (that Texas hypocritically relies upon, and that out-performs coal and gas in a crisis).

 

[lpetrich]

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" (vid link)" / Twitter
From his recent Fox News appearance, with host Sean Hannity.

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I go offline a few days and return to a GOP Gov blaming policies he hasn’t even implemented for his own failures.

Gov. Abbott doesn’t seem to have a grasp on his state, so here’s a reminder: Texas runs 80-90% on fossil fuels.

The real “deadly deal” is his failed leadership." / Twitter


Jeff Hancock on Twitter: "@AOC Senator Ted Cruz has the nerve to ask President Biden for federal aid in Texas although he personally rejected federal aid for Hurricane Sandy relief. We will help Texans, but not Cruz." / Twitter
I remember some right-wingers getting all righteous about self-reliance and the evils of dependence on government. But they forgot all that when it's a Republican-dominated state that suffers some natural disaster.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Weak on sweeping next-gen public infrastructure investments, little focus on equity so communities are left behind, climate deniers in leadership so they don’t long prep for disaster. We need to help people *now.*

Long-term we must realize these are the consequences of inaction." / Twitter

 

[Keith&Co.]

Dear Tex Guv....

Roses are red,
It's colder than shit,
Wind turbines function*
In Antarctica, you twit.


*That's "properly maintained wind turbines," obviously.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Rep Greene should convince those who control the Jewish Space Laser to warm up Texas.

 

[SimpleDon]

...

By that token I could conclude human brains are nonfunctional by pointing to the geniuses who decided to isolate Texas to its own grid.

The reality, of course, is that countries like Canada, Denmark, and Sweden all use wind power as well. Maybe we should be importing the commie wind generators

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Rep Greene should convince those who control the Jewish Space Laser to warm up Texas.

Also if renewable energy is so inefficient, what powers the Jewish space laser?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Rep Greene should convince those who control the Jewish Space Laser to warm up Texas.

Also if renewable energy is so inefficient, what powers the Jewish space laser?

You didn't think the Ark of the Covenant was still in that govt. warehouse, did you?

 

[Deepak]

...

By that token I could conclude human brains are nonfunctional by pointing to the geniuses who decided to isolate Texas to its own grid.

The reality, of course, is that countries like Canada, Denmark, and Sweden all use wind power as well. Maybe we should be importing the commie wind generators

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

Without being a resident of the state, or having any ability to see the reports that indicated it wouldn't help I can't directly address this point.

Suffice it to say, though, that in a given 100 year period that multiple 100-year-events will occur. I don't think that having interconnects with other grids is as extreme a position as winterizing Texas homes, but with climate change causing extreme weather events more frequently, this is probably going to be real. I do agree that power generation should be public infrastructure. But even if they weren't, having interconnects would let Texas energy producers sell excess capacity for profit. The reasoning for Texas having an independent grid originally, and not having one now are not quite the same and I have no doubt in my mind that whatever assessment was done also had federal regulatory concerns in mind.

Ultimately what I'm going to do is continue to live where I live - where a regulatory infrastructure is in place for energy providers (and our schools would rank 4th in the world if disaggregated from the rest of the US, and where I don't have to die an excruciating death from lack of medical care because I lost my job).

 

[Ahab]

...

By that token I could conclude human brains are nonfunctional by pointing to the geniuses who decided to isolate Texas to its own grid.

The reality, of course, is that countries like Canada, Denmark, and Sweden all use wind power as well. Maybe we should be importing the commie wind generators

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

Thanks for that info.
Then the Republicans in Texas should be pointing this out to explain why they did what they did in the past.
Instead they are using the disaster to blame their political opponents. That is BS pure and simple, and why they deserve criticism for trying to make this into a political issue.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

Thanks for that info.
Then the Republicans in Texas should be pointing this out to explain why they did what they did in the past.
Instead they are using the disaster to blame their political opponents. That is BS pure and simple, and why they deserve criticism for trying to make this into a political issue.

They would normally blame it all on gay love but that's gone out of style.

 

[TomC]

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

Thanks for that info.
Then the Republicans in Texas should be pointing this out to explain why they did what they did in the past.
Instead they are using the disaster to blame their political opponents. That is BS pure and simple, and why they deserve criticism for trying to make this into a political issue.

They would normally blame it all on gay love but that's gone out of style.

Ha ha ha!
I remember September 11, 2001.
When Jerry Falwell was on TV, explaining that the terrorist attacks were God's judgement on America because of gay people and abortion.
Apparently, God was more willing to work with Muslims than evangelical U.S. Christians.


