There’s a saying in the lone star state “Don’t Mess with Texas” which actually started out as an anti-littering campaign but has become sort of a slogan for the rugged, no-nonsense way of life that people have there. Now with dead wind turbines littering the state, the focus on deploying unreliable renewable energy in the name of “saving the planet” has literally “messed with Texas” in a huge way.
Ice storms knocked out nearly half the wind-power generating capacity of Texas on Sunday as a massive deep freeze across the state locked up wind turbine generators, creating an electricity generation crisis.
Wind generation ranks as the second-largest source of energy in Texas, accounting for 23% of state power supplies last year, behind natural gas, which represented 45%, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) figures.
ERCOT reports today the spot price for electricity in Texas is currently a stunning $9000 per MegaWatt-hour. Even in the high demand summer months, $100 per MW-hr would be high.
At the same time the freezing temperatures were driving electricity demand to record levels, ERCOT reported while calling on consumers and businesses to reduce their electricity use as much as possible Sunday, Feb. 14 through Tuesday, Feb. 16.
“We are experiencing record-breaking electric demand due to the extreme cold temperatures that have gripped Texas,” said ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness. “At the same time, we are dealing with higher-than-normal generation outages due to frozen wind turbines and limited natural gas supplies available to generating units. We are asking Texans to take some simple, safe steps to lower their energy use during this time.”
Source: http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225151
A graphic provided by ERCOT shows the huge gap between electricity supply and demand today:
Capacity is expected to fall short of demand by as much as 20,000 megawatts today, while the National Weather Service in Dallas predicts record low temperatures between -6° F to 3° F for Monday night.
A map from poweroutage.us is showing the scope of power outages in Texas shows that about 75% of the state is experiencing power outages in varying percentages with a significant portion having no power at all:
At the moment, ERCOT is placing rolling power outages in effect to prevent a complete collapse of the power grid saying:
“ERCOT has issued an EEA level 3 because electric demand is very high right now, and supplies can’t keep up. Reserves have dropped below 1,000 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes; as a result, ERCOT has ordered transmission companies to reduce demand on the system.
This is typically done through rotating outages, which are controlled, temporary interruptions of electric service. This type of demand reduction is only used as a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole.”
Source: http://www.ercot.com/eea_info/show/26464
It is sad and ironic that in a state known for its huge petroleum and natural gas resources, the lack of reliability of wind power has brought the state to its knees in a time of crisis, not unlike that which California experienced in 2020 during record heat where wind and solar power could not keep up with demand and was near collapse.
The folly of chasing renewable energy as a means of mitigating “climate change” is making itself abundantly clear today in Texas. When will politicians wake up and realize that renewable energy almost always equates to unreliable energy?
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Its all DJT ‘s fault
😉
How many times have I told you, we need heating mechanisms on the bearings and in the blades
/sarc
What kind of inspection will have to occur on all of those turbines? Freezing will break wires, bearings, switches…etc. Yow !!!
What? This question is part of the problem with the Internet. The temperatures Texas is experiencing are not that cold, just cold for Texas. Most homes in southern states like Florida, Texas, Alabama don’t have central heating but instead rely on electric heat. When a cold snap comes in electricity use goes up. Freezing will not break wires, bearings or switches in the turbines. This is just poor power management. Power companies shut down coal power plants because of politics when they should have kept them operational as a back up plan. California did the same thing with their natural gas peak power plants and now they are paying the price.
Charlie, that’s some VERY interesting revisionist history ya got there. Were you in the U.S. when emperor Obozo pushed his EPA to decree (yep) that CO2 was a pollutant, and ORDERED all electric utilities in the country either undertake a massive program to make coal plants comply with the new ultra-low CO2 emission standards or **shut them down.**?
. . .You claim electrical shortages are just due to “poor power management,” cunningly ignoring the fact that it’s the idiot politicians pandering to sociology majors who demand we cut CO2 emissions because supposedly “95% of all scientists agree” that a) the planet is warming; b) at an unprecedented and dangerous rate; c) that the primary or overriding cause is CO2; and d) not just any CO2, but CO2 produced by human activity.
. . .Fire the idiot politicians and staffers and we’ll have plenty of electricity, and the planet will be just fine, thanks.
sf44, I agree with most of what you said, except it wasn’t Obozo who made CO2 a “pollutant”, it was George W. Bush.
You know, I used to think that GWB was a pretty good president until DJT came along and showed what a REAL leader could do…
You youngsters missed out on Reagan. Reagan was Trump with a magic way of making libtards understand the truth.
I didn’t realize W was still in office in Dec 2009 when the EPA declared CO2 A pollutant. I learn something every day. 0 said he was going to bankrupt the coal industry while campaigning in 2008.
