Massive winter storm prompts disaster declaration and could stress Texas' electricity grid

[libertybele]

You'd do better to invest in Buddy Heaters, which run on bottled propane. They have a gizmo for em to let em take a barbecue grill size tank... Which means they'll take ANY tank.

The 'Big Buddy' (around 200 bucks) puts out up to 18000 BTU , and comes with safety features.

Stock up a few 20 pound tanks, which you can swap/rotate through your grill anyway, and you're pretty golden for good immediate portable heat.

Winter overlanding, you'll be almost as likely to see that Big Buddy in a tent as you are a wood stove. Very good. Very reliable.

I bought some kind of stove that works with propane, wood or charcoal and it's supposed to be somewhat efficient.  Come to think of it, I haven't seen it since we've moved.  Hopefully it's in the garage somewhere.

Our biggest concern here during hurricane season is flooding.  Our attic is about 9 ft. off the ground in the garage and we put stairs in to easily access it. It has enough of a peak to have standing head room.  We laid boards across to be able to sit and lay down.  We moved off gulf access onto freshwater; but 9 ft. isn't very high if we get storm surge.  We've been lucky...in the 30 years we've been down here, we've experienced a Cat. 4,  but no storm surge. (Knock on wood).

We don't have any kind of a boat or raft...which I've been thinking about getting. 

[Right_in_Virginia]

[roamer_1]

@libertybele

The small sterno stoves are small, inexpensive, and can be used in the house, no need to go outside to a big stove with big gas bottles.

During every hurricane and after until power came back, maybe a week or more, I used the sterno stoves sitting on a kitchen counter.  The Melitta single cup coffee makers were used every day at any time of day.  These items just made living better until "normal" came back.

A can of sterno is about 2500 BTU for about 2 hrs. In below zero temps, that won't heat a pup tent.

A Big Buddy heater - PORTABLE and fine to use inside, is 18000 btu and will comfortably heat 450 ft2 for a couple days tied to a 20 pound tank. It is thermostatically controlled and automatic. Two of them will keep a pretty big house from freezing up... or a small house comfortable

[libertybele]

Something that needs to be ingrained into the liberal mental midget's heads

[roamer_1]

I bought some kind of stove that works with propane, wood or charcoal and it's supposed to be somewhat efficient.  Come to think of it, I haven't seen it since we've moved.  Hopefully it's in the garage somewhere.

I can see where heat would not be a big concern. But what is happening in Texas could happen to you next.

And I have been thinking about that - Folks down there (or your way) ain't ready for cold. It ain't the thing you are used to that will put you in a trick bag... I shake in my boots in a high wind - The most I have ever seen is 80mph, other than a tornado we were caught in once. You'd probably sleep right  through 80mph.

But I DO know cold. If you ain't ready for cold up in here, you're just dead. End of story. Zero temps ain't nothing to sneeze at, especially where houses ain't made for it. I shudder to think of how many broken pipes there will be down there in Texas when this is done.

Of course, the REAL thing would be a wood stove. Even if you never use it but for ambiance and the odd emergency every now and then. A wood stove will get as hot as you let it. you'll never want for heat, providing you have a supply of wood. But a big propane heater, I figger, is a better investment from a prepping position, since most folks have a propane grill... And if you have a grill, you are likely to have the twenty pound tanks laying around to feed it. So I figger it fits better in what folks already have on hand.

For me it's no nevermind. I am already committed to wood, as is natural up here. But I DO have a Big Buddy and a Little Buddy for overlanding... The convenience is hard to beat, and I already have propane on board for the Coleman stove for cooking. Not the same for up in the woods, where my 4 season tent is heated by a small wood stove I pack in on a polk with the tent. I have been pleasantly comfortable in 15 below zero weather in that tent, and the stove ain't anywhere near cherry hot yet.

Our biggest concern here during hurricane season is flooding.  Our attic is about 9 ft. off the ground in the garage and we put stairs in to easily access it. It has enough of a peak to have standing head room.  We laid boards across to be able to sit and lay down.  We moved off gulf access onto freshwater; but 9 ft. isn't very high if we get storm surge.  We've been lucky...in the 30 years we've been down here, we've experienced a Cat. 4,  but no storm surge. (Knock on wood).

