We have seen a tough spell of bad weather. Weather happens. Everyone seems to need someone to blame. Personally, I blame God. Only He has the ability to change the weather.

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

We have seen a tough spell of bad weather. Weather happens. Everyone seems to need someone to blame. Personally, I blame God. Only He has the ability to change the weather.

---

Look up Noah for the right way to accept God's decisions re: weather.

Could be some bad ripple effects

Oldbear83 said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

We have seen a tough spell of bad weather. Weather happens. Everyone seems to need someone to blame. Personally, I blame God. Only He has the ability to change the weather.

---

Look up Noah for the right way to accept God's decisions re: weather.

---

Perhaps "blame God" was a poor choice of words. I accept it, live with it, and don't curse it. This is the day the Lord hath made.

I have been praying for rain for our drought stricken area and perhaps God just answered my prayers. Gotta work on my timing I guess. It is snowing here right now as we speak.

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

BellCountyBear said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

BellCountyBear said:

---

ERCOT needs to be blown up too. Stupid ****ers.

---

Do you prefer FERC?

---

C. None of the above.

Let the market work it out.

---

Texas electric market is deregulated

---

Not really but ok

---

Yes, really

---

It's not deregulated. Yeah the billing is, but not the power lines.

---

The lines are a common carrier, a monopoly and are regulated.

If you don't live in a municipal power area or an electric co-op area you can shop for the lowest price.

I just selected a different provider because of the price.

Do you know what you are paying per KWh? Maybe you can do better if you shop

---

You are just talking provider (billing)...and yes they are deregulated but the industry isn't. Yes, I know about paying per kWh, but the market isn't truly deregulated.

---

What would you do to truly deregulate the market?

---

Frankly, the Enron scandal made sure complete deregulation will never happen.

---

What would you do to truly deregulate the market? Or should it be deregulated?

---

I brought up Enron not only to note that the market will never be completely deregulated, but that there should always be certain protections.

Utilities - which I mean to say power, water, waste removal, phone towers and lines, and internet infrastructure - are necessary services which depend on reliability no matter what, That is, we can't treat utilities the way we can discretionary services and products.

---

So no deregulation?

---

Limited deregulation. Give people a choice to join co-ops, for example, or get better rates by locking in long-term contracts which allows the retail provider to know how much to buy from generation companies.

But generation companies need to be held to strict standards regarding production reliability, maintenance of equipment, and disaster planning. As far as I am concerned, when someone dies from the cold because a generation company cannot deliver the load it promised, that's criminal negligence and should result in serious jail time for that company's execs.

---

ERCOT and the PUC can do the things in your second paragraph right now, without legislation

Waco1947 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

How many wind turbines froze and what percent of the load do the frozen turbines represent?
What percent of our load is solar?

A tree falling on a power line has nothing to do with wind turbines or solar?

---

It's systemic. I called a friend in Minnesota and their windmills are working fine. They spent money to winterize. Texas did not.

---

If a tree falls on an Minnesota power line and the turbines keep spinning, what good is the spinning turbine doing.

I agree with the point of winterizing. I bet Texas can make that happen without new legislation

Osodecentx said:

---

Waco1947 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

How many wind turbines froze and what percent of the load do the frozen turbines represent?
What percent of our load is solar?

A tree falling on a power line has nothing to do with wind turbines or solar?

---

It's systemic. I called a friend in Minnesota and their windmills are working fine. They spent money to winterize. Texas did not.

---

If a tree falls on an Minnesota power line and the turbines keep spinning, what good is the spinning turbine doing.

I agree with the point of winterizing. I bet Texas can make that happen without new legislation

---

A spinning turbine would warm other homes not hit by a downed power line.

Waco1947 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

How many wind turbines froze and what percent of the load do the frozen turbines represent?
What percent of our load is solar?

A tree falling on a power line has nothing to do with wind turbines or solar?