You are an apologist for the id10t politicians who have pushed the “green renewable” philosophy.
just wondering why all the media are reporting that coal and nuclear shut down ? is there any reason why they would be unable to operate because of the cold ? what is the reality ?
The reality is politics. DFW local news is reporting wind generation failure is a very small part of the problem and at the same time reporting it provides 25% of our power.
During the cold snaps, you have people who have non electric primary heat – Not so much oil in Texas, but lots of propane and natural gas. The only electricity needed for these sources of heat is the igniter.
OTOH, during the summer months, there is no alternative to A/C except doing without. Non Texans don’t understand the scale of the 1-2 months of 100+ heat, and sure, it’s a dry heat, but it’s a dehydrating heat too.
So power consumption in warmer and hotter months should be significantly higher.
Longer hours of darkness during the winter thus increased power usage for lighting across the board, Residential, Commercial, Civil.
It’s not a dry heat unless you’re west of the panhandle. So 100° + heat with humidity is insufferable without some form of cooling.
As a new arrival to the south, having grown up in Minnesota where everyone had a gas furnace, I’m amazed at the number of people here who reject gas furnaces and water heaters. They’re apparently afraid of gas explosions or exhaust poisoning.
What , obviously you don’t live in Florida , homes that have central air have central heating,
When, in reality, it’s mostly George Bush’s and junior’s fault.
Sr. was a true Establishment RINO. Both men’s fault’s were wanting to be liked by Democrats who had nothing but poorly hidden contempt for them. That craven abdication of moral duty led them to cave to Democrat’s specious demands.
The media and Democrats hated Trump because he never caved to them.
They also hated him because he was the only public figure to openly question Barry Sotero’s life story.
Hillary Clinton STARTED all of that skepticism, then the tan fool made it much more topical with his secretiveness and insufferable arrogance !!!
The very definition of Cuckservative; looking left for approval.
“Both men’s fault’s were wanting to be liked by Democrats who had nothing but poorly hidden contempt for them.”
That is correct and it is a problem that many Washington DC Beltway politicians have.
It’s understandable: The Leftwing Media controls the national narrative and sets the premise, so they can hurt politicians very badly if they so desire. Look at what they did to Trump.
So Republican Beltway politicians start out at a disadvatage since the Leftwing Media is opposed to them, so these Republicans try to do things that will get them in the good graces of the Leftwing Media which is basically to agree with the Leftwing Media narrative. This is a tactic Republican politicians use to try to fly under the radar of the Leftwing Media.
Mitt Romney would be a good example of a Republican who defers to the Leftwing Media narrative.
It used to irritate the heck out of me when the Leftwing Media would lie about George W. Bush, and make him look bad, and Bush would never push back on them. He just let their lies stand.
Of course, if he had fought back, they would have treated him just as harshly as they treated Trump, and Bush knew that and wanted no part of it even if it mean letting leftwing liars tell their lies without rebuting them.
That’s one reason I like Trump so much. He showed the Leftwing Media for what they are: A bunch of partisan, political, dangerous liars. So dangerous they have managed to put a traitor and a criminal back in the Oval Office.
The single best line ever: fake news. We should be calling Wind fake energy.
I’m pretty sure that wanting to be like by Dems has nothing to do with RINOs. There is no Democrat and Republican Party for the most part, there are people that want to do what is best for the nation and then there are Globalists, the Bushes fall into the later.
Democrats do whatever they want, and Republicans do whatever democrats tell them to do.
Yes, if Bush, Jr. was smart, he would have followed Clinton’s policy to profit and sustain Iraq War 1.0. Instead, he ended the war, brought those culpable to justice. Then Obama opened Iraq War 2.0 (from Tripoli to Kiev), wars without borders, transnational terrorism, and [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform, and, of course, normalized the Green Blight, an unreliable solution, an environmental hazard in laundered, renewable greenbacks.
“Instead, he ended the war, brought those culpable to justice”
Oahhhwhuuutt history have you been following??!??
Bush Jr ended the tyranny on the Iraqi civilians called “Saddam Hussein.” He swung from a rope. While too many US and allies lives died to make that happen… it did need to happen.
I have this conjecture about human history…. in the US old West of the 19th Century, and of in general human history, … many men who needed to die die by the hand of another man with a Colt, they did and the world was a better place.
Just like today we enjoy the benefits of coyote, wolf, and cougar elimination in the wild by men with rifles 100-60 years ago. Sadly, IMO… not enough of that happens today. Both man and beast.
The imbalance that today’s mores have created cannot last.
Saddam Hussein never did anything to me. He could have ruled in Iraq for one years and I would not have given a damn. George W, aka the idiot, took us into that disaster that cost 5000 American lives and 2 trillion of my USA tax dollars. For nothing. You can be the world’s hero with your own money and blood.
But Halliburton made out like bandits. That makes it OK, right?
