All Things Environment

[Typical Lax Dad]

Uh-Oh.....it's gonna be dark for awhile, with no power. Frozen Wind Turbines.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ene ... gy-market/

Some folks were without power in my area for 10 days over the summer.

[youthathletics]

Uh-Oh.....it's gonna be dark for awhile, with no power. Frozen Wind Turbines.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ene ... gy-market/

It's funny, but for context, everything is having trouble:

Millions of Texans without power as ERCOT declares highest level of energy emergency, outages could last for hours

Most of those that went offline were natural gas, coal, or nuclear facilities that shut down. Combined, it in total took more than 30,000 megawatts from the grid.

Blackouts spread beyond Texas as frigid weather knocks out power plants

Ercot had announced “rotating outages” at 1:25am local time on Monday after the cold weather froze wellheads and interrupted supply to natural gas-fired power plants, and some wind turbines became encased in ice, curtailing electricity output.

But by later in the day, a second group of generators — the majority of them thermal plants fuelled by gas, coal or nuclear energy — had also malfunctioned in the cold, said Dan Woodfin, Ercot’s senior director of system operations.

[...]



The cold spell is proving a particular test for Texas’s freewheeling electricity model. Generators are paid only for the energy that they sell, not for keeping capacity in reserve for times of stress. Electricity retailers compete fiercely for customer business, unlike utility monopolies that operate in some other states, and can adjust prices according to market conditions.

[...]


The Texas oil industry is also being disrupted by the winter freeze. The 630,000 barrel-a-day Port Arthur refinery — the country’s largest — was shut down until it was safe to resume operations, owner Motiva Enterprises said.

Thanks for the links.

I did not know Texas played stupid games like that with purchasing electricity, as opposed to the way we do here with PJM.

Just imagine....
~ All those electric vehicles..... stuck, dead in the water, no place to plug in.
~ All those natural gas, oil burner, and propane furnaces & boilers draw 1/5th of the power of a heatpump....which is poo below 33 deg.
~ Turbines can no longer put power back on to the grid.
~ Coulda grabbed some makeup barrels from the Keystone pipeline...opps! Not any more.

[youthathletics]

Jaguar car brand to be all-electric by 2025

And if you thought they had electrical issues (among other) before

I can so remember seeing Jags on the side of the road, actually saw one on fire near the 270/495 split abut 10 years ago.

[youthathletics]

https://twitter.com/lukelegate/status/1 ... 08896?s=20

We need electric Helicopters....STAT.

A helicopter running on fossil fuel spraying a chemical made from fossil fuels onto a wind turbine made with fossils fuels during an ice storm is awesome.

[cradleandshoot]

https://twitter.com/lukelegate/status/1 ... 08896?s=20

We need electric Helicopters....STAT.

A helicopter running on fossil fuel spraying a chemical made from fossil fuels onto a wind turbine made with fossils fuels during an ice storm is awesome.

+1 that is just too damn funny. Bill Gates is working hard to save the planet. Maybe his engineers at Microsoft can figure out a way to mount solar panels above the rotors.

[youthathletics]

Bill has his fingers in everything....he's like a mad scientist. I am interested in a new Nuclear Power generation he is invested in w/TerraPower.....I think it is some joint venture with GE. Where instead of water to cool the rods, they use some form of liquid sodium I believe, which cools much better than water and transfers the heat more effectively.

[RedFromMI]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

[Kismet]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

and, as I understand it, they are NOT connected to the national power grid (and thus can beat the Federal regs and max our profits) so they cannot import power except in a limited fashion from..wait for it...MEXICO

cheap power is great as long as its AVAILABLE.

[youthathletics]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

and, as I understand it, they are NOT connected to the national power grid (and thus can beat the Federal regs and max our profits) so they cannot import power except in a limited fashion from..wait for it...MEXICO

cheap power is great as long as its AVAILABLE.

Kinda like labor....bring em in.

[ardilla secreta]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

Teddy Cruz had plenty of criticism for California not being prepared for their fire disasters. Maybe he should spend more time in his own state that’s not prepared for inclement weather.

[cradleandshoot]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

Teddy Cruz had plenty of criticism for California not being prepared for their fire disasters. Maybe he should spend more time in his own state that’s not prepared for inclement weather.

