Blackouts Cascade Beyond Texas in Deepening Power Crisis

[Sorensen]

Cold which normally stays trapped at the poles, but hasn't been because warming has weakened the polar vortex making cold snaps like this far more likely occurrences.

Hella, these are super fun cus they ruin my vacations in national parks.

[Elegiac]

Hella, these are super fun cus they ruin my vacations in national parks.

Cool, do you think they're as fun for the people freezing to death because their state governments haven't put in adequate infrastructure to deal with more frequent cold snaps?

[Sorensen]

WTF are you talking about?
The main language of Texas is not even remotely Spanish. It's by far the biggest 2nd language but 100% not the main. You are not making any sense at all. The climates are also not the same.

The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain, but the rain in texas falls mainly in the east which it why it is much more forested.

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Cool, do you think they're as fun for the people freezing to death because their state governments haven't put in adequate infrastructure to deal with more frequent cold snaps?

Like I said, will events like this actually wake up governments to do something. I highly doubt it.

[Elegiac]

Like I said, will events like this actually wake up governments to do something. I highly doubt it.

What has this to do with voicing sociopathic opinions like:

Hella, these are super fun cus they ruin my vacations in national parks.

Got some real Sharon Stone energy here.

[Sorensen]

Not with Ted Cruz running the state...

Saw a post from a KS senator with an essay on why green energy is wrong because these blackouts. These people need to not be in government I have more and more trouble understanding how these people get into and stay in power.

[Biglog]

There was a rare arctic blast through the US that has extended more south than usual, giving Texas the rare cold weather and snow. But this is the coldest in 10 years there even the OP mentions. So to me this seems much more like an isolated event than something requiring mass infrastructure changes nationally. In the Midwest we have storms that knock out power for days sometimes, it's not rare. But you don't reinvent the wheel for it either. I would hope that construction builders in Texas would at least account for the possibility of ice. Texas isn't immune to it and every single time one of these rare cold events happen there it's treated as apocalyptic for that reason.

I do think climate change is real and not helping with natural disasters, but that's a whole 1000 page thread in itself. As far as power, wind turbines in most of the country including the Southwest and Midwest where most turbines are still turn just fine in the winter. And natural gas is so plentiful in the US that we've been exporting it for years (remember fracking?), so don't let energy companies scare you about a shortage. Every winter gas prices increase somewhat simply as part of supply and demand, like any resource. Energy is actually very relatively cheap now compared to historic rates.

[Sorensen]

This is a national issue, not just something affecting Texas. And Cruz doesn’t run shit. Soooooo...

But people who think like him and support him do.

[Edge-]

Hopefully this makes Abbott and the Legislature eat a big 'ol slice of humble pie and stop being such insufferable shitdicks and "threatening" to secede and shit.

So it seems like the blackouts aren't actually rolling but are like...just blackouts that are lasting pretty much all day in sub-freezing temperatures? That's bad like...real bad. I hope this serves as a wake-up call to the Legislature to address this issue that keeps cropping up, it's getting normal folks fuckin killed.

[Sorensen]

Really? I was under the impression the Dems control everything on a national level. The fuck elections did you follow this past year?

The ones in texas where Republicans still win often and push the kinds of ideas that land us with horrible black out in large portions of the state. Those elections.

[Sorensen]

And, as my post began, this is a national issue. It’s something the federal government needs to address due to national security concerns. What does the leadership of Texas have to do with the federal government acting on our infrastructure concerns?

Because the electrical gris currently is not a national federally controlled issue. It's a regional state issue.

[Edge-]

And, as my post began, this is a national issue. It’s something the federal government needs to address due to national security concerns. What does the leadership of Texas have to do with the federal government acting on our infrastructure concerns?

Because it's a Texas issue, and I don't think the federal government can just come in out of the blue and say, "We're upgrading your power infrastructure for you."? I imagine that's legally questionable territory, or at least comes with huge amounts of red tape.

Also, why would the US writ-large be subsidizing this shit, especially in a state that was threatening to secede (again) not a few short weeks ago? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping them with it and all but like...they've gotta want it, first.

[Rasulis]

There was a rare arctic blast through the US that has extended more south than usual, giving Texas the rare cold weather and snow. But this is the coldest in 10 years there even the OP mentions. So to me this seems much more like an isolated event than something requiring mass infrastructure changes nationally. In the Midwest we have storms that knock out power for days sometimes, it's not rare. But you don't reinvent the wheel for it either. I would hope that construction builders in Texas would at least account for the possibility of ice. Texas isn't immune to it and every single time one of these rare cold events happen there it's treated as apocalyptic for that reason.

I do think climate change is real and not helping with natural disasters, but that's a whole 1000 page thread in itself. As far as power, wind turbines in most of the country including the Southwest and Midwest where most turbines are still turn just fine in the winter. And natural gas is so plentiful in the US that we've been exporting it for years (remember fracking?), so don't let energy companies scare you about a shortage. Every winter gas prices increase somewhat simply as part of supply and demand, like any resource. Energy is actually very relatively cheap now compared to historic rates.