I;ll bet his Ranch isn’t without power and BTW where are the Feds. Where is FEMA? The governor declared a state of emergency and then followed that with a declaration of disaster. Bitme declared Texas a Federal disaster area, Yet I have heard nothing about any Federal assistance going into the state. Not even machinery for clearing the roads, NOTHING
The Bush’s will have a big beautiful fossil fuel gobbling generator in an outbuilding with a substantial supply of fuel nearby.👍😎
Warren Buffet
I blame Elon Musk
Yup. Temperatures cold enough to freeze turbine lubricating oil and snow covering solar panels clearly result from Trump’s dumping the Paris accords, since we all know that global warming causes frigid and icy conditions in Texas.
Just as predicted by IPCC since 1990.
Not!
Sorry guys Thought the SARC tag was a given
It was a given. Sure all replies knew you were not serious.
I peruse articles here but don’t always go through the comments.I understood your comment to be sarcasm.
18 below in NE and the windmills were turning. I think it was the ice in TX.
Ice or no the problem was depending on 30,000 mw from wind and getting754. This corrupted long and short term planning.
Lets finally realize for every me of renewable we need on of nuke of fossil.
Amen nuclear at the county level. Small reactors that can. Be controlled.
Cold, ice and windchill.
Dallas:
Tuesday: High of 18°, low of -2°
I blame Tony Romo.
He dropped the snowball!
Was Al Gore planning on visiting TX?
Wasn’t it T. Boone Pickens who went nuclear (pardon the pun) pushing wind power in TX?
No. The wind power disaster started in the mid 90s with Enron. They wanted to harvest the tax credits. Boone came later.
Meanwhile, in OK:
https://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-activates-national-guard-temperatures-132402487.html
Back to the future!
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt activated the National Guard to keep people safe, as temperatures in Oklahoma City are expected to plummet to levels not seen in more than 100 years.
The weather system is moving into the Midwest and Northeast, causing major problems on the roads. Texas is now in a state of emergency after some areas saw their first snowfall in almost six years, and the coldest temperatures in decades…
Oklahoma is also breaking records, with temperatures below 20 degrees for five straight days — the third time ever in the history of the state.
Why is it so windy in Texas? Because Oklahoma sucks 🙂
Only in the southern part of the state. In the northern part OK blows and it is Nebraska that sucks, which is why KS is so windy of course. 😉
Oklahoma, like everyone, loves to be the center of attention. Thanks so much! 🙂
Texas Deploys National Guard As ‘Grid Chaos’ Leaves Millions Freezing In Darkness
“The Southwest Power Pool (SSP), which manages the electric grid and wholesale power market for the central US, including Kansas, Oklahoma, portions of New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming, and Nebraska, released an update Monday afternoon saying 17 states have “curtailed energy usage to balance supply and demand.”
If you want to see what the Southwest power pool is doing, go to this site http://pricecontourmap.spp.org/pricecontourmap/
Large portions of northern Mexico, especially the areas next to the Texas border have been without power since this mess started. They use natural gas for power, and get their gas from Texas.
Homes down there are not as well built as homes in the US.
It’s forecast to be -15F in OKC, tonight.
Oh, joy.
Did Global Warm and GHG cause record cold in 1921?
Same then as now, ie natural cycles.
Excuse me jumping in the middle, but newsmax is now reporting that 14 states, part of an energy pool that includes Texas, are now ordering rolling blackouts due to significant shortfalls in the electric grid. Temperatures below zero, snow piling up, who you gonna call? Try AOC and the Green Weenie crowd just for laughs?
Sorry ron I meant to be SARC
Unprecedented!
If CACA were scientific, the hypothesis would yet again be falsified. But it was born falsified, the predictions of Arrhenius and Callendar having been shown false, and falling GASTA for 32 years, 1945-72, having been observed under rising CO2.
To be accurate, Arrhenius never predicted global warming. He was concerned about global cooling and conjectured (posh word for guessed) that increasing the CO2 level might prevent the next glacial period from coming. He later worked out that no, it wouldn’t.
Nope. He did predict global warming from more CO2, but greatly overestimated climate sensitivity. He later reduced his guess, but it was still too high.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2005/jun/30/climatechange.climatechangeenvironment2
However, he rightly considered AGW beneficial rather than dangerous.
CO2 greenhouse effect is cancelled by negative feedbacks ignored by IPCC …
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348369922
Yes indeed. Water provides the best negative feedback and is ignored. In fact the IPCC reckons it provides a positive feedback!!🤯😱
There is a magic figure of around 30C temperature which stems from the Antoine temperature V vapour pressure graph. This coupled with the Latent Heat generated at constant temperature and the buoyancy of the resulting vapor/gas ensures that the oceans never get much above this 30C in spite of millions of years of relentless solar radiation.
