An Insider Explains Why Texans Lost Their Power

[mystery-ak]

February 20, 2021
An Insider Explains Why Texans Lost Their Power
By Vic Hughes

How would your family, and a hundred thousand other families, like to be stuck in your cars for days at minus 16 degrees? 

The death toll would be huge.  It almost happened in New England in 1989.

And in Texas this week.

I was part of the 1989 Freeze and have some hopefully interesting insights.

In 1989, the weather just before Christmas was terrible.  Cold temperature records were set from Texas to New England.

That year, I was responsible for a midcontinent gas gathering system that normally produced about 500 million cubic feet (MMCFD) of natural gas a day.  That could supply up to 2 million New England homes.  During the 1989 Freeze, we produced 30 MMCFD, roughly a 95% decline.  Similar results were happening throughout the Oil Patch.  Supply cratered.

Meanwhile, demand for natural gas was exploding, almost literally (more on that below).  While the midcontinent temperatures were low enough to freeze gas wells, New England had dangerous arctic temperatures of minus 16 degrees.  This created huge natural gas demand for home heating in a major New England town.

The city ultimately weathered that crisis through luck.

more
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/an_insider_explains_why_texans_lost_their_power.html

[Cyber Liberty]

A fascinating break down on what the cascade of consequences would look like. 

The author lays the blame on the wind farms and solar banks.  I think it's deeper than that, because the building and licensing of traditionally sourced power plants has been stymied by mindless regulations from the Federal bureaucrats.  Add to that the Opportunity Costs subsidized wind and solar present.  Spending money on those unreliable sources left less money available to build new reliable power plants. 

So, the subsidies can be blamed for some, but not all, of the crises in TX.

[Bigun]

A fascinating break down on what the cascade of consequences would look like. 

The author lays the blame on the wind farms and solar banks.  I think it's deeper than that, because the building and licensing of traditionally sourced power plants has been stymied by mindless regulations from the Federal bureaucrats.  Add to that the Opportunity Costs subsidized wind and solar present.  Spending money on those unreliable sources left less money available to build new reliable power plants. 

So, the subsidies can be blamed for some, but not all, of the crises in TX.

The BLAME falls on the fedgov for thumbing the scales in the Texas market in favor of wind over more traditional methods of generating electricity.

Full story http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,429049.msg2384088.html#msg2384088