He should chat with POTUS about some federal dollars to hep out. Is that not how the game is played?

[old salt]

New jobs for unemployed pipeline workers.

https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/3/26 ... ne-aerones

[cradleandshoot]

New jobs for unemployed pipeline workers.

https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/3/26 ... ne-aerones

Good idea. Maybe some one can wake up Joe and suggest it.

[ardilla secreta]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

Teddy Cruz had plenty of criticism for California not being prepared for their fire disasters. Maybe he should spend more time in his own state that’s not prepared for inclement weather.

He should chat with POTUS about some federal dollars to hep out. Is that not how the game is played?

But Cruz thinks government is bad, bad, bad. Until something goes wrong.

[cradleandshoot]

From my Twitter:

It's confirmed: The blackouts in Texas are primarily because of frozen instruments at gas, coal and nuclear plants -- as well limited supplies of gas, according to Ercot

ERCOT is the transmission group in TX, and is somewhat unique in how it deals with power. Not the methods used in other states generally.

Tweet notes a bloomberg.com article. But the information will be coming out on multiple outlets...


The basic message is that ERCOT has built supplies and a grid to maximize profits, and that includes not building in any real excess capacity. Texas has abundant wind power because it is cheap to install/run. But the ice problems are extremely rare, and the system is not built for losing some of their capacity (lost here in pretty much ALL modes of production) while demand is crazy high due to the extent of the low temperatures (made more likely by the instability of the location of the polar vortex due to climate change).

Teddy Cruz had plenty of criticism for California not being prepared for their fire disasters. Maybe he should spend more time in his own state that’s not prepared for inclement weather.

He should chat with POTUS about some federal dollars to hep out. Is that not how the game is played?

But Cruz thinks government is bad, bad, bad. Until something goes wrong.

I can't disagree with you a 100%. I do know that it is beyond extremely rare for Texas to see this kind of weather. I do know California can count on Santa Anna winds every year and they will have dry spells. When all that tinder collects over decades there will be massive wild fires. You may remember the icestorm in upstate in 1991. Everybody knew we get them. Nobody was prepared for the devastation it caused. Our house had no power for 3 weeks. The saying is simple but true... S**t happens it always will.

[RedFromMI]

Texas has some problems though - the grid operator is a non profit operating a grid that basically has few outside connections (TX is effectively an electric power island). So you cannot easily bring in power from outside. Natural gas is the biggest single way electricity is generated there, and supplies are limited at this time because of huge demand (prices of wholesale natural gas have skyrocketed to MANY times the value it was a bit ago). Some of that natural gas is prioritized for heating purposes for homes, for example, which limits how much electricity can be generated by that source.

Controls at the generating stations have had an abnormally high amount of failures today due to not being as winterized as what you would find up North. Peak generation today was 69150 MW, which is a record for the winter in TX, which beat the old winter record by over 2000 MW. Summer capacity is such that the record is somewhere near 125000 MW, BTW. But today 34000 MW went off-line. You did have _some_ loss of wind power due to turbines icing up, but also frozen natural gas line and frozen coal piles as well...

Really good explainer on vox.com:

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/16/22284140/ ... ton-dallas

[CU88]

Texas has some problems though - the grid operator is a non profit operating a grid that basically has few outside connections (TX is effectively an electric power island). So you cannot easily bring in power from outside. Natural gas is the biggest single way electricity is generated there, and supplies are limited at this time because of huge demand (prices of wholesale natural gas have skyrocketed to MANY times the value it was a bit ago). Some of that natural gas is prioritized for heating purposes for homes, for example, which limits how much electricity can be generated by that source.

Controls at the generating stations have had an abnormally high amount of failures today due to not being as winterized as what you would find up North. Peak generation today was 69150 MW, which is a record for the winter in TX, which beat the old winter record by over 2000 MW. Summer capacity is such that the record is somewhere near 125000 MW, BTW. But today 34000 MW went off-line. You did have _some_ loss of wind power due to turbines icing up, but also frozen natural gas line and frozen coal piles as well...

Really good explainer on vox.com:

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/16/22284140/ ... ton-dallas

Thanks for posting some facts here. Others seem to be pointing the finger at some minor farcical issues.

