I’m a Dem here in Texas. Our wind turbines froze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do countries in Scandinavia deal with it? They get pretty cold weather in the winter. Do they lose power every winter when it's freezing?

Different answer for each country but basically boils down to hydro and to a lesser extent nuclear.

Texas’s nuclear plants are not functioning either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wind turbines froze, but so did everything else. Thermal plants actually, at least as of yesterday morning, accounted for more of the missing demand than wind. It's not a renewable issue but an overall infrastructure issue.

This is misleading. Many of the green energy folks in Texas are making this argument. First, as a percentage of available capacity, more renewable energy is offline than thermal. Second, investment in thermal infrastructure has basically dried up in the past 5-6 years as wind and now solar have commanded dollars. Thermal has its real problems, but renewable advocates need to be honest about what is happening here. Intermittent actually means intermittent.

Let's be honest then. The VAST majority of down power plants are fossil fuel ones. Wind isn't a substantial part of winter energy production in Texas. Wind turbines are used in freaking Antartica. The wind turbines in Texas were not weatherized. Texas doesnt keep backup power plants running which means they can't handle demand surges. Had Texas been connected to the national grid then they could have handled the demand surge.

The elecrical grid does need a variety of sources. Redundancies are important. Green power cannot be one hundred percent until battery storage technology is improved. That's all true but has absolutely nothing to do with this manmade catastrophe.

Thermal infrastructure has been underinvested in in Texas for the better part of the past decade while renewable has soaked up dollars. Coal capacity (second best performing in this type of weather behind nuke) has been cut in half. Natural gas power gen has seen minimal investments. Meanwhile, the state’s population has exploded over the past twenty years. Hint, less thermal capacity expected to serve more people is not going to be a recipe for success.

There is no national grid. Please come back when you understand that. We have regional grids and interconnection isn’t as simple as running an extension cord across the Red River. And, not for nothing, the neighboring regional power coordinator is also going through rolling black outs.

I’m not arguing against renewables as part of a generation portfolio. I am arguing for honesty that this isn’t as simple as wishing a green transition occurs and you’re done. There is a reason why power authorities in Massachusetts are arguing that people will need to get used to living without home heating....

Then start being honest. There are two grids + texas and quebec for the US and Canada. Referring to the two grids as a national grid is more honest than calling two grids a series of regional grids. The nat gas and coal plants froze. That's the primary cause along with the demand surge. Both would have been handled by the basic steps that the rest of the country uses. If texas was connected to one of the two national grids then the demand surge would not have been the issue it became. Had there been backup power plants online, like happens in the rest of the country, the demand surge would not have been as much of a problem. Had weatherizing been done the freeze would not have been as much of a problem.

Texas repeatedly chose to spend less in order to save money today. By doing this they knowingly put themselves and their grid at risk. It's tragic that people have to suffer because of those choices but this is the reality. It has nothing to do with green power.

[Anonymous]

OP, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I can’t imagine how cold and uncomfortable you are. That sounds like a scary situation. I’m a fellow greyhound owner (mine raced in TX) and my heart is breaking for your dogs, especially the the older ones. I wish there was something I could do to help. Saying prayers for all of you affected by this monster storm.

[Anonymous]

The fundamental probl is climate change and everyone everywhere needing to be prepared for unprecedented weather events.

At least renewables are pn the right side of the big picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not the wind turbines. Those are already known to produce less in the winter months, so they already plan to get less power from those sources.
The freezing weather is causing cascading failures at other power plants - coal, natural gas, nuclear - where they have frozen piping. For example, nuclear plants require lots of water to cool the nuclear cores. If the pipes at the nuclear plants are frozen, they need to shut down.

The biggest culprit is that Texas is not connected to other states’ energy systems.

