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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if it has dawned on Elon Musk that he is building an electric car plant in the state with the worst electrical grid.

And for that matter the one state in America that prohibits him from selling a car inside his own stores.

#SoMuchWinning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

Did they warn the companies so they could warn their customers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Abbott is now calling for regulation mandating winterization.


https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/san-antonio/news/2021/02/19/gov--abbott-calls-for-mandatory-winterization-of-power-plants--proof-blackout-was-imminent

It will be interesting to see if the TX Legislature actually does anything. It's not exactly known as an efficient governing body. Luckily, this isn't a culture war issue except for the green energy portion of the grid. You can be sure they will regulate the heck out of that.

I have to say that at the federal level, I want to see legislation passed tying any future disaster aid for power outages to complying with federal regulatory standards and winterizing the grid. The rest of America shouldn't be paying for Texas' choices. And I was born and raised there for the first 23 years of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

That's what Bloomberg and the natgas companies reported. The link is a few pages back. If that's wrong then you need to explain why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

That's what Bloomberg and the natgas companies reported. The link is a few pages back. If that's wrong then you need to explain why.

Pipelines froze because they're only buried one foot underground because "Texas never gets cold". Nevermind that this is supposedly a once a century occurrence and pipelines are supposed to last 100 years. Let's just admit it, Texas went as cheap as possible with everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

That's what Bloomberg and the natgas companies reported. The link is a few pages back. If that's wrong then you need to explain why.

Pipelines froze because they're only buried one foot underground because "Texas never gets cold". Nevermind that this is supposedly a once a century occurrence and pipelines are supposed to last 100 years. Let's just admit it, Texas went as cheap as possible with everything.

I dont doubt that Texas went cheap. But the reporting that the compressors failed because electricity was cut is an important part of the story and doesn't refute any points about weatherization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

That's what Bloomberg and the natgas companies reported. The link is a few pages back. If that's wrong then you need to explain why.

Pipelines froze because they're only buried one foot underground because "Texas never gets cold". Nevermind that this is supposedly a once a century occurrence and pipelines are supposed to last 100 years. Let's just admit it, Texas went as cheap as possible with everything.

I dont doubt that Texas went cheap. But the reporting that the compressors failed because electricity was cut is an important part of the story and doesn't refute any points about weatherization.

And why was the electricity cut there? You think the windmills caused that? It seems to me that this is a systemic failure. This kind of failure can be prevented by systems engineers and I'm sure there are a couple dozen engineers somewhere in Houston/Dallas/Austin saying, "I told you this would happen". So many things could have saved them, including being tied into the other grids.

[Anonymous]

A coworker in Austin has solar panels, and said he managed to still have electricity, though he doesn't know yet how much his actual bill will be unti later this month.

If I lived in TX I'd invest in solar panels and get a Tesla.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK they fell on their swords. But the legislature is responsible for creating a system that failed. The free market was supposed to provide resilience, and it did not. ERCOT, for their many flaws, did not have the power to mandate winterization. They accurately reported that "a majority" (not most, not all) producers followed their voluntary cold weather plans. The failure is the market more than the administrators.

but but but this was CRUZ and ABBOTT!!!!

Yes, low regulation Cruz and Abbott created an atmosphere that lead to this.

Yet the board resigned. They didn’t have to.

Five board members didn’t live in Texas and the legislature has already been saying they want to pass a law that says board members need to live there.

Also, the board spent less than a minute discussing storm preparedness. Oops.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

Yes, but (a) Texas appoints the people to ERCOT, and (b) no warning could have changed the outcome. You can't winterize wellheads and turbines in the snap of a finger.

That's not at all true. The could've checked to see whether the supply that was offline could have been restarted (they had 10 days). They could have reminded the providers that if they needed to shed demand then make sure not to cut power to the natgas producers.

it's my understanding that the wellheads froze. Not sure what sense ^^ makes.

The wellheads froze because electricity to them was cut.

Untrue. Why are you making this up?

That's what Bloomberg and the natgas companies reported. The link is a few pages back. If that's wrong then you need to explain why.

Pipelines froze because they're only buried one foot underground because "Texas never gets cold". Nevermind that this is supposedly a once a century occurrence and pipelines are supposed to last 100 years. Let's just admit it, Texas went as cheap as possible with everything.

I dont doubt that Texas went cheap. But the reporting that the compressors failed because electricity was cut is an important part of the story and doesn't refute any points about weatherization.

And why was the electricity cut there? You think the windmills caused that? It seems to me that this is a systemic failure. This kind of failure can be prevented by systems engineers and I'm sure there are a couple dozen engineers somewhere in Houston/Dallas/Austin saying, "I told you this would happen". So many things could have saved them, including being tied into the other grids.

No, i dont think that and nothing in what I said would indicate that I did. Every single person and entity, including regular consumers, involved in this has blame. If the desired outcome is better policy and not politics then it is important to look at all the factors. There are multiple things that could have prevented this worst case scenario.