I want to know who threw the “C” into the mix, making AGW only about “catastrophic” warming. I believe that alone has equivocated the argument tremendously, offering up some validity to AGW. Personally, I believe the human contribution to climate is not only unmeasurable, it’s insignificant. We’re the proverbial mouse apologizing for stepping on the elephant’s toe.
CAGW is the theory, or hypothesis.
Alarmists hate for it to be called CAGW.
When the catastrophic predictions failed and continue to fail, their theory fails. And that is what has happened and is happening. That is why they hate to call it CAGW.
So they make up a non scientific term for their hypothesis and call it ” Climate Change”
This completely avoids their failed theory. The warming is at best 1/3 of their predictions, and the C is MIA. All they really have is AG something. So they insist on CC, which for the 5 billion years of planet earth has always happened. They now claim every storm, every drought, every heat wave, every tide surge, proof of Climate Change.
Insist that they call it CAGW, and prove a global increase in tornadoes hurricanes cyclones, droughts, floods, etc… They can’t, because it is not happening. The W is weak and likely to vanish, and the C is completely missing. Without the C there is no cause to political action.
Yes, I know all of that and much, much more, having followed the ever bouncing ball since the majority (consensus) firmly held that we were causing an acceleration back to the ice age. I understand why they’re now equivocating with the use of “climate change”, rather than AGW because an appeal to ambiguity is unfalsifiable.
Yes, I agree that using CAGW was a good and perhaps necessary rebuttal to AGW, when they insisted on including unsupportable “catastrophist” claims. They did an end run around AGW completely with “climate change”. They use it in the same way Miss. America always included “world peace”. It’s a war of language usage. Science hasn’t had anything to do with the discussion for over a decade.
We must win using the same method the Left use … language. They’ve been relying on nonexistent science, imagined data, silly models, lying. fraud and liberal use of logical fallacies. There IS no “global climate”. Average temperatures are nonsense, especially when the areas warming the fastest [sic] also have the least data … (more interpolation). We’ve been trying to beat fantasy with science and failing badly. We’re trying to apply logic to their irrationality.
Of course there’s “climate change”. Change is the default condition of a coupled, non-linear chaotic system. We may even be contributing some small unmeasurable component, but we’re one of hundreds of variables all working together, buffering each other to produce a remarkably stable system, in geological terms.
It’s time to change the message and stop being luke warm.
30 GW offline in TX due to frequency issues
There is no energy pool that includes Texas. Texas has a separate grid. I do agree that AOC and the Green New Deal crowd are likely to propose a solution that is hilariously stupid.
WonkotheSane, Newsmax refers to the 14 states, including Texas, as the “Southwest Power Pool”.. I personally have no idea, other than it’s very cold tonight and 14 states have rolling blackouts.
The key word is “portions,’ @WonkotheSane. SPP does include a chunk of the Texas Panhandle and another chunk over on the northeast side of the State. (Another chunk on the east is under the MISO pool.)
Approximately 90% of Texas population is served by our own power grid that is not connected to the rest of the US. It is the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). In far west Texas and in some of east Texas the population is served by utilities connected to the rest of the country. ERCOT exists in part to avoid burdensome federal regulations imposed under the pretext of interstate commerce.
90% of Texas is its own grid. I think this is by population, but it could be by electrical usage.
People are moving into their cars!
Now what will happen when we have to have electric cars….and…this happens.
If people were smart they would have already had a 12V inverter in their car’s trunk. That way they can connect it to their car’s battery and use it to power an extension cord that can power some LED lights and even a small heater.
I have two cars and in one trunk I have a 600W inverter and in the other trunk I have an 800W inverter. You just have to start up your car every hour or so depending on the load, or just keep it idling. You can use your car like a generator.
I’ve also got a back up gas generator and I make sure to store several big jerry cans of gas.
But then again I’m a prepper and I’ve been doing this for years, but it still pisses me off seeing people die for something that is so easily dealt with by a tiny bit of foresight.
AOC thinks that the Green New Deal will prevent problems like Texas is experiencing. Unbelievable. https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1361903282667589634?s=20
I think someone shot JR.
When George Orwell wrote “Animal Farm” he chose the windmill to represent the boondoggles that oppressive governments promote in order to create an appearance of progress
Everyone seems to look at Orwell’s ‘1984’, yet in many ways ‘Animal Farm’ is a far better model for non socialist governments toying with collectivism, globalism and progressivism. It’s the precursor to full socialist collapse.
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
He should be impeached.
lol
only because he didnt halt ALL of the greenpowerscams
Such a deep thinker you are.
AS deep as any brainwashed closet dwelling mushroom eating media dung while sitting in the dark.
TOLD YOU SO 19 YEARS AGO.