Read this, it’s a great explanation: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/texas-powe...-grid-crumples-under-the-cold/

NP here: I love ars. Glad there is another nerd in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.It looks like everybody else is an expert in Texas weather except for the Texan here. And sorry, Austin used to be a Texas bastion( third generation UT- Pappy was class of 1915), now it’s an absurd group of Silicon Valley idiots. We have an ice storm coming. I’m scared.

LOL.. who created the technology that enables you to post on dcum? The SV idiots?

[Anonymous]

A). Shovel off some ice and snow for your dog to pee:poop on outside. Before the next storm, put a tarp over it so you don’t need to shovel again. It doesn’t need to be big- maybe 2X2 ft.
B) if your cars are outside- lift up the wipers so they don’t have to freeze there.
C) Take your phone and check the exterior of your property for damage. You will want to take pictures of your roof (safely) to make sure and it will help you with insurance claims later.
D) Camping gear inside your home is useful. Sleeping bags are awesome. If you have power tools with misc. batteries for lights they are useful too.
E) Check your hoses and exterior pipes. If they look like they have burst, do not defrost. Take a picture. Call a plumber and ask what to do until they can come over.


Hope this helps someone.

[Anonymous]

I read you can burn candles in a terracotta pots as a heat source.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.It looks like everybody else is an expert in Texas weather except for the Texan here. And sorry, Austin used to be a Texas bastion( third generation UT- Pappy was class of 1915), now it’s an absurd group of Silicon Valley idiots. We have an ice storm coming. I’m scared.

It's a shame that your power grid can't handle cold weather. But none of the technologies that are failing you have the same problems in northern states. We have wind farms in Minnesota and the UP of Michigan. Nuclear plants are everywhere. Coal plants are everywhere. Gas turbines are everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wind turbines froze, but so did everything else. Thermal plants actually, at least as of yesterday morning, accounted for more of the missing demand than wind. It's not a renewable issue but an overall infrastructure issue.

This is misleading. Many of the green energy folks in Texas are making this argument. First, as a percentage of available capacity, more renewable energy is offline than thermal. Second, investment in thermal infrastructure has basically dried up in the past 5-6 years as wind and now solar have commanded dollars. Thermal has its real problems, but renewable advocates need to be honest about what is happening here. Intermittent actually means intermittent.

Let's be honest then. The VAST majority of down power plants are fossil fuel ones. Wind isn't a substantial part of winter energy production in Texas. Wind turbines are used in freaking Antartica. The wind turbines in Texas were not weatherized. Texas doesnt keep backup power plants running which means they can't handle demand surges. Had Texas been connected to the national grid then they could have handled the demand surge.

The elecrical grid does need a variety of sources. Redundancies are important. Green power cannot be one hundred percent until battery storage technology is improved. That's all true but has absolutely nothing to do with this manmade catastrophe.

Thermal infrastructure has been underinvested in in Texas for the better part of the past decade while renewable has soaked up dollars. Coal capacity (second best performing in this type of weather behind nuke) has been cut in half. Natural gas power gen has seen minimal investments. Meanwhile, the state’s population has exploded over the past twenty years. Hint, less thermal capacity expected to serve more people is not going to be a recipe for success.

There is no national grid. Please come back when you understand that. We have regional grids and interconnection isn’t as simple as running an extension cord across the Red River. And, not for nothing, the neighboring regional power coordinator is also going through rolling black outs.

I’m not arguing against renewables as part of a generation portfolio. I am arguing for honesty that this isn’t as simple as wishing a green transition occurs and you’re done. There is a reason why power authorities in Massachusetts are arguing that people will need to get used to living without home heating....

The future requires a mix of energy solutions. The “transition” will take decades.
But it’s ridiculous to blame the current catastrophe in Texas on green energy. Nuclear power plants were shut down due to freezing cooling pipes.
The fact of the matter is that (1) the energy infrastructure is not weatherized to handle more extreme weather events (which will become more frequent) and (2) the Texan energy network is not plugged in to nearby regional networks from where they could pull excess energy.