What's with that?
Tom

 

[lpetrich]

Beto O'Rourke on Twitter: "For those without heat in Texas, there are warming shelters throughout the state. See map at link below or call 211 for assistance. If you have a medical device that requires power, call 911. Texas twitter, please add additional resources to this thread. (link)" / Twitter

Warming Centers – TDEM - the Texas Division of Emergency Management

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "So many Texans are in desperate conditions without heat, water, and little relief.

Gov. Abbott needs to get off TV pointing fingers & start helping people.

After that, he needs to read a book on his own state’s energy supply. I’ll be prepping TX relief emails if he needs help." / Twitter

AOC got this response from this Republican (IL-15):
Congresswoman Mary Miller on Twitter: "Green Bad Deal.." / Twitter

She responded
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Very clever. I bet that took a long time to think up." / Twitter
She's very good at that sort of response.

He's MA Senator and fellow Green New Deal supporter
Ed Markey on Twitter: "@AOC " / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@EdMarkey Can you believe what I gotta deal with out here Ed? " / Twitter

 

[ideologyhunter]

They would normally blame it all on gay love but that's gone out of style.

Old, old joke. A rancher and his little girl see a spider crawling on the barn floor.
Little girl: Pa, what is that?
Rancher: That's called a daddy-long-legs.
Little girl: What is it doing with the other spider?
Rancher: Honey, they're mating so they can have babies.
Little girl: Is that one a mommy-long-legs?
Rancher: No, honey, that's another daddy-long-legs.
Little girl: (stomps hard on the spiders) Not - in - Texas!!

 

[SimpleDon]

Actually, Texas was the first state to tie their power generation together in a grid. Over the years there were discussions to tie the grid in Texas to the other two major grids, but statistically, it never improved the reliability of the Texas grid. There were enough power plants in the state of Texas and enough interconnection capacity to keep the state powered through any foreseeable combination of the demand for power and the loss of power production.

Power system availability shares the same problem with other infrastructure, how much do we plan for increasingly rare combinations of power production and demand. Do we now plan for sub-zero temperatures in Texas at a considerable cost for a once in 100-year occurrence? What do we do? Insulate homes better to lower the demand for power at an added price for homes of 5 to 10%? Do we bury more electrical distribution or transmission lines at the added cost of 40 to 600% paid through our power bills?

Power generation has a further burden because we are trying to impose a profit motive onto what probably should be a government infrastructure supply. Profits are a counter-intuitive process to power system availability. About 60% of your power bill now goes to the gross margin of the power company; depreciation, interest, taxes, etc., and ~23% profits, not to pay for the generation and distribution of electrical power. Is it worth it in a non-competitive industry? I would like to see that argument if you believe that it is.

Without being a resident of the state, or having any ability to see the reports that indicated it wouldn't help I can't directly address this point.

Suffice it to say, though, that in a given 100 year period that multiple 100-year-events will occur. I don't think that having interconnects with other grids is as extreme a position as winterizing Texas homes, but with climate change causing extreme weather events more frequently, this is probably going to be real. I do agree that power generation should be public infrastructure. But even if they weren't, having interconnects would let Texas energy producers sell excess capacity for profit. The reasoning for Texas having an independent grid originally, and not having one now are not quite the same and I have no doubt in my mind that whatever assessment was done also had federal regulatory concerns in mind.

Ultimately what I'm going to do is continue to live where I live - where a regulatory infrastructure is in place for energy providers (and our schools would rank 4th in the world if disaggregated from the rest of the US, and where I don't have to die an excruciating death from lack of medical care because I lost my job).

I haven't lived in Texas since 1972 when I earned my MSEE and reported to the Navy. So I am not a good source for their attitudes today. But it wouldn't surprise me if they were maintaining a separate gird to avoid federal regulation, but it would surprise me if that was sufficient to avoid federal regulations, they are providing power to US residents after all.

When I was a graduate student at the University of Texas in Arlington in electrical engineering I worked programming the various system components in the Texas power grid which had been previously done by hand-done calculations on paper, in something of an ad-hoc fashion over time by the different power companies in many different ways. The main problem was with relaying, when do you trip breakers to isolate problems like excessive demand or fault currents. I would be surprised if any of the programs I wrote are still being used. We programmed in Fortran II. I can think of two dozen better ways to do this today.

 

[Politesse]

If you want to know how the South will respond to federal relief efforts in Texas, look no further than the historical example of how they responded to federal relief from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

"Gratitude" will not be the dominant emotion, I assure you.