We don't have any kind of a boat or raft...which I've been thinking about getting.

Keep an axe up in that attic... or an electric chainsaw... Getting up in there, you'd best have a way to get out... And that is going to be chopping through the gable, or through the roof itself.

I am partial to a jon boat. Flat bottom and squared ends. Nice for up in the potholes and sloughs on the river.

I will never flood where I am. Nor will forest fire get to me. If I lose it will be to heavy snow or high wind.

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1

I prepare to live in the house with safe cooking methods inside the house, and sterno stoves are exactly that.  Outside grills are fallbacks if inside house cooking method is used up.  Never ran out of canned heat, which can be stored inside house, too.

I have an inside heater for heat.  It is a fairly new innovation as it is safe to use in the house with small bottles of fuel.  It also has a warning that goes off if oxygen around it goes down, a signal of fuel leak.  That has never happened as the transfer of fuel from the small bottle is simple.

I do the same with propane,since my overlanding kit is propane anyhow. And you can use propane inside just fine. The thing I have against canned gas is evaporation. To include sterno, which is a waste of time around here. Propane will keep a whole lot longer, and I am more likely to cycle it that I am white gas or the like. Kerosene excepted... It keeps. I also have kerosene heaters and lanterns... but largely the big buddy has replaced the kerosene heater. Just not in the same league.

18000 BTUs and portable is hard to do otherwise.

[thackney]

Our kitchen stove is propane and works without electric power.

Having our on well we also have a 150 gallon surge tank as part of the set up.

There are three other shallow wells on the property but really only good for watering the cows and horses.

[Elderberry]

My jeep runs on propane forklift tanks. Since it feeds liquid propane I use them to refill my small bottles. I also have a hand operated propane transfer pump. My problem with propane tanks and my welding tanks too, is having to recert the dang things.

[Cyber Liberty]

@roamer_1

I prepare to live in the house with safe cooking methods inside the house, and sterno stoves are exactly that.  Outside grills are fallbacks if inside house cooking method is used up.  Never ran out of canned heat, which can be stored inside house, too.

I have an inside heater for heat.  It is a fairly new innovation as it is safe to use in the house with small bottles of fuel.  It also has a warning that goes off if oxygen around it goes down, a signal of fuel leak.  That has never happened as the transfer of fuel from the small bottle is simple.

You have a whole section in your book about keeping your electronics charged....

[Gefn]

@mystery-ak
@Gefn

Denton County 30 miles northwest of Dallas.  Today is Tuesday, 10:30 am central - temp now 7 degrees.  Were at 0 last night.  Wind chill was -30 last night.

We are feeding the birds good birdseed and they are in and out eating all day.  We put the pans with the seed under a table out there so snow would not get into the seed.

Here is why they do not freeze:

 https://www.audubon.org/how-do-birds-cope-cold-winter

I need to get birdseed tomorrow. Mine ran out last week. This time it’s a 25lb bag.

I have a lot of very fat squirrels here. I had chipmunks but they are gone now. I hope they’re hibernating.

I assume birds don’t freeze for the same reason ducks don’t. Lot of fat under the feathers to keep them warm. That is why duck is such a fatty food to cook with, I guess.

[roamer_1]

My jeep runs on propane forklift tanks. Since it feeds liquid propane I use them to refill my small bottles. I also have a hand operated propane transfer pump. My problem with propane tanks and my welding tanks too, is having to recert the dang things.

I ain't much for propane... Other than my overlanding kit, and it's application during emergencies. Up in here, propane is the most expensive form of heat there is. That's what kept me out of it for so long. But it is really hard to beat for overlanding, since I have a whole pickup to lug things around with.

I don't need it much otherwise. But for that, it is king.

[Elderberry]

My propane is mostly for my jeep and small torches and occasionally with a portable stove. I like running the jeep on propane. I have a solar battery charger on it and it always starts right up no matter how long its been since I used it. I also run a metal melting forge on propane until I finish converting it over to waste oil.