These conditions are the natural result of under-investment and a hesitancy to address climate change.

Texans should get ready for a tax hike. It’s going to be expensive to make your state more resilient to climate change. Alternatively, you can just die during weather events.

Death or taxes - they’re always waiting for you.

Germany tried to go full green. They decommissioned nuke plants. Their manufacturing sector suffered and they’re now burning more coal than ever.

We’ve seen problems in California and Texas and we’re seeing secondary problems in places like MA and NY. But sure, at least partially assigning blame to renewables is unreasonable.

The SPP is currently experiencing rolling blackouts. What excess power would an interconnected Texas be pulling right now?

[Anonymous]

this is terrible. My SDD is making a survivor adventure out of it, but I'm worried. 5 degrees and no power! God I hope it comes back on today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wind turbines froze, but so did everything else. Thermal plants actually, at least as of yesterday morning, accounted for more of the missing demand than wind. It's not a renewable issue but an overall infrastructure issue.

This is misleading. Many of the green energy folks in Texas are making this argument. First, as a percentage of available capacity, more renewable energy is offline than thermal. Second, investment in thermal infrastructure has basically dried up in the past 5-6 years as wind and now solar have commanded dollars. Thermal has its real problems, but renewable advocates need to be honest about what is happening here. Intermittent actually means intermittent.

Let's be honest then. The VAST majority of down power plants are fossil fuel ones. Wind isn't a substantial part of winter energy production in Texas. Wind turbines are used in freaking Antartica. The wind turbines in Texas were not weatherized. Texas doesnt keep backup power plants running which means they can't handle demand surges. Had Texas been connected to the national grid then they could have handled the demand surge.

The elecrical grid does need a variety of sources. Redundancies are important. Green power cannot be one hundred percent until battery storage technology is improved. That's all true but has absolutely nothing to do with this manmade catastrophe.

Thermal infrastructure has been underinvested in in Texas for the better part of the past decade while renewable has soaked up dollars. Coal capacity (second best performing in this type of weather behind nuke) has been cut in half. Natural gas power gen has seen minimal investments. Meanwhile, the state’s population has exploded over the past twenty years. Hint, less thermal capacity expected to serve more people is not going to be a recipe for success.

There is no national grid. Please come back when you understand that. We have regional grids and interconnection isn’t as simple as running an extension cord across the Red River. And, not for nothing, the neighboring regional power coordinator is also going through rolling black outs.

I’m not arguing against renewables as part of a generation portfolio. I am arguing for honesty that this isn’t as simple as wishing a green transition occurs and you’re done. There is a reason why power authorities in Massachusetts are arguing that people will need to get used to living without home heating....

The future requires a mix of energy solutions. The “transition” will take decades.
But it’s ridiculous to blame the current catastrophe in Texas on green energy. Nuclear power plants were shut down due to freezing cooling pipes.
The fact of the matter is that (1) the energy infrastructure is not weatherized to handle more extreme weather events (which will become more frequent) and (2) the Texan energy network is not plugged in to nearby regional networks from where they could pull excess energy.

These conditions are the natural result of under-investment and a hesitancy to address climate change.

Texans should get ready for a tax hike. It’s going to be expensive to make your state more resilient to climate change. Alternatively, you can just die during weather events.

Death or taxes - they’re always waiting for you.

Germany tried to go full green. They decommissioned nuke plants. Their manufacturing sector suffered and they’re now burning more coal than ever.

We’ve seen problems in California and Texas and we’re seeing secondary problems in places like MA and NY. But sure, at least partially assigning blame to renewables is unreasonable.

The SPP is currently experiencing rolling blackouts. What excess power would an interconnected Texas be pulling right now?

Can you explain why green energy sources are bad? Those sources are extremely reliable and predictable in terms of energy out put. You seem to be an expert. Can you also explain the spot market for electricity in Texas? Who is making money when prices jump from $25 a megawatt to $9,000 a megawatt? Also explain how deregulation of the Texas grid results in what is happening now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wind turbines froze, but so did everything else. Thermal plants actually, at least as of yesterday morning, accounted for more of the missing demand than wind. It's not a renewable issue but an overall infrastructure issue.

This is misleading. Many of the green energy folks in Texas are making this argument. First, as a percentage of available capacity, more renewable energy is offline than thermal. Second, investment in thermal infrastructure has basically dried up in the past 5-6 years as wind and now solar have commanded dollars. Thermal has its real problems, but renewable advocates need to be honest about what is happening here. Intermittent actually means intermittent.

Let's be honest then. The VAST majority of down power plants are fossil fuel ones. Wind isn't a substantial part of winter energy production in Texas. Wind turbines are used in freaking Antartica. The wind turbines in Texas were not weatherized. Texas doesnt keep backup power plants running which means they can't handle demand surges. Had Texas been connected to the national grid then they could have handled the demand surge.

The elecrical grid does need a variety of sources. Redundancies are important. Green power cannot be one hundred percent until battery storage technology is improved. That's all true but has absolutely nothing to do with this manmade catastrophe.

Thermal infrastructure has been underinvested in in Texas for the better part of the past decade while renewable has soaked up dollars. Coal capacity (second best performing in this type of weather behind nuke) has been cut in half. Natural gas power gen has seen minimal investments. Meanwhile, the state’s population has exploded over the past twenty years. Hint, less thermal capacity expected to serve more people is not going to be a recipe for success.

There is no national grid. Please come back when you understand that. We have regional grids and interconnection isn’t as simple as running an extension cord across the Red River. And, not for nothing, the neighboring regional power coordinator is also going through rolling black outs.

I’m not arguing against renewables as part of a generation portfolio. I am arguing for honesty that this isn’t as simple as wishing a green transition occurs and you’re done. There is a reason why power authorities in Massachusetts are arguing that people will need to get used to living without home heating....

The future requires a mix of energy solutions. The “transition” will take decades.
But it’s ridiculous to blame the current catastrophe in Texas on green energy. Nuclear power plants were shut down due to freezing cooling pipes.
The fact of the matter is that (1) the energy infrastructure is not weatherized to handle more extreme weather events (which will become more frequent) and (2) the Texan energy network is not plugged in to nearby regional networks from where they could pull excess energy.

These conditions are the natural result of under-investment and a hesitancy to address climate change.

Texans should get ready for a tax hike. It’s going to be expensive to make your state more resilient to climate change. Alternatively, you can just die during weather events.

Death or taxes - they’re always waiting for you.

Germany tried to go full green. They decommissioned nuke plants. Their manufacturing sector suffered and they’re now burning more coal than ever.

We’ve seen problems in California and Texas and we’re seeing secondary problems in places like MA and NY. But sure, at least partially assigning blame to renewables is unreasonable.

The SPP is currently experiencing rolling blackouts. What excess power would an interconnected Texas be pulling right now?

From the rest of the freaking North America grid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Aren’t the blackouts rolling and deliberate in a lot of areas? The energy company that is responsible is based in Austin and run by two Dems

God you people are ridiculous in your attempt to blame Democrats. Rolling blackouts have been ordered by the state of Texas. They are doing it to ration power.

No kidding?! Two Democrats in Austin are responsible for infrastructure changes that have plunged Texas into darkness?

I actually think that the problems with the US electric grid are complicated and defy clear Democrat vs. Republican and renewables vs. fossil fuel explanations...but the idea that if it weren't for those two pesky Democrats in Austin everything would be fine is frankly absurd. Right up there with, Kinzinger's family calling him part of the "devil army" and saying he lost the respect of Tucker Carlson.

[Anonymous]

Can’t you boil water on your barbecue grill? Granted, I’m in Montana, but my son grilled bbq ribs this past Saturday and the wind chill was -40.