Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

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.

---

quash said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

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.

---

Facts are scary. Best to avoid them.

---

Quote:

---

I had originally titled this post, The Day After Tomorrow: ERCOT Fail Edition, and ERCOT did fail. But I changed the title because, even though the failure was system-wide, wind power totally failed, solar never showed up, while natural gas, coal and nuclear power were all that prevented the entire State of Texas from freezing in the dark. Despite these facts, some in the media are reporting that wind power saved the day, while fossil fuels and nuclear power failed.

---

Quote:

---

Many on the right have been somewhat unfairly placing all of the blame on frozen wind turbines, many on the left have been idiotically placing the blame on natural gas & coal, and ******edly on nuclear power plants. The failures to deal with freezing weather were system-wide.

---

Quote:

---

This remark is moronic:
Eventually about one-third of the anticipated capacity went offline. This included a handful of freezing wind turbines, but the majority of the volume losses were due to coal and natural gas plants going offline.

"The majority of the volume losses were due to coal and natural gas plants going offline"? Well, no schist Sherlock. About 70% of ERCOT's generating capacity is comprised of natural gas and coal-fired power plants So, of course, the majority of the volume losses have been among natural gas power plants. However, coal-fired and nuclear power plants (all two of them) have been relatively unaffected.

The fact is that almost all of the electricity currently being delivered to the ERCOT grid is coming from natural gas, coal-fired and nuclear power plants.

---

Quote:

---

Fossil fuels accounted for 83% of our electricity generation yesterday. Fossil fuels + nuclear accounted for 92%

While there is plenty of blame to go around, ERCOT had a "dress rehearsal" for this in 2011. At least back then, they successfully employed rotating outages. We haven't lost power, while many of our friends have been without power since early Monday morning.

Texas has more wind power capacity and natural gas production than many, if not most, nations. This cluster frack is inexcusable and an embarrassment to the Great State of Texas. We now know that President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry were 100% correct when they asked FERC to ensure that our coal-fired and nuclear power plant fleets be kept in service.

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

quash said:

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

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.

---

Facts are scary. Best to avoid them.

---

Mothra said:

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

I am hopeful we can winterize our plants without passing on significant costs to consumers. It is astounding how expensive electricity is in other states. I recall energy bills regularly being in the $500-$600 range for an 1800 sq foot house when we lived in Connecticut - and that was more than 20 years ago.

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Mothra said:

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

I am hopeful we can winterize our plants without passing on significant costs to consumers. It is astounding how expensive electricity is in other states. I recall energy bills regularly being in the $500-$600 range for an 1800 sq foot house when we lived in Connecticut - and that was more than 20 years ago.

---

Mothra, I am hopeful also. We need to get an in depth report on exactly how El Paso managed to get it done after the 2011 BigFreeze that we all went through. Seems there indeed has been the propensity for weather extremes in recent years. We need to at least be able to hook up (like we once did) to other grids for emergency power. If we can send a dayum "smart" dune buggie 300 million miles to ride around on Mars, we can surely figure out how to keep our lights and water on here during weather events.

---

Osodecentx said:

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Mothra said:

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Agree on a full investigation without bias. I think all power sources were affected in some degree, but forgive me for continuing to beat this drum...the key was winterization. Wind power can be and is winterized and utilized in cold climate areas of the world. Wind is a major energy source in " tropical" Denmark..and Sweden deploys wind for power supply in large amounts. So it boils down to use of budgetary capital to properly construct and maintain these alternative supply sources. That's a political issue the world is now grappling with. While China continues to burn "dirty" Mongolian coal, it also is the world's largest wind energy generator. While I'm at it.....We need, all of us, to get the heck away from this divisive Red/Blue Left/Right crap that's ruining this Country and get back to trying to work together on the issues that will keep our Republic alive. Not wanting to jump in the deep end here, just a thought to try a little harder to see someone else's point of view, realize we are a true melting pot of ideas and ideologies, and reach solutions built on ingenuity,compromise and creativity. Sorry to rant, just wanting to move ahead to get some things done. ( energy supply in this case)

---

I am hopeful we can winterize our plants without passing on significant costs to consumers. It is astounding how expensive electricity is in other states. I recall energy bills regularly being in the $500-$600 range for an 1800 sq foot house when we lived in Connecticut - and that was more than 20 years ago.