Texas had a similar winter storm in Dec 1989. Why is this one some bad?

Texas population in 1989 was 16.9mm.
Texas population in 2021 is 29.8mm.

Does anyone think that Texas has doubled their energy generation capacity in that same time span?

[Typical Lax Dad]

Texas has some problems though - the grid operator is a non profit operating a grid that basically has few outside connections (TX is effectively an electric power island). So you cannot easily bring in power from outside. Natural gas is the biggest single way electricity is generated there, and supplies are limited at this time because of huge demand (prices of wholesale natural gas have skyrocketed to MANY times the value it was a bit ago). Some of that natural gas is prioritized for heating purposes for homes, for example, which limits how much electricity can be generated by that source.

Controls at the generating stations have had an abnormally high amount of failures today due to not being as winterized as what you would find up North. Peak generation today was 69150 MW, which is a record for the winter in TX, which beat the old winter record by over 2000 MW. Summer capacity is such that the record is somewhere near 125000 MW, BTW. But today 34000 MW went off-line. You did have _some_ loss of wind power due to turbines icing up, but also frozen natural gas line and frozen coal piles as well...

Really good explainer on vox.com:

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/16/22284140/ ... ton-dallas

Thanks for posting some facts here. Others seem to be pointing the finger at some minor farcical issues.

Texas had a similar winter storm in Dec 1989. Why is this one some bad?

Texas population in 1989 was 16.9mm.
Texas population in 2021 is 29.8mm.

Does anyone think that Texas has doubled their energy generation capacity in that same time span?

My sister is in Frisco. Her power came back on today.

[cradleandshoot]

Texas has some problems though - the grid operator is a non profit operating a grid that basically has few outside connections (TX is effectively an electric power island). So you cannot easily bring in power from outside. Natural gas is the biggest single way electricity is generated there, and supplies are limited at this time because of huge demand (prices of wholesale natural gas have skyrocketed to MANY times the value it was a bit ago). Some of that natural gas is prioritized for heating purposes for homes, for example, which limits how much electricity can be generated by that source.

Controls at the generating stations have had an abnormally high amount of failures today due to not being as winterized as what you would find up North. Peak generation today was 69150 MW, which is a record for the winter in TX, which beat the old winter record by over 2000 MW. Summer capacity is such that the record is somewhere near 125000 MW, BTW. But today 34000 MW went off-line. You did have _some_ loss of wind power due to turbines icing up, but also frozen natural gas line and frozen coal piles as well...

Really good explainer on vox.com:

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/16/22284140/ ... ton-dallas

Thanks for posting some facts here. Others seem to be pointing the finger at some minor farcical issues.

Texas had a similar winter storm in Dec 1989. Why is this one some bad?

Texas population in 1989 was 16.9mm.
Texas population in 2021 is 29.8mm.

Does anyone think that Texas has doubled their energy generation capacity in that same time span?

Texas needs to modernize their power grid. They have 12.9 million new transplants from states like California and New York. These folks are well versed and indoctrinated in the concept of paying your fair share. They can pay their share when their new gas and electric shows up in their mailbox. Hell, if you follow the New York State model you don't even have to call it an increase or a tax. When you get your new bill and you try and decipher how it is broken down you use new fangled terms like "access fees" and "user charges" you can even slip in a bona fide tax increase and just list it under "miscellaneous charges" You can even make a game out of it as the home owner. You calculate how much you pay for your kilowatt usage and your natural usage and then subtract that from the total bill. Then the fun starts, try and figure what the hell else it is you are paying for.

My gas and electric bill is broken down into about a dozen different sub categories of charges and fees. I understand some but other charges are simply a mystery never to be solved. It is better to just pay the bill and keep your mouth shut. Anybody out there know what a miscellaneous fee actually is? Last month on my bill it was a little over 12 dollars. I know, I know... pay up and shut up. Welcome to the party Texas.

[cradleandshoot]

https://www.thenation.com/article/envir ... mate-book/

Bill is just the guy I want on my team if I'm an environmental fruit loop. I have said this a thousand times, it has never been about saving the planet. It is about people understanding they can use or misuse gullible people to make millions and billions of dollars. The green in green energy is more about the color of money than the color of grass.