[roamer_1]

My jeep runs on propane forklift tanks. Since it feeds liquid propane I use them to refill my small bottles. I also have a hand operated propane transfer pump. My problem with propane tanks and my welding tanks too, is having to recert the dang things.

I tried that for a while. I figured it too much a trouble. I DO have a small hand held propane torch out in the shop, but usually use the oxy/acetylene for most everything, so I just buy those bottles when I need em. Everything else runs off a 20 pounder, and I have a splitter ofr it so I can run the camp stove and the heater at the same time. I don't use any small bottles anymore otherwise.

[Victoria33]

A can of sterno is about 2500 BTU for about 2 hrs. In below zero temps, that won't heat a pup tent.  A Big Buddy heater - PORTABLE and fine to use inside, is 18000 btu and will comfortably heat 450 ft2 for a couple days tied to a 20 pound tank. It is thermostatically controlled and automatic. Two of them will keep a pretty big house from freezing up... or a small house comfortable

@roamer_1

I use the two sterno stoves on the kitchen counter for warming/cooking - not heating.  I used them for warming/cooking food for every hurricane that came for many years.  I still have a house where hurricanes come, not far north of Houston.  I have a friend who takes care of that house so it is okay during this freezing weather.

[Victoria33]

@libertybele
@Cyber Liberty

I use "Safe Heat" cans for the Sterno Stoves to heat food, cook food, instead of the Sterno brand cans.
"Safe Heat" is discussed here:

https://theprovidentprepper.org/canned-heat-safe-fuel-for-indoor-emergency-cooking/

[Bigun]

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Power

[Elderberry]

I have gone thru many a hurricane and I guess I've been lucky as I was only without power once. I was without power for 2 weeks. I cooked on my 2 burner propane stove, my grill, and my smoker. I only had a 2.5kw gen I used, but not for cooking. It was an 1800rpm Onan that worked like a charm.

[libertybele]

I can see where heat would not be a big concern. But what is happening in Texas could happen to you next.

And I have been thinking about that - Folks down there (or your way) ain't ready for cold. It ain't the thing you are used to that will put you in a trick bag... I shake in my boots in a high wind - The most I have ever seen is 80mph, other than a tornado we were caught in once. You'd probably sleep right  through 80mph.

But I DO know cold. If you ain't ready for cold up in here, you're just dead. End of story. Zero temps ain't nothing to sneeze at, especially where houses ain't made for it. I shudder to think of how many broken pipes there will be down there in Texas when this is done.

Of course, the REAL thing would be a wood stove. Even if you never use it but for ambiance and the odd emergency every now and then. A wood stove will get as hot as you let it. you'll never want for heat, providing you have a supply of wood. But a big propane heater, I figger, is a better investment from a prepping position, since most folks have a propane grill... And if you have a grill, you are likely to have the twenty pound tanks laying around to feed it. So I figger it fits better in what folks already have on hand.

For me it's no nevermind. I am already committed to wood, as is natural up here. But I DO have a Big Buddy and a Little Buddy for overlanding... The convenience is hard to beat, and I already have propane on board for the Coleman stove for cooking. Not the same for up in the woods, where my 4 season tent is heated by a small wood stove I pack in on a polk with the tent. I have been pleasantly comfortable in 15 below zero weather in that tent, and the stove ain't anywhere near cherry hot yet.

Keep an axe up in that attic... or an electric chainsaw... Getting up in there, you'd best have a way to get out... And that is going to be chopping through the gable, or through the roof itself.

I am partial to a jon boat. Flat bottom and squared ends. Nice for up in the potholes and sloughs on the river.

I will never flood where I am. Nor will forest fire get to me. If I lose it will be to heavy snow or high wind.

Our house is fairly well insulated -- it dips down into the 30's here and the coldest it's gotten inside the house since we've been here is 72 and we have a 15,000 watt generator and a couple of gas caddies.  So not too worried about power loss.

Thanks for the reminder -- need to remember to put some sort of axe up in that attic. Jon boat would be more durable but we haven't invested in a dock, so really no place to keep it and with our backs, we can't lift.  I was thinking of an inflatable -- I've looked on line and have seen some that will hold small motors --- we'd just need something to keep us afloat for awhile.