---

Mothra, I am hopeful also. We need to get an in depth report on exactly how El Paso managed to get it done after the 2011 BigFreeze that we all went through. Seems there indeed has been the propensity for weather extremes in recent years. We need to at least be able to hook up (like we once did) to other grids for emergency power. If we can send a dayum "smart" dune buggie 300 million miles to ride around on Mars, we can surely figure out how to keep our lights and water on here during weather events.

---

About half of our (ERCOT) generation capacity tripped offline in 2 hours in the early hours of last Monday. That isn't ERCOT's fault. In fact, quick action from ERCOT saved us from a catastrophic grid crash.

The Texas grid has DC interconnections to the East & West grids and Mexico. I'm not sure how much electricity we could have imported, but the areas from which we could have received power were also experiencing rolling blackouts.

The part of Texas in the East Grid (not in ERCOT) had rolling blackouts e.g. Bryan, Huntsville. That part of Texas is in a regulated utility distribution area (Entergy, Co-ops, and Munis). They are under FERC rules and regs.

El Paso is in the West Grid. I'm not sure if they were affected.

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

"About half of our (ERCOT) generation capacity tripped offline in 2 hours in the early hours of last Monday. That isn't ERCOT's fault. In fact, quick action from ERCOT saved us from a catastrophic grid crash."


Actually, we need to know exactly how the grid failure happened, and the decision process for at least 12 months prior to the events of last week.

It may not be ERCOT's fault. It may be completely ERCOT's fault.

The 'catastrophic grid crash' which ERCOT bragged about avoiding last week may be an impossible to foresee event which some brilliant people handled well, or it may simply be that a bad decision was almost much worse.

More than two dozen people died, and my starting point is that ERCOT has to be held accountable for that. Glib words won't get executives off the hook.

---

Bexar Pitts said:

---

Oldbear83 said:

---

"About half of our (ERCOT) generation capacity tripped offline in 2 hours in the early hours of last Monday. That isn't ERCOT's fault. In fact, quick action from ERCOT saved us from a catastrophic grid crash."


Actually, we need to know exactly how the grid failure happened, and the decision process for at least 12 months prior to the events of last week.

It may not be ERCOT's fault. It may be completely ERCOT's fault.

The 'catastrophic grid crash' which ERCOT bragged about avoiding last week may be an impossible to foresee event which some brilliant people handled well, or it may simply be that a bad decision was almost much worse.

More than two dozen people died, and my starting point is that ERCOT has to be held accountable for that. Glib words won't get executives off the hook.

---

Good points, Oldbear.

---

quash said:

---

Let's get all the players and their positions.

Texas Railroad Commission: pipelines, some of which froze up thus hamstringing generators. Elected.

Public Utility Commission: generators, which had frozen instrument issues. Appointed by governor.

ERCOT: manages the load; distribution. Appointed by governor.

---

Osodecentx said:

---

The week's storm that affected us also caused power outages Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states. One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline.

During a record-hot August last year, several of California's natural gas plants natural gas plants malfunctioned just as demand was spiking, contributing to blackouts.

---

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

---

One of the reasons our electric coop gave for increased bills that are coming is that they had to pay $9.00 per KW and usually pay a wholesale price of around $.06. 150 times the normal cost. Can't the argument easily made for price gouging?

---

HuMcK said:

---

---

whitetrash said:

---

HuMcK said:

---

---

$28 billion/29 million people = $965 per person / 20 years = $48.27 per year, or a little over $4 per month.

---

Sam Lowry said:

---

Per WSJ, cost was borne by 60% of households over 17 years: roughly $274/year or $23/month.

---