In 2002, co-authors Dr Sallie Baliunas, Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian, Dr Tim Patterson, Paleoclimatologist, Carleton U, Ottawa and Allan MacRae, P.Eng. (now retired), McGill, Queens, U of Alberta, wrote:
http://www.friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/KyotoAPEGA2002REV1.pdf
1. “Climate science does not support the theory of catastrophic human-made global warming – the alleged warming crisis does not exist.”
2. “The ultimate agenda of pro-Kyoto advocates is to eliminate fossil fuels, but this would result in a catastrophic shortfall in global energy supply – the wasteful, inefficient energy solutions proposed by Kyoto advocates simply cannot replace fossil fuels.”
Allan MacRae published in the Calgary Herald on September 1, 2002:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/polar-sea-ice-changes-are-having-a-net-cooling-effect-on-the-climate/#comment-63579
3. “If [as we believe] solar activity is the main driver of surface temperature rather than CO2, we should begin the next cooling period by 2020 to 2030.”
Allan MacRae modified his global cooling prediction in 2013:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/02/study-predicts-the-sun-is-headed-for-a-dalton-like-solar-minimum-around-2050/#comment-1147149
3a. “I suggest global cooling starts by 2020 or sooner. Bundle up.”
_____________________________________
This open letter was written in 2013, after Britain invested in too much wind power, but before Texans “blew their brains out”. SSDD.
“Wind power – it doesn’t just blow, it sucks!”
AN OPEN LETTER TO BARONESS VERMA
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/10/31/blind-faith-in-climate-models/#comment-1130954[excerpt]
So here is my real concern:
IF THE SUN DOES INDEED DRIVE TEMPERATURE, AS I SUSPECT, BARONESS VERMA, THEN YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HOUSE MAY HAVE BREWED THE PERFECT STORM.
You are claiming that global cooling will NOT happen, AND you have crippled your energy systems with excessive reliance on ineffective grid-connected “green energy” schemes.
I suggest that global cooling probably WILL happen within the next decade or sooner, and Britain will get colder.
I also suggest that the IPCC and the Met Office have NO track record of successful prediction (or “projection”) of global temperature and thus have no scientific credibility.
I suggest that Winter deaths will increase in the UK as cooling progresses.
I suggest that Excess Winter Mortality, the British rate of which is about double the rate in the Scandinavian countries, should provide an estimate of this unfolding tragedy.
As always in these matters, I hope to be wrong. These are not numbers, they are real people, who “loved and were loved”.
Best regards to all, Allan MacRae
Turning and tuning in the widening gyre,
the falcon cannot hear the falconer…
– Yeats
When do they seek federal bailout? Send Gina McCarthy up the pole.
Where is Griff to explain this for us?
When intelligent people predicted this would happen, griff claimed it wouldn’t. After it did happen, griff seems to be cowering in his mum’s basement. Don’t fret, griff will be back spewing his same misinformation and outright lies after he (incorrectly) comes to believe that we all forgot how very wrong he has been.
Griff is a paid troll for the CCP, he will surely pipe up at some point.
Maybe his pipes are frozen?
Griff! He got blacked out.Lol.
Griff will return to claim the blackouts never happened.
Bloomberg is reporting that the wind freeze up was only a “small part” of the problem. Got to defend the company line somehow. Griff most likely adopts that company line.
Well, it could be considered a small part of the problem. The big part of the problem is they did not build back-up ng power plants to ensure reliability. Of course, the economics of building both wind turbines and ng power plants would be insane – which means they should have simply built ng plants and avoided all the problems.
Correct jtom… build one system that works 24-7-365 instead of two part-time systems that are both maximally inefficient
Most of the rest of the media is ignoring the roll played by wind and solar altogether.
Yup. The media are blaming natural gas for failing to meet the demand gap led by collapse of renewable energy… and the cold itself is caused by Global Warming from CO2…
The House always wins.
The NYTimes also claims that the wind power freeze up amounts to only a 5GW loss of power… otherwise they’re blaming fossil fuels (natural gas) for failing to meet demand; and also global warming for causing cold temperature records set a century ago (when CO2 levels were barely higher than pre-idustrial levels)
He’s likely hors do combat due to a power blackout. He’ll return to explain our errors when his power comes back on.
On the other Texas power thread, he’s busy pretending that there is nothing unusual about rolling blackouts, so you can’t blame renewable power for this mess.
Now now, Resource Guy, you can’t use that word. You have to say controlled, temporary interruption of electric service.
Who?
…so you can’t blame unreliable, intermittent energy for this mess.
There, fixed it for you!
For sane people, rolling blackouts means a flaw in the network. For Grifters and supporters of renewables (but I repeat myself), it’s a feature.
Griff would say Berkeley Earth has proven this wrong.
Basically EVERYTHING griff “says”
is provably WRONG.