---

It's systemic. I called a friend in Minnesota and their windmills are working fine. They spent money to winterize. Texas did not.

---

I've lived near turbines most of my adult life...have about 500 of them about 15 miles from me. This is the first time any of them have frozen. This is also the first time that natural gas has frozen in the pipes.

I'll agree that when the turbines were installed they were not winterized. The cost was prohibitive to protect against something that has never happened before.

fadskier said:

---

Waco1947 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

How many wind turbines froze and what percent of the load do the frozen turbines represent?
What percent of our load is solar?

A tree falling on a power line has nothing to do with wind turbines or solar?

---

It's systemic. I called a friend in Minnesota and their windmills are working fine. They spent money to winterize. Texas did not.

---

I've lived near turbines most of my adult life...have about 500 of them about 15 miles from me. This is the first time any of them have frozen. This is also the first time that natural gas has frozen in the pipes.

I'll agree that when the turbines were installed they were not winterized. The cost was prohibitive to protect against something that has never happened before.

---

Everybody is a genius in hindsight (or think they are).

Does everyone really want to pay what it costs to winterize generation in Texas? What is that cost? What if this remains a once or twice a century event?

Personally, my hunch is that I'd rather get a transfer switch and a generator.

Robert Wilson said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Waco1947 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

How many wind turbines froze and what percent of the load do the frozen turbines represent?
What percent of our load is solar?

A tree falling on a power line has nothing to do with wind turbines or solar?

---

It's systemic. I called a friend in Minnesota and their windmills are working fine. They spent money to winterize. Texas did not.

---

I've lived near turbines most of my adult life...have about 500 of them about 15 miles from me. This is the first time any of them have frozen. This is also the first time that natural gas has frozen in the pipes.

I'll agree that when the turbines were installed they were not winterized. The cost was prohibitive to protect against something that has never happened before.

---

Everybody is a genius in hindsight (or think they are).

Does everyone really want to pay what it costs to winterize generation in Texas? What is that cost? What if this remains a once or twice a century event?

Personally, my hunch is that I'd rather get a transfer switch and a generator.

---

Exactly! These people would gripe no matter what. People like Waco47 just like to blame Republicans and Trump for everything but excuse it when their people do it.

If you want more regulation just rename ERCOT to UTERUS...

fadskier said:

---

quash said:

---

If you want more regulation just rename ERCOT to UTERUS...

---

Deregulation of the uterus has killed a lot more people that ERCOT

---

Some people are going to hate you for that, but it is pretty damn funny.