[Cyber Liberty]

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Power

"Disgusting" is right. 

[PeteS in CA]

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Power

So it was a mix of bird-choppers that couldn't chop and Biden's Envirocrats not giving prompt (if ever) permission to crank up the fossil-fueled generation plants to the degree that they might exceed the Feds' pollution limits.

[Elderberry]

Spent?

Mine and my daughter's houses are still without power.

[Bigun]

So it was a mix of bird-choppers that couldn't chop and Biden's Envirocrats not giving prompt (if ever) permission to crank up the fossil-fueled generation plants to the degree that they might exceed the Feds' pollution limits.

  That seems to be about the size of it.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

"Disgusting" is right. 

I might be glad it happened if the result is we secede.  The federal government is not a signatory of the pact we signed to enter the USA and instead is an organization created to support the states.

Right now it is turned upside down and the states apparently exist to serve the federal government.

[thackney]

The Disgusting Reason That Millions of Texans Spent The Night Without Power

And the requirement was waived.  This looks like a very misleading article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.

The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution....

[Bigun]

And the requirement was waived.  This looks like a very misleading article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.

The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution....

Because we know Bloomberg news is infallibly accurate.  And why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

[Cyber Liberty]

 

[Bigun]

And the requirement was waived.  This looks like a very misleading article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-15/pollution-limit-waived-for-texas-power-plants-in-emergency-order

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.

The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution....

Because we know Bloomberg news is infallibly accurate.  And why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

[thackney]

Because we know Bloomberg news is infallibly accurate.  And why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

Texas power plants get emergency clearance to crank up output
https://www.gctelegram.com/story/news/2021/02/16/news-briefs/6768852002/

- - - - - - -

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, which is expected to violate anti-pollution rules.

https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/the-grid/texas-plunges-into-electricity-crisis/

How many different sources do you want?

This was not the cause of our power shortage.

[Bigun]

Texas power plants get emergency clearance to crank up output
https://www.gctelegram.com/story/news/2021/02/16/news-briefs/6768852002/

- - - - - - -

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, which is expected to violate anti-pollution rules.

https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/the-grid/texas-plunges-into-electricity-crisis/

How many different sources do you want?

This was not the cause of our power shortage.

And I repeat: Why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

[PeteS in CA]

The DoE order was issued 2/14/2021 at 8:51 PM EST, the same day permission was requested, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2021/02/f82/DOE%20202%28c%29%20Emergency%20Order%20-%20ERCOT%2002.14.2021.pdf .

Who is "tnm.me" that he/she/they/it should be believed?

[thackney]

And I repeat: Why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

#TEXIT

[thackney]

Texas largely relies on natural gas for power. It wasn’t ready for the extreme cold.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Texas largely relies on natural gas — especially during times of high demand — to power the state. From pumping it out of the ground to the plants in city centers, experts say natural gas infrastructure was unprepared for the plunging temperatures brought by the winter storm.

Failures across Texas’ natural gas operations and supply chains due to extreme temperatures are the most significant cause of the power crisis that has left millions of Texans without heat and electricity during the winter storm sweeping the U.S.

From frozen natural gas wells to frozen wind turbines, all sources of power generation have faced difficulties during the winter storm. But Texans largely rely on natural gas for power and heat generation, especially during peak usage, experts said.

Officials for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages most of Texas’ grid, said that the primarily cause of the outages on Tuesday appeared to be the state’s natural gas providers. Many are not designed to withstand such low temperatures on equipment or during production.

By some estimates, nearly half of the state’s natural gas production has screeched to a halt due to the extremely low temperatures, while freezing components at natural gas-fired power plants have forced some operators to shut down....

[Victoria33]

You have a whole section in your book about keeping your electronics charged....

@Cyber Liberty

Yes, my book covers any kind of emergency.
One morning, I got out of bed, picked up a pad and pen and wrote down everything I did that I could not do without power.  Did that all day, then developed the best way to get it done without power.  I researched that and did it for several years during hurricanes, updating as I went when I found better methods to do a job, then wrote the book.  My doctor has the book and says he is coming to my house to live if there is an emergency.