The Griffter? Isn’t he working for the Lincoln Project now!? If not, he should be!
Was -18 F for four hours this morning and -16 for two.
When the 45 F thaw arrives on Friday damage will manifest.
How deep do they bury water mains in Texas? If your water pipes are only a foot or so deep, they could freeze after a week of sub zero F temperatures.
Folks in Texas probably aren’t used to frost heaving. That’s a treat. Depending on how Texans do building foundations that could be a problem.
There’s all kinds of fun a prolonged sub zero F freezing spell can cause if you aren’t ready for it.
I haven’t heard of any exploding trees yet, which is actually surprising.
Not very deep: “(2) Depth of cover. The minimum depth of cover shall be 30 inches, but not less than 18 inches below the pavement structure for crossings.”
https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=T&app=9&p_dir=F&p_rloc=169413&p_tloc=14995&p_ploc=1&pg=2&p_tac=&ti=43&pt=1&ch=21&rl=40
Actually, given how much of TX is on prairie soil which expands and contracts when it rains, we’re familiar.
You mean like this?
Years ago I lived about 50 miles north of Houston. A house was built next to me. All they did was scrape off the grass and some of the topsoil and pour a slab. No foundation and no stem wall. Water supply line came out of the ground outside before going into the house. Houston’s low last night was 16 degrees F. Not good.
Slab foundations are good. If it’s about 18 inches deep and reinforced on clay, it has more concrete than most foundations
Well, yes and no. Conventionally reinforced slab foundations are much thicker than post-tensioned slab foundations. It is in fact the thinner p-t slabs that are better for clay locations.
And clay is terrible. It is an expansive soil, so you’re not getting any reinforcement from clay strata.
A raft foundation is perfect for these conditions as it will homogeneously move with the ground heave and the building won’t crack. So long as there is a expansion / contraction connection of water and sewer all will be fine.
The “raft” foundation is perfectly good as long as soil movement is homogeneous. I’ve seen too many structures where soil characteristics were not sufficiently uniform, and within 10 years there were serious, irreparable structural problems.
I did notice that many house slabs were post tensioned with cables after the pouring of the slab.
The water services. Are still out side Though?
They used to be. I don’t know about current practices.
An easy fix is an insulated doghouse with an incandescent bulb inside. Or if it gets really cold you can put a halogen bulb in, but be careful!
I wonder if this will become more common with the PDO and AMO cooling at the same time.
Bingo! and with multi-cycle solar minimum
That really is the $60 trillion question! One can always hope that Mother Nature will slap the idiots upside the head, but I doubt their religious dogma equips them to deal with reality!
U.S; Congress will have a rationalization and solution to this. Somebody ask them. Oh by the way skies are also heavily clouded over.
The ERCOT being entirely within Texas means its outside Federal regulation, its for Texas to sort out. The answer for wind turbines not being reliable enough is straightforward
Skies are heavily clouded over? Shades of S. Frederick Singer!
Granddaughter made this snow angel in San Antonio this morning.
Another success story.
Just weeks into Obama’s presidency he had already stopped sea levels from rising.
Just weeks into Biden’s presidency he has already stopped global warming.
If making the lights go out in Texas doesn’t deserve a Nobel Peace Prize nowadays, I don’t know what does.
Just substitute Texas for Georgia:
https://youtu.be/K-qK7oVXVRQ
ht/ Vicki Lawrence
It’s not great for drilling either.
CL=F 60.20 0.73 1.23% : Crude Oil – Yahoo Finance
The evolution of the energy market. Evolution? I prefer intelligent design!
Clever and a Darwin award for the turkeys who done it
ERCOT = Electric Reliability Council of Texas. They’re currently saying that promised blackouts of 45 minutes will be much longer..
They need to change their name–they are not reliable.
They’re going to have to take that “Reliability” out of their name. That does not describe them properly.
What fo I see? I see the warmist whackos and the federal government setting the stage for a major problem as the states begin closing dispatchable fossil fuel power generation plants. Kalifornia got by last summer by “borrowing” power from other states. That won’t continue as rate payers begin to rebel about paying for investments to “help out” neighboring states. It is going to become a state vs state competition to manage their own state wide grids.
The only way to maintain a reliable grid will be a multi-state compact approved by all state legislator assemblies and governors along with a multi-state PUC whereby all ratepayers in the compact pay the same rate for electricity and the infrastructure to support it.
I hope I live to see the land fights about where solar fields and windmill farms are located in these kinds of compacts. I expect Kalifornia and New Yuk will have a hard time getting partners!
Sorry, but multi state compacts are unconstitutional. Refer to Article I section 10.
Unless approved by Congress.
See BPA and TVA.
Multi-state compacts describes most of the energy utilities.
In New York’s case, it is international compacts as they work with Canada’s utilities.