A Baylor classmate's storm story:
"It has been a rough week, and we still have two more nights of bitter cold, but we are surviving a lot better than many others. The temperatures have been in the low single digits, with no heat (other than fireplaces) or electricity all week. But the electricity is back on for us today, and it makes a lot of difference.
Many things went much better than they might have. Last year, I added well-insulated pump houses and thoroughly insulated all our wells and water systems. I drained the water systems that provide water to the cattle and irrigation to my orchard before the freeze. Other than lack of power for the pumps, we maintained open water lines to the house, so now that the electricity is back on, we actually have running water again. Many people in Mason and Austin and other local areas do not, so we feel very fortunate about that.
Getting water to the cattle was a problem for the first time in the 25 years we've owned the ranch. In a normal winter, if I have to drain the water pipes to the cattle troughs, that only lasts a day or so, and the cattle can easily use the many ponds as a water supply. This week, the ponds all froze solid. But, (a friend) (who is staying here at the ranch while his condo in LA is being renovated) and I were able to break the ice on a water storage reservoir, and then siphon water to a cattle trough for the cattle. So they always had water to drink. The snow covered all forage, so they needed hay. I had round bales ready, but the temperatures were too cold to start our diesel skid steer that I use to lift and carry the round bales to the cattle (the round bales weigh around 1,000 lbs. each, so they are hard to move). We devised a system to move the round bales by driving a rod through the middle, and then attaching a chain to each end. We could then roll the round bales behind my pickup truck like a wheel. The cattle mostly fared well and are looking great, except that this is normally springtime here, and so it is calving season. Sadly, two recently born calves did not survive the cold, despite all efforts to protect them. I even took one young calf inside and tried to warm it in front of the fireplace, but it was not enough to save it. That was the saddest thing that happened here.
The ranch houses are extremely well insulated, and we have good wood-burning fireplaces, so they provided us heat. It was chilly inside, but not dangerously so.
Our solar panel array is a grid-connect system, so we knew it would go down with the grid. It can't stay operational in a grid failure, as that would be dangerous to line operators working to repair the system. Last year, we contemplated adding a battery back-up system, which we would switch to if the grid went down. We decided against it at that time, opting to wait for improvements in battery technology, which was a mistake. Now we plan to go ahead and add the battery system, for next time there is a grid emergency.
The best decision I made was to move the chicken coop into the garage, as I was worried that the electric heat source outside would be insufficient. Since the electricity went out, the chickens would have frozen if I hadn't made that decision. As it was, they stayed comfortable inside, and even produced lots of eggs, which provided us a welcome source of fresh food.
Before the big freeze, I also protected all my most fragile fruit trees with heavy covers of hay mulch (covering the younger trees in some cases). I guess we will see if this worked, but I'm hopeful. I also covered all the vegetable plants in my garden with makeshift greenhouses, but I'm certain that was not sufficient, so I expect a complete loss there.
Overall, I'm feeling that we weathered the storm better than most. I'm sad to lose the two calves, but things could have been much worse. We always had plenty of food to eat and water to drink, and were warm enough with the fireplaces. My water system seems to have survived better than most, so I'm glad of all the work I put into it this past year to protect it from freezes. Now if we can just add that battery back-up system for our solar power, I'll be ready for the next big freeze."

Mothra said:

---

Sam Lowry said:

---

Mothra said:

---

bear2be2 said:

---

Mothra said:

---

J.B.Katz said:

---

HuMcK said:

---

Deregulation has consequences. Those other grids are subject to federal regs in ways that ours is not (by design). For Abbott to A) be spending any time on Hannity at all during this crisis, and B) to immediately deflect blame to a non-existent "Green New Deal" takes some massive chutzpah and a complete lack of integrity.

---

We're having a big discussion here about forcing social media platfforms to host Parler which is regulating them.

Texas runs its own energy grid in most of the state to avoid federal regulation and now you're seeing the results of that in that the grid can't withstand severe winter weather.

Which is most important to regulate--the abilty to guys like Abott to lie on Parler about why the Texas grid collapsed or the supply of power to millions of Texans?

---

As a Republican, you are in favor of bigger govt. and more regulation? Hmmm.

---

A functioning electrical grid and safe/running water aren't big or small government issues. They are just government issues. If you don't have those things in the 21st century, you don't have government.

---

We have a functioning electric grid. Its just not prepared for a once in a generation storm.

---

Especially not every ten years.

---

We have a storm like this every ten years? Not sure if that's what your saying, but I can't remember a storm like this in my 45 years living in Texas. Can you?

---

It's similar to 2011. We've seen that it doesn't take a once-in-a-generation event to cause problems.

Your classmate has some old fashioned "Pioneer DNA" working for him ! Thanks so much for sharing .
Edit: That story is really heartwarming for an old geezer like me! Gives me hope for the future of our Country.

"Indisputable"


Ah, but when examined closely, a great deal of the claims are quite disputable.

Buddha Bear said:

---

For the climate, it's basic math. Math cannot be disputed. There are 2 very basic things that prove CO2 is alarmingly increasing, and that humans are contributing most of the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere

---

The right math answers are white supremacy

Oldbear83 said:

---

"Indisputable"


Ah, but when examined closely, a great deal of the claims are quite disputable.

---

Projections in future temperatures and natural disasters are obviously disputable. But disputing isotopes of an element and it's abundance in the world is like arguing with someone who is counting to 10. If you can dispute that, I'm all ears.

Sam Lowry said:

---

Mothra said:

---

Sam Lowry said:

---

Mothra said:

---

bear2be2 said:

---

Mothra said:

---

J.B.Katz said:

---

HuMcK said:

---

Deregulation has consequences. Those other grids are subject to federal regs in ways that ours is not (by design). For Abbott to A) be spending any time on Hannity at all during this crisis, and B) to immediately deflect blame to a non-existent "Green New Deal" takes some massive chutzpah and a complete lack of integrity.

---

We're having a big discussion here about forcing social media platfforms to host Parler which is regulating them.

Texas runs its own energy grid in most of the state to avoid federal regulation and now you're seeing the results of that in that the grid can't withstand severe winter weather.

Which is most important to regulate--the abilty to guys like Abott to lie on Parler about why the Texas grid collapsed or the supply of power to millions of Texans?

---

As a Republican, you are in favor of bigger govt. and more regulation? Hmmm.

---

A functioning electrical grid and safe/running water aren't big or small government issues. They are just government issues. If you don't have those things in the 21st century, you don't have government.

---

We have a functioning electric grid. Its just not prepared for a once in a generation storm.

---

Especially not every ten years.

---

We have a storm like this every ten years? Not sure if that's what your saying, but I can't remember a storm like this in my 45 years living in Texas. Can you?

---

It's similar to 2011. We've seen that it doesn't take a once-in-a-generation event to cause problems.

---

We lost 40% of the gas, coal and nuclear electricity production. That didn't happen in 2011

Buddha Bear said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

"Indisputable"


Ah, but when examined closely, a great deal of the claims are quite disputable.

---

Projections in future temperatures and natural disasters are obviously disputable. But disputing isotopes of an element and it's abundance in the world is like arguing with someone who is counting to 10. If you can dispute that, I'm all ears.

---

Start by acting like an adult, not a 4th grader looking for a fight during recess.

My point is that the actions needed are predicated by the effects of carbon and related elements, and whether claims of global effect stand up to scrutiny.

The IPCC, for example, has been seriously discredited multiple times by manipulation of data for political purposes. In addition to what that does to their reputation, such behavior makes it difficult to work with reliable data.

Doing nothing would be foolish, but so would blindly going along with extreme measures.

Some Texans use 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup trucks to power homes amid winter storm

Quote:

---

When Randy Jones of Katy, Texas, bought his new Ford F-150 pickup truck a few weeks ago, he didn't think he'd be using it to keep the lights on in his house during a historic winter storm that left millions without power.
The 2021 hybrid's onboard generator "gives you the ability to use your truck like a mobile generator" that can produce up to 7.2 kW of power, according to Ford.

Jones, 66, said in a phone interview with CNBC on Thursday that he bought the truck in part because of that feature, adding that he often loses power due to hurricanes and other storms. When he lost power Sunday night, he decided to get out a few extension cords and put the generator to the test.

"Without it I would have been in the dark and cold like everybody else in the neighborhood," the retired refinery worker said, adding that he helped neighbors charge their phones and laptops. "Quite a few of the neighbors said, 'Hey, I'm getting one,' like, 'I'm trading my Dodge or GMC,' because, South Texas, with hurricanes and things like that, we're always having power outages."

---

BaylorBJM said:

---

I guess we're not quite ready for that whole TEXIT thing are we?

---

Actually, Baylor BJM, I think the events of this past week make an even greater case for Texit. Texas put their best foot forward on the clean energy (wind & solar) thing, but it blew up in our faces and did not work. We will learn from this and adjust accordingly. I have no doubt.

The rest of the country may want to be powered by sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but I just don't see Texas going down this path. We shall see.

Booray said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

BaylorBJM said:

---

I guess we're not quite ready for that whole TEXIT thing are we?