[Elderberry]

I just made morning coffee on my Propane powered stove, Not with Puny Cans of Sterno.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Texas power plants get emergency clearance to crank up output
https://www.gctelegram.com/story/news/2021/02/16/news-briefs/6768852002/

- - - - - - -

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, which is expected to violate anti-pollution rules.

https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/the-grid/texas-plunges-into-electricity-crisis/

How many different sources do you want?

This was not the cause of our power shortage.

Even the WSJ says that wind power supplied 42% of power generation and it was reduced to only 8% due to freezing

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage
How bad energy policy led to rolling blackouts in the freezing Lone Star State.
Why are millions of Americans in the nation’s most energy-rich state without power and heat for days amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short with regard to the power are the private power generation companies,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained. Ah, yes, blame private power companies . . . that are regulated by government.

The Republican sounds like California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who lambasted private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heat wave last summer. Power grids should be able to withstand extreme weather. But in both these bellwether states, state and federal energy policies have created market distortions and reduced grid reliability.

Mr. Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas & coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have descended on most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them while other states did?

The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of wind turbines froze last week, causing wind’s share of electricity to plunge to 8% from 42%.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-political-making-of-a-texas-power-outage-11613518653
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,428905.msg2382147.html#msg2382147

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Something that needs to be ingrained into the liberal mental midget's heads

[Bigun]

Even the WSJ says that wind power supplied 42% of power generation and it was reduced to only 8% due to freezing

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage
How bad energy policy led to rolling blackouts in the freezing Lone Star State.
Why are millions of Americans in the nation’s most energy-rich state without power and heat for days amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short with regard to the power are the private power generation companies,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained. Ah, yes, blame private power companies . . . that are regulated by government.

The Republican sounds like California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who lambasted private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heat wave last summer. Power grids should be able to withstand extreme weather. But in both these bellwether states, state and federal energy policies have created market distortions and reduced grid reliability.

Mr. Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas & coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have descended on most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them while other states did?

The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of wind turbines froze last week, causing wind’s share of electricity to plunge to 8% from 42%.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-political-making-of-a-texas-power-outage-11613518653
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,428905.msg2382147.html#msg2382147

  Farting around with green energy that doesn't work when you really need it instead of focusing on things that have been proven to work has put us in this situation. And all the excuse-making and diversions are not ever going to change that fact!

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Because we know Bloomberg news is infallibly accurate.  And why should we have to ask permission in the first damned place?

We should have never even bothered to.

Let them fine us or whatever unconstitutional thing they wish to do.

Just cements our desire to leave this place.

The federal government is not a signatory to the pact Texas entered into when it came into the Union.  It is a creation to serve the states.

Now it is backwards as the states are demanded to serve the federal government.

Time to end the madness.

[Bigun]

Need a picture of someone washing the bird shit off with a power washer as well. 

[thackney]

Even the WSJ says that wind power supplied 42% of power generation and it was reduced to only 8% due to freezing

That is false.  Wind does not come close to being 42% of Texas electric power.



also:

The blackouts, which have spread from Texas across the Great Plains, have reignited the debate about the reliability of intermittent wind and solar power as the U.S. seeks to accelerate the shift to carbon-free renewable energy. Rolling outages in California last summer were blamed in part on the retirement of gas plants as the state pursued an aggressive clean-energy agenda.

Wind shutdowns accounted for 3.6 to 4.5 gigawatts -- or less than 13% -- of the 30 to 35 gigawatts of total outages, according to Woodfin. That’s in part because wind only comprises 25% of the state’s energy mix this time of year.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/16/nation/why-is-power-out-much-texas-frozen-wind-farms-are-just-small-piece-puzzle/

The Political Making of a Texas Power Outage
How bad energy policy led to rolling blackouts in the freezing Lone Star State.
Why are millions of Americans in the nation’s most energy-rich state without power and heat for days amid extreme winter weather? “The people who have fallen short with regard to the power are the private power generation companies,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott explained. Ah, yes, blame private power companies . . . that are regulated by government.

The Republican sounds like California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who lambasted private utilities for rolling blackouts during a heat wave last summer. Power grids should be able to withstand extreme weather. But in both these bellwether states, state and federal energy policies have created market distortions and reduced grid reliability.