Are “Trade agreements” between multi-states unconstitutional ?
“…State- by- state… their own power grids.”
That’s defines a large part of Texas’ problem. The Texas psyche has historically nursed the “we can secede if things don’t go our way” myth, which has led them to build their own grid infrastructure, unconnected to the rest of the world, save for some inadequate interconnects.. There is a very limited amount of power which can be drawn from out of state sources.
Those sources are themselves strained by the same Winter storm as Texas so can offer little help.
Yes. Because its within Texas its outside the Federal regulation, thats deliberate
“The Texas psyche has historically nursed the “we can secede if things don’t go our way” myth”
I would say it’s too early to declare they can’t be successful.
I would also say it is too early for Texas to try to find out. We have a long way to go before we get to the pulling out of the Union stage.
States and their regulated utilities already do that. No need for a multi-state compact.
You’re right. This isn’t just a Texas problem, but will manifest at some point, wherever the same circumstances occur.
Yikes! Those prices are starting to make the California/Enron/Duke debacle of 20 years ago look cheap. The really bad part for the Texans is a lot of them probably have all electric homes.
Ice may be the culprit this time, but there are presumably many periods when it is simply a large High/Low pressure system sitting on top of the wrong part of Texas that does the job.
Don’t let the renewable zealots get away with claiming that this is a rare event.
Where are the Clean Coal Power Plants? http://www.SidelGlobal.com
What an unfolding disaster in frozen Texas. Don’t look to the federal government for any solution because they are all-in on CAGW and the switch to the Green Weenie. Biden could not even read the teleprompter at his recent Pentagon speech, so the Greenies should be about ready for their next phase. I think the red states need to find ways to take care of themselves, for instance guarantee a company electric sales/consumption at a cost for so many years and the company builds a nuclear power station for free..
I hear Disney is rushing the animatronic Beijing Joe Xiden to completion. They need something to tide over the gap while Camellah works on improving her ability to speak to the public without making everyone angry or apathetic. They say she should be ready in about 10 years!
Like Obama & Biden, she’ll be acceptable if she can read and stick to the script. If she can’t, still no problem, just end live appearances & record everything then edit/CGE to acceptability.
Reminds me of the movie “The President’s Analyst” with James Coburn. Of course in the late 60s they couldn’t conceive of the Democrats selling us out to the CCP, so the villain in the movies was the phone company.
Komerade,
Hollywood still won’t admit that they and the DemoKKKrats are owned by the ChiComs; doesn’t mean it isn’t true, though!
Are you related to People’s Cube or is that last name just a coincidence?
Better leave some taps dribbling. You never know where there is a pipe outside the insulation.
Many years ago when my husband was new from NZ and UK, we came home from -30C family Christmas to the water not running. It was late, the kids were cranky and the day had begun with the Volvo not starting before an 9h drive. He wanted to go to bed but I made him cut a hole in the wall in the new basement bathroom and blow down with a hair dryer until, thankfully the water ran. A near escape.
The was meant for Robert of Texas below.
Build a power station for free? How’s that supposed to work?
SCANA and Santee Cooper wasted $9b trying to build a pair of new reactors before pulling the plug three years ago. They still haven’t sorted out the mess.
Don’t call it a blackout. Call it an unintended consequence of federal tax subsidies.
“Who could have known?”
The Gore Effect meets the Ed Markey Effect.
As a JP Morgan analyst put it (as one of the triggers for a new commodities supercycle starting this year)
“Unintended consequences of environmental policies and their friction with physical constraints related to energy consumption and production.”
The great irony for the foolish greenies is that all their restrictions on pipelines + fossil fuel production, investment, and financing will be making their enemies (Big Oil, OPEC+) very rich over the next 10-15 years. Existing assets will essentially have a monopoly.
Big Hydrocarbon + CCP = Demise of western democratic republics.
“blackout” is racist.
ROFL yes we probably need to call it “shortage of electrons in transmission lines” in future.
Wheee,,,it is so much fun to live under the consequences of STUPID decisions made by AGW believing bureaucrats. But they have their favorite green engineers to listen to who tell them everything is fine…
My daughter’s house was hit by a rolling blackout early this morning – only going to last 15 to 40 minutes they aid. 3+ hours later she is still without power and now packing to come over here. I still have power and have an emergency heater stove that run’s on propane.
Somewhere around half of the wind turbines are frozen. The others are producing at somewhere around half their capacity. So while their nameplate capacity looks impressive, when it came time to deliver we are getting about 25% of that.
Completely predictable, they have been warned over and over we need to be building more base-load capacity, but there just isn’t enough free-money in doing that. Instead, they are telling us we need to turn everything off and turn down the thermostats some more – so it’s the consumer’s fault, not because of poor planning.
Robert – Great response. ERCOT is nothing more than a normal bureaucracy which thinks it knows more than it does…
Actually, Texas total nameplate capacity is 30,000 MW, which means they are getting less than 10% of what they paid a lot for.
Update: Daughter has now been without power for almost two days – they got it on once for almost two hours and then for less than 5 minutes. It got down to -1F at my house last night. They are keeping their animals as warm as possible near the good old wood burning fireplace. I am donating all the wood I have to the cause but wood is getting scarce around here.
Meanwhile ERCOT is announcing they have no real idea of how long these outages will continue. At least they have stopped calling them “rolling blackouts”. They are trying desperately to blame everything they can except themselves for allowing 23% of our electric power to be intermittent, unreliable, and fragile. People also forget the hundreds of miles of new electric grid needed to reach these wind turbines, also making the entire grid more likely to fail in an ice or wind storm.
Town water systems are starting have failures where they have no power to keep water moving through pipes. People have been advised to store emergency water in case the water system fails. I am beginning to feel like I moved to California and no one told me.
This is all so incredible seeing as how hundreds if not thousands of people on this very site were not warning the public about unreliable energy sources during an emergency event. Government is promising to look into things “once the crisis is over” but they won’t. Too much money being made by Wind companies getting subsidies and promised they can sell all the energy they produce even when it isn’t needed (they just shut down fossil fuel driven energy production raising the costs for those).
But you are saving the planet 🙂
There are people knowing it better 😀
Un-Greening: Mexico gives up on renewables, revives coal industry
Occasional shock is good to the system, at least people who run it might learn the lesson. If they don’t do, well you are Texans and know what to do.
Many years ago in the town of Lubbock I threw a cola can in a wrong trash bin. A polite law officer with his hand on his gun made me fish it out and correct my error. Or, has Texas gone woke since?
The “hand on the gun” was a bit over the top, even for Texas. But unfortunately, even Texas has gone a bit soft these days.
Coming from the UK certainly it was, but afterwards I thought might be because I was physically larger and a bit younger.than the police officer. Suffice to say, I did apologise both before and after I followed his order. In the UK police officers whatever size, are smartly turned out, but this one certainly was not. It crossed my mind to take a photo (since camera was hanging from my neck) but I thought I better not.
There are still an awful lot of ‘Yes Sir’, ‘Yes Ma’am’ and general polite courtesies when speaking face to face with folks in Texas. And a awful lot of people who actively, if not necessarily openly, carry.
After living almost a decade in an open carry state I feel VERY uncomfortable when I go back to Kommifornia to visit friends and family! There is something unnerving now about being unarmed in high crime regions like the SF Bay Area, but I try to bear up under the pressure!
They won’t even let me carry a Bowie knife of a machete, although I hear the latter is allowable if you are an MS-13 member in good standing!
Living in an open carry state where one county sheriff tried to REQUIRE firearm ownership, I can tell you that hand on hilt is often just an exclamation point or emphasis on the conversation. Of course, it also tends to make the convertsation short and VERYpolite!
It’s also a comfortable hand rest when your arm gets tired. I use it all the time when I’m out birding or hiking or varmint hunting!
Thanks, number of good points there, I suppose for a longer serving officer it may become habitual whenever addressing a stranger.
Those are very good points which I had not thought of. I’ve only been carrying for about 6 months, but mostly concealed, so I’ve not picked up that habit. But I can see that in some circumstances, it might be a good way to send the message that you are not to be taken lightly.
$9/kWh
“Renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels!”
At that price, charging your Tesla would cost up to $900. If you don’t mind the fact that it’s also causing your neighbors to potentially freeze to death.
Sadly, this won’t be enough to change much. Many more trillions will be spent and many more will have to die at the hands of Greta Gore & Co. before the world wakes up to reality.
I wish what you said was hyperbole, but unfortunately it’s not. I can hardly watch the news these days because it’s so depressing.
I dont see the world waking up, this is not driven by the populace they are being pulled along by governments on behalf of the banking and multinational corporate elite, like a line of duck, quack quack toys on a string.
The reality does not matter our governments are doing what they are told by the globalist capitalists.
The REAL question is WHY ?
I just hope the number of Commifornians moving to Texas hasn’t reached critical mass yet!
An uncontrolled chain reaction of libtard morons could destroy the great state of Texas and scatter these extreme hazardous particles far and wide! Some of them might even land in MY neighborhood! I wouldn’t want to spend years and years cleaning up the mess, and exposure has been shown to lead to imbecility and insanity!
At some point, people refuse to freeze.
Funny how cold is always a “snap” while heat is a “wave”.
Being off the grid is probably more reliable than being on the grid.
Cold tongue from La Nina now extends across the whole Pacific ocean
https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/anomaly/
La Nina is sticking her cold tongue directly at Washington DC!
What could that mean?