This simple paperwork blunder left Texans cold during the deadly freeze

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by Jay Root, Eric Dexheimer, Jeremy Blackman 3/17/2021

When Texas lawmakers met last month to begin sifting through the wreckage of the state’s energy grid, many expected to hear tales of poorly insulated power plants rendered inoperable by the latest winter storm.

Instead, energy executives raised an even more confounding problem: dozens of natural gas facilities had not filled out a three-page application for outage exemptions before the storm, meaning their facilities lost power at a moment when their fuel was needed most to feed struggling power plants.

“We had basically people calling saying hey, turn a power plant back on, or turn a gas processor back on, and it’s like, it’s too late,” said Curtis Morgan, CEO of Vistra Corp., whose subsidiary, Luminant, is the state’s largest power generator. “You can’t do it when you’re in the middle of it.”

Oncor scrambled to flip power on to more than 150 gas facilities in the Permian Basin after receiving urgent calls from the Public Utility Commission that gas providers needed their power restored, said Allen Nye, chief executive of Texas’s largest electricity delivery company.

The problem, Morgan and Nye said, was that unlike hospitals, 911 call centers and fire stations, many gas production plants had never been identified as “critical” facilities, a designation that could have shielded them from outages during emergencies.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Simple-paperwork-blunder-Texans-cold-winter-storm-16032163.php

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Is the PUC the new Keystone Cops?

[thackney]

dozens of natural gas facilities had not filled out a three-page application for outage exemptions

No way anyone at the utility company is going to know you are an essential service and have a priority on power unless you bother to tell them.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

No way anyone at the utility company is going to know you are an essential service and have a priority on power unless you bother to tell them.

Then how did the PUC know to do this?

Oncor scrambled to flip power on to more than 150 gas facilities in the Permian Basin after receiving urgent calls from the Public Utility Commission that gas providers needed their power restored, said Allen Nye, chief executive of Texas’s largest electricity delivery company.

[Cyber Liberty]

No way anyone at the utility company is going to know you are an essential service and have a priority on power unless you bother to tell them.

So you know they didn't ask, and it's therefore the fault of the gas refiners?  Ok.

[Victoria33]

So you know they didn't ask, and it's therefore the fault of the gas refiners?  Ok.

@Cyber Liberty

My friend, explain this:
While power and water was out all around us, we did not lose power or water.  I found out it was because we are connected somehow with the Fire Department/Police Department.  So, if power and water is "out", why did we still have it?  Why the the Fire Dept. and Police Dept. still have it if it was out?

[Cyber Liberty]

@Cyber Liberty

My friend, explain this:
While power and water was out all around us, we did not lose power or water.  I found out it was because we are connected somehow with the Fire Department/Police Department.  So, if power and water is "out", why did we still have it?  Why the the Fire Dept. and Police Dept. still have it if it was out?

I'd assume that's because they are qualified "essential services."  Everything up the chain for power generation should probably also be considered "essential," because when they fail it can bring down even the Hospitals.

[Victoria33]

I'd assume that's because they are qualified "essential services."  Everything up the chain for power generation should probably also be considered "essential," because when they fail it can bring down even the Hospitals.

@Cyber Liberty

You brought up "hospitals".  In Texas, hospitals must have a heavy duty backup generator or generators, to provide power to the hospital for several days.  So, Ike hurricane came through Montgomery County and every hurricane that comes in at Galveston, goes through Montgomery County.  We know it is going to happen.  There was no power in the county.  The hospital generator or generators, did not come on and would not come on and there were no "fixers" available; they were in their houses staying alive.  After Ike died down and people could go outside, all seriously ill patients were put in ambulances and driven to San Antonio hospitals.  "Critical" patients were flown to San Antonio.

No matter how one tries, death from hurricanes happen and we in Texas have been shown this time,  extreme cold can stop power and water and people die. 

[thackney]

Then how did the PUC know to do this?

Oncor scrambled to flip power on to more than 150 gas facilities in the Permian Basin after receiving urgent calls from the Public Utility Commission that gas providers needed their power restored, said Allen Nye, chief executive of Texas’s largest electricity delivery company.

Probably from earlier frantic phone calls to everyone they could reach.

The PUC does not maintain a list of essential load services.  They have no direct control over operational circuits.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Probably from earlier frantic phone calls to everyone they could reach.

The PUC does not maintain a list of essential load services.  They have no direct control over operational circuits.

No one ever said they have control of operations.

What their charge is is to understand the interdynamics of the power energy sector and to provide guidance to how it should be best tactically and strategically planned and operated for the betterment of Texans.  That includes reliability issues.

It is the same as the government of Texas.  We elect governors, etc. not to control our lives but to provide an entity to understand broad issues covering many aspects of the state of Texas and to provide guidance on how we can best manage our affairs for the betterment of all Texans.