---

Actually, Baylor BJM, I think the events of this past week make an even greater case for Texit. Texas put their best foot forward on the clean energy (wind & solar) thing, but it blew up in our faces and did not work. We will learn from this and adjust accordingly. I have no doubt.

The rest of the country may want to be powered by sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but I just don't see Texas going down this path. We shall see.

---

Just keep ignoring the fact that the decline in natural gas availability was by far the most significant factor in this week's debacle.


Also funny that you should mention solar. Every other energy source declined; solar output doubled.

---

Not real sure I understand your point. Liberal lunacy. Solar output doubled? You are a ****in' cartoon character. Wind and solar are a novelty, not reality. This is what we learned this past week. You are welcome to freeze Grandma to death in the name of saving the planet, but most Texans will take a hard pass. Gotta move forward with what works and abandon what does not. Common sense.

Osodecentx said:

---

Mothra said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

Time period 2/10/21 to 2/17/21

Green- wind
Yellow- solar
Tan- natural gas
Brown- coal
Red- nuclear

---

So this does seem to suggest that the lack of wind and solar energy we rely on are the problem.

---

Change in power output in storm:
Coal - down 31%
Wind - down 28%
Nuclear - down 26%
Natural gas - down 24%
Solar - increased 100% (yes, doubled)

Under normal circumstances, the is the composition of our power sources:
Natural gas (51%)
Wind (24.8%)
Coal (13.4%)
Nuclear (4.9%)
Solar (3.8%)
Hydro, biomass-fired units (1.9%)

---

RD2... those are the facts I referred to. I guess Osodecentx is a liberal lunatic also?

fadskier said:

---

quash said:

---

If you want more regulation just rename ERCOT to UTERUS...

---

Deregulation of the uterus has killed a lot more people that ERCOT

---

are you regulating your uterus?

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

fadskier said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

BellCountyBear said:

---

Osodecentx said:

---

BellCountyBear said:

---

ERCOT needs to be blown up too. Stupid ****ers.

---

Do you prefer FERC?

---

C. None of the above.

Let the market work it out.

---

Texas electric market is deregulated

---

Not really but ok

---

Yes, really

---

It's not deregulated. Yeah the billing is, but not the power lines.

---

The lines are a common carrier, a monopoly and are regulated.

If you don't live in a municipal power area or an electric co-op area you can shop for the lowest price.

I just selected a different provider because of the price.

Do you know what you are paying per KWh? Maybe you can do better if you shop

---

You are just talking provider (billing)...and yes they are deregulated but the industry isn't. Yes, I know about paying per kWh, but the market isn't truly deregulated.

---

What would you do to truly deregulate the market?

---

Frankly, the Enron scandal made sure complete deregulation will never happen.

---

What would you do to truly deregulate the market? Or should it be deregulated?

---

I brought up Enron not only to note that the market will never be completely deregulated, but that there should always be certain protections.

Utilities - which I mean to say power, water, waste removal, phone towers and lines, and internet infrastructure - are necessary services which depend on reliability no matter what, That is, we can't treat utilities the way we can discretionary services and products.

---

So no deregulation?

---

Limited deregulation. Give people a choice to join co-ops, for example, or get better rates by locking in long-term contracts which allows the retail provider to know how much to buy from generation companies.

But generation companies need to be held to strict standards regarding production reliability, maintenance of equipment, and disaster planning. As far as I am concerned, when someone dies from the cold because a generation company cannot deliver the load it promised, that's criminal negligence and should result in serious jail time for that company's execs.

---

ERCOT and the PUC can do the things in your second paragraph right now, without legislation

---

And they used to. I worked for Reliant Energy 2000-2009 and one of the things they taught us from the start is Energy Production 101. We saw the grid operations center, we talked to linemen and stepdown station managers, we were all taught the basics of power generation and distribution.

ERCOT used to make sure they always had a 10% buffer over anticipated demand. Some of that they could sell to surrounding states, but the main thing was to avoid exactly what happened this week.

Of course, back then engineers ran production plants, not politicians and Green idiots.

---

so green idiots run the production plants, now, that is your position?

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

BaylorBJM said:

---

I guess we're not quite ready for that whole TEXIT thing are we?

---

Actually, Baylor BJM, I think the events of this past week make an even greater case for Texit. Texas put their best foot forward on the clean energy (wind & solar) thing, but it blew up in our faces and did not work. We will learn from this and adjust accordingly. I have no doubt.

The rest of the country may want to be powered by sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but I just don't see Texas going down this path. We shall see.

---

With all due respect, I am being convinced by the information being presented that this catastrophic event was.a result of Texas not spending the money to winterize our power system....from supply lines, to generation, to distribution..If you can get access to Gov Abbott's presser yesterday, (understanding he's a politician skilled at blame distribution). he unceremoniously threw ERCOT (who he appoints) under the bus. He stated 5 days before the event started, ERCOT leadership assured both he and other state officials that the Texas power grid was in good condition, had undergone some measure of winterizing, and was ready and able to withstand the coming storm and would be able to generate ample power to Texans. I have no idea as to the veracity of Abbott's claims, but that's what he told the press..I'm sure you can get a replay on line and listen to his exact words...It wasn't solely renewable energy that caused our major issues..this my opinion

Bexar Pitts said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

BaylorBJM said:

---

I guess we're not quite ready for that whole TEXIT thing are we?

---

Actually, Baylor BJM, I think the events of this past week make an even greater case for Texit. Texas put their best foot forward on the clean energy (wind & solar) thing, but it blew up in our faces and did not work. We will learn from this and adjust accordingly. I have no doubt.

The rest of the country may want to be powered by sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but I just don't see Texas going down this path. We shall see.

---

With all due respect, I am being convinced by the information being presented that this catastrophic event was.a result of Texas not spending the money to winterize our power system....from supply lines, to generation, to distribution..If you can get access to Gov Abbott's presser yesterday, (understanding he's a politician skilled at blame distribution). he unceremoniously threw ERCOT (who he appoints) under the bus. He stated 5 days before the event started, ERCOT leadership assured both he and other state officials that the Texas power grid was in good condition, had undergone some measure of winterizing, and was ready and able to withstand the coming storm and would be able to generate ample power to Texans. I have no idea as to the veracity of Abbott's claims, but that's what he told the press..I'm sure you can get a replay on line and listen to his exact words...It wasn't solely renewable energy that caused our major issues..this my opinion

---

Yes, it does look like the main problem was failure to winterize sufficiently. It is not a bad thing to have a few rolling blackouts in a major weather emergency due to increased demand, but the big problem here was the collapse of supply from all sources except, ironically, solar.

bularry said:

---

fadskier said:

---

quash said:

---

If you want more regulation just rename ERCOT to UTERUS...

---

Deregulation of the uterus has killed a lot more people that ERCOT

---

are you regulating your uterus?

---

I'm responsible for the behavior of all my body parts. And for the record, there are many parts of my body that are regulated...

Booray said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

BaylorBJM said:

---

I guess we're not quite ready for that whole TEXIT thing are we?

---

Actually, Baylor BJM, I think the events of this past week make an even greater case for Texit. Texas put their best foot forward on the clean energy (wind & solar) thing, but it blew up in our faces and did not work. We will learn from this and adjust accordingly. I have no doubt.

The rest of the country may want to be powered by sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, but I just don't see Texas going down this path. We shall see.

---

Just keep ignoring the fact that the decline in natural gas availability was by far the most significant factor in this week's debacle.


Also funny that you should mention solar. Every other energy source declined; solar output doubled.

---

It remains to be seen. By some accounts wind was the weak link and gas failed trying to make up the difference. We need a full investigation without bias or preconceptions.