Newer homes yes. I worked on several development projects in TX, and insulation against heat will work just as well against cold. Older homes with older water pipes and less insulation will probably have problems. There will be a lot of broken water pipelines this week - water expands when it freezes. The one thing that I don't recall seeing in the TX building code is protection against frost heave. We are probably going to see a lot of broken slabs, sewer & water lines, and cracked swimming pools. There is a reason why you don't see a lot in-ground swimming pools in the Midwest. Then you have the downed power lines from the weight of the ice and blown transformer. I am not sure if TX DOT design their pavement section to deal with frost heave either. Cities along the Gulf Coast with shallow groundwater will have a lot of problem.

I am not an expert in wind turbines design. However, around 2010 - 2012, we provided foundation design and inspection for the installation of hundreds of wind turbines across Illinois. We were installing those turbines even when we had 2 - 3 feet of snow on the ground. Yes, they were working in freezing condition.

[Mihalik]

No because the main language is spanish in both places Spain and texas can handle extreme cold vs extreme snow the same way.

About 60% of Spain has a climate much like that the southern US. Even the bits that are colder rarely see any snowfall.

Take your head of your ass.

It doesn't matter what you're comparing, Spain with Texas or Germany with New York.

The comparison stands.

[cubby]

Want evidence? Here’s an article from bloomberg outlining how much of the nation is currently experiencing issues because of shit infrastructure and the weather.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...outs-amid-cold

14 out of 50 states.

And just watch as the GOP shits all over Biden's major infrastructure initiative later this year.

[Edge-]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-s-power-woes

Just to hopefully head this off - no, it's not the fault of renewables. They plan for lower solar/wind power during the winter and expect decreased production, and that's not the issue -

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.

While wind can sometimes produce as much as 60% of total electricity in Texas, the resource tends to ebb in the winter, so the grid operator typically assumes that the turbines will generate only about 19% to 43% of their maximum output.

Even so, wind generation has actually exceeded the grid operator’s daily forecast through the weekend. Solar power has been slightly below forecast Monday.

“The performance of wind and solar is way down the list among the smaller factors in the disaster that we’re facing,” Daniel Cohan, associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University, said in an interview. Blaming renewables for the blackouts “is really a red herring.”

It's other problems -

The main factors: Frozen instruments at natural gas, coal and even nuclear facilities, as well as limited supplies of natural gas, he said. “Natural gas pressure” in particular is one reason power is coming back slower than expected Tuesday, added Woodfin.

“We’ve had some issues with pretty much every kind of generating capacity in the course of this multi-day event,” he said.

[Shadowferal]

If they're shutting down refineries then they got issues unrelated to alternatives.

[Rasulis]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-s-power-woes

Just to hopefully head this off - no, it's not the fault of renewables. They plan for lower solar/wind power during the winter and expect decreased production, and that's not the issue -



It's other problems -

My wife is from Illinois and my son live in Fithian, IL. They have wind turbines all over the place. Those turbines worked through some pretty bad snow storms without a hitch. I am not sure why some of the wind turbines in TX stopped working.

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If they're shutting down refineries then they got issues unrelated to alternatives.

Yeah. Issues with most of the pipelines at those plants are above ground and not protected from frost. A lot of their valves are probably not working either.

[Zan15]

This is why my area is having rolling blackouts.

But will this wake up congress to the work the grid actually needs?

Probs not.

Nah they were too busy over the summer blaming this kind of thing on "liberal policies" in CA.
congress won't do shit because it would require republicans to help out those evil liberal states.

You just have to look at good old Teddy "the cuck" Cruz reaction to CA power problems.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...r-15953893.php

California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.
Biden/Harris/AOC want to make CA’s failed energy policy the standard nationwide.
Hope you don’t like air conditioning!

“Some angry Lefty actor thinks California is the only place that has Summer. It’s hot everywhere – try Texas every summertime – but the rest of the country doesn’t have such a dysfunctional state govt that you can’t turn the lights on or run A/C. That’s a policy failure of the Dems.”

Alexa, show me what happens when you let Democrats control energy policy.

and my personal fav

Texas Luring Jobs Away From California With Promises Of Electricity

Oh sweet sweet Karma has been having one hell of a run over the last year.

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Because the electrical gris currently is not a national federally controlled issue. It's a regional state issue.

well technically most of the grid is federally regulated because its interstate.
Texas is unique since it "was" not interstate till they started having problems a decade or two ago. they have interconnecting now with the other grids so they could have forced federal oversight and control on the transmission lines.

That is the reason why Texas has their own controlled Grid, they didn't want the Feds involved and regulating. Now they want the feds help. lol. Maybe they should have built more interconnecting routes instead of being so petty and cheap

[Endus]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-s-power-woes

Just to hopefully head this off - no, it's not the fault of renewables. They plan for lower solar/wind power during the winter and expect decreased production, and that's not the issