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Old 02-18-2021, 08:09 AM   #41
wiredgeorge
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Yesterday, most of the snow from Sunday night's barrage had melted. Got up this morning and it had started up again. WOW.
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Old 02-18-2021, 08:17 AM   #42
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Yesterday, most of the snow from Sunday night's barrage had melted. Got up this morning and it had started up again. WOW.
My son flew out of mobile Alabama a day early ..good thing as most flights are grounded now
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Old 02-18-2021, 08:23 AM   #43
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Yesterday, most of the snow from Sunday night's barrage had melted. Got up this morning and it had started up again. WOW.
WOW! Looks like a bobsled ramp! We didn't get any below freezing temps here on the Oregon Coast but the rains came and definitely raised the lake levels...We stayed nice and cozy although we got out in it so as not to go stir crazy! Hopefully Texas will get on the national grid so this doesn't happen again. Frozen windmills was the least of the problems since they provide less than 10% of Texas energy. Even the nuclear plant froze up! Damn! What a mess...stay safe!
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Old 02-18-2021, 08:59 AM   #44
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WOW! Looks like a bobsled ramp! We didn't get any below freezing temps here on the Oregon Coast but the rains came and definitely raised the lake levels...We stayed nice and cozy although we got out in it so as not to go stir crazy! Hopefully Texas will get on the national grid so this doesn't happen again. Frozen windmills was the least of the problems since they provide less than 10% of Texas energy. Even the nuclear plant froze up! Damn! What a mess...stay safe!


It surely IS a mess! Just a couple of clarifying points;

TX is the largest energy producer in the country. I doubt seriously that they will be moving to get on a national grid so that we have to depend on outside resources to keep us warm/cool.

Currently wind turbines provide 15%+ of the available power for the state. Combined with the slow integration of solar they both account for approx. 20% of the power provided in the state - due to closures of the more dependable power plants.

The state electrical response commission (ERCOT) makes forecasts for power requirements and then allocates what they deem will be needed and then shuts down other facilities for mtce. etc. In this case they forecast 58M kwh to be used. The current demand is 65M kwh - not enough power due to planned/forced down time resulting in rolling blackouts. It's not there isn't enough power; in the summer the demand usually runs approx. 125M kwh and they have no problem meeting that without blackouts.

The issue, and I hope a learning one, is that the lowball forecast from ERCOT then the loss of the wind and solar combined to make for a very severe power shortage. To compound it further, ERCOT did not leave any margin for a safety net so what happened was completely predictable.

I hope the current situation is a wake up call across the country. Can you imagine if the state was 100% "green" energy? I can and it's not a pretty sight to imagine.
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:24 AM   #45
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It surely IS a mess! Just a couple of clarifying points;

TX is the largest energy producer in the country. I doubt seriously that they will be moving to get on a national grid so that we have to depend on outside resources to keep us warm/cool.

Currently wind turbines provide 15%+ of the available power for the state. Combined with the slow integration of solar they both account for approx. 20% of the power provided in the state - due to closures of the more dependable power plants.

The state electrical response commission (ERCOT) makes forecasts for power requirements and then allocates what they deem will be needed and then shuts down other facilities for mtce. etc. In this case they forecast 58M kwh to be used. The current demand is 65M kwh - not enough power due to planned/forced down time resulting in rolling blackouts. It's not there isn't enough power; in the summer the demand usually runs approx. 125M kwh and they have no problem meeting that without blackouts.

The issue, and I hope a learning one, is that the lowball forecast from ERCOT then the loss of the wind and solar combined to make for a very severe power shortage. To compound it further, ERCOT did not leave any margin for a safety net so what happened was completely predictable.

I hope the current situation is a wake up call across the country. Can you imagine if the state was 100% "green" energy? I can and it's not a pretty sight to imagine.
Seems that the counties outside of ERCOT jurisdiction didn't lose power, more than a few minutes. Perhaps Texas may need to do some infrastructure work in the future. I read that solar and wind power contribute less than 10% of energy. Fossil fuels may be more profitable in the short term for Texas but it causes more harm than good. I understand that they don't want federal regulation on their privately owned power conglomerate. Does this also mean that they plan to overhaul it on their own tab, also? Doesn't make sense. My brother is in Texas, freeing his *** off! Stay warm!!
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:30 AM   #46
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They are predicting 6-10" total snow in the Hill Country. There will be finger pointing as far as who or what is responsible for the poor state our electrical grid but we sure don't need folks telling Texans that gas and oil production is bad. The poor ol' USA is relatively a clean environment and the folks who are screaming to shut down oil and gas which out country relies on only need to look to countries like Brazil, China, India for the source of crud in the air and do something about those major polluters. The USA is doing their share and probably more to keep the air clean.
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:49 AM   #47
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We were in a TT in Dallas in 89 when it was 1 degree. We kept our tanks open but now we add rv antifreeze when we use it. We also put a heat tape on the water hose and had the hose in Styrofoam pipe insulation and duct tape on the seams. We also ran two space heaters instead of the furnace. Seemed we were going through a bottle a day. We plugged one heater into a wall socket. The other one kept tripping so we ran an extension cord up through a storage compartment and plugged it into the pedestal. We had icicles from the roof vents and the windows had ice on the inside. We also wrapped any water line that was exposed in a compartment too. Running a dribble helps.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:00 AM   #48
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They are predicting 6-10" total snow in the Hill Country. There will be finger pointing as far as who or what is responsible for the poor state our electrical grid but we sure don't need folks telling Texans that gas and oil production is bad. The poor ol' USA is relatively a clean environment and the folks who are screaming to shut down oil and gas which out country relies on only need to look to countries like Brazil, China, India for the source of crud in the air and do something about those major polluters. The USA is doing their share and probably more to keep the air clean.
Go for what you know down there in Texas, by all means! Obviously I'm not in Texas though I do feel for the poor folks freezing to death. If Texas wants to hold onto the past and keep their unregulated Texas grid and fossil fuels, they should also be prepared to foot the bill when it goes down. Seems fair, Stay safe, stay warm!
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:23 AM   #49
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They are predicting 6-10" total snow in the Hill Country. There will be finger pointing as far as who or what is responsible for the poor state our electrical grid but we sure don't need folks telling Texans that gas and oil production is bad. The poor ol' USA is relatively a clean environment and the folks who are screaming to shut down oil and gas which out country relies on only need to look to countries like Brazil, China, India for the source of crud in the air and do something about those major polluters. The USA is doing their share and probably more to keep the air clean.
Hang in there! I used to live not far from you, in Hondo. Retired HS coach here. We now live in Montgomery, TX. We’re full-timers as well. More flurries here as I write this. It’ll be 70 by Tuesday/Wednesday. Only in Texas!
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:32 PM   #50
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WOW! Looks like a bobsled ramp! We didn't get any below freezing temps here on the Oregon Coast but the rains came and definitely raised the lake levels...We stayed nice and cozy although we got out in it so as not to go stir crazy! Hopefully Texas will get on the national grid so this doesn't happen again. Frozen windmills was the least of the problems since they provide less than 10% of Texas energy. Even the nuclear plant froze up! Damn! What a mess...stay safe!
Take a look at this post, ERCOT only "relies" on wind for 10%, but it was actually contributing way more than that and then went to almost zero.

Facts are facts, media spin is media spin.
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:41 PM   #51
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Man hope you all are managing. I've lived "north" whole life and hate this crap.

Should have read this one - I just started a thread checking in on you southern folks!
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Old 02-18-2021, 02:05 PM   #52
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Go for what you know down there in Texas, by all means! Obviously I'm not in Texas though I do feel for the poor folks freezing to death. If Texas wants to hold onto the past and keep their unregulated Texas grid and fossil fuels, they should also be prepared to foot the bill when it goes down. Seems fair, Stay safe, stay warm!


The fact is Americans band together to help out other Americans when they are down ... that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway
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Old 02-18-2021, 02:11 PM   #53
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Careful, boys, you are treading on thin ice. A small helping of politics is tasty, but it can lead to a bad taste in our mouths. I have found things entertaining so far, but I don't want big brother to put an axe to the thread.
Many thanks....
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Old 02-18-2021, 02:14 PM   #54
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Careful, boys, you are treading on thin ice. A small helping of politics is tasty, but it can lead to a bad taste in our mouths. I have found things entertaining so far, but I don't want big brother to put an axe to the thread.
Many thanks....
Duly noted.. I was merely saying we need to stick together when the chips are down..I will keep things on course..sorry for the diversion
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Old 02-18-2021, 03:41 PM   #55
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WOW! Looks like a bobsled ramp! We didn't get any below freezing temps here on the Oregon Coast but the rains came and definitely raised the lake levels...We stayed nice and cozy although we got out in it so as not to go stir crazy! Hopefully Texas will get on the national grid so this doesn't happen again. Frozen windmills was the least of the problems since they provide less than 10% of Texas energy. Even the nuclear plant froze up! Damn! What a mess...stay safe!
And in 2011 the state was warned after a similar disaster, that it would happen again unless the grid was winterized.
The TX government didn't require the private power companies to winterize because they're not connected to the national grid and guess what happened?



This is not a renewable energy failure, it is a leadership failure.
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Old 02-18-2021, 04:12 PM   #56
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And in 2011 the state was warned after a similar disaster, that it would happen again unless the grid was winterized.
The TX government didn't require the private power companies to winterize because they're not connected to the national grid and guess what happened?



This is not a renewable energy failure, it is a leadership failure.


The above is partially correct. It IS a leadership failure for sure but part of that failure was depending on undependable renewable energy sources. When they put their eggs in that basket they should have known they needed a safety net in the event something like this happened.

As far as TX being "connected" to the national grid, the question would be why. As we produce the most energy in the country and export much of it, what benefit would it be tie ourselves into all kinds of agreements so that we could "export" the energy (or be required to)....not import it. Those states that cannot support their energy consumption are far better served by those sorts of agreements; TX would not benefit.....IF they (ERCOT - TX govt.) actually paid attention to business.
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Old 02-18-2021, 05:39 PM   #57
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Go for what you know down there in Texas, by all means! Obviously I'm not in Texas though I do feel for the poor folks freezing to death. If Texas wants to hold onto the past and keep their unregulated Texas grid and fossil fuels, they should also be prepared to foot the bill when it goes down. Seems fair, Stay safe, stay warm!

I won't mention what my opinion of the good folk who put up with the issues you face on the left coast. Texas does all right and while we may be freezing, well DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS (it is our anti-littering message). We continue to live in the past as what we see elsewhere doesn't seem palatable.
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Old 02-18-2021, 07:45 PM   #58
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I won't mention what my opinion of the good folk who put up with the issues you face on the left coast. Texas does all right and while we may be freezing, well DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS (it is our anti-littering message). We continue to live in the past as what we see elsewhere doesn't seem palatable.
Can I get an AMEN?
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Old 02-18-2021, 08:30 PM   #59
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Can I get an AMEN?
You got it! AMEN
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Old 02-21-2021, 06:53 AM   #60
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Can I add a word to this discussion that may blow it up. The word is "Nuclear".
This is not to open up politics but I just have a question. When I worked for GE Power Division back in the 70's I did work a several nuclear power generator sites in Texas. What ever happened to that source? I know it's toxic to discuss but that source is clean, safe and reliable. Seems like the state shut down a large source of power in order to be politically correct.
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