Mr. Abbott blamed his state’s extensive power outages on generators freezing early Monday morning, noting “this includes the natural gas & coal generators.” But frigid temperatures and icy conditions have descended on most of the country. Why couldn’t Texas handle them while other states did?

The problem is Texas’s overreliance on wind power that has left the grid more vulnerable to bad weather. Half of wind turbines froze last week, causing wind’s share of electricity to plunge to 8% from 42%.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-political-making-of-a-texas-power-outage-11613518653
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,428905.msg2382147.html#msg2382147

[XenaLee]

@amuse
@amuse

In other news, there isn't enough water pressure in many Texas cities to fight a house fire because everyone has their faucets dripping. #GreenNewDeal



9:06 AM · Feb 16, 2021·Twitter Web App

Which is exactly why I haven't used my fireplace during this "snowpocalypse".   And call me paranoid... but... I've got the nagging feeling that this is only a precursor of what is yet to come under the 2nd Obamanation.   Especially since Biteme wants to give the ChiComs access to our electric grid now.

[Bigun]

We should have never even bothered to.

Let them fine us or whatever unconstitutional thing they wish to do.

Just cements our desire to leave this place.

The federal government is not a signatory to the pact Texas entered into when it came into the Union.  It is a creation to serve the states.

Now it is backwards as the states are demanded to serve the federal government.

Time to end the madness.

   and  again!

[thackney]

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/are-frozen-wind-turbines-to-blame-for-texas-power-outages/

...But the vast majority of energy the state generates is through natural gas. In October 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that renewables generated 22% of the state’s energy, while gas generated 51.8%.

In ERCOT’s plan for this winter, it expected that thermal and hydro resources, i.e. gas, coal and water, would need to generate 67,000 megawatts per hour during a high demand event to support the state. This didn’t take into account a historic snow storm where demand would increase and supply would be threatened.

On Monday, frozen instruments and a limited gas supply forced 30,000 MW/h of power offline. This was half of what ERCOT believed they would need. According to the agency, wind turbines account for less than 13% of the total generation that was lost. The majority of which was coal and gas....

- - - - - - - - -

Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT Region (SARA)
Winter 2020/2021
http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/197378/SARA-PreliminaryWinter2020-2021.pdf

Operational Resources (thermal and hydro), MW 67,547
Capacity from Private Use Networks, MW 3,631
Coastal Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 1,480
Panhandle Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 1,411
Other Wind, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 3,251
Solar Utility-Scale, Peak Average Capacity Contribution, MW 254

[roamer_1]

Well y'all... Hold on now... It's already lifted up in here... The deep freeze is gone, it's snowing, and soon to turn to rain... we did not go under zero last night, stayed in the teens, and a thaw is coming... And since I am north and west of all y'all, it's coming your way.

[Bigun]

Well y'all... Hold on now... It's already lifted up in here... The deep freeze is gone, it's snowing, and soon to turn to rain... we did not go under zero last night, stayed in the teens, and a thaw is coming... And since I am north and west of all y'all, it's coming your way.

32 degrees and raining here at present. Melting some of the snow that has been on the ground since Sunday night.  God help us if the temp drops now. fortunately, that isn't expected.

[roamer_1]

Which is exactly why I haven't used my fireplace during this "snowpocalypse".

Oh no, darlin... Do not forego the fire.... It's what makes you HOT. 

Nah... I know you make your own hot 24/7. But don't be braggin and denying lesser wimmins.

 

[roamer_1]

32 degrees and raining here at present. Melting some of the snow that has been on the ground since Sunday night.  God help us if the temp drops now. fortunately, that isn't expected.

We will be in the forty's in a day or two ... so big thaw is on the way.

[thackney]

We will be in the forty's in a day or two ... so big thaw is on the way.

We will be in the 70's in a week but two more nights of dipping into the 20's before that happens.

[roamer_1]

We will be in the 70's in a week but two more nights of dipping into the 20's before that happens.

See... Right about now is when I oughta be heading for the Gulf Coast... The Redneck Riviera... I won't see 70's for three more months...

[Cyber Liberty]

Still not saying what the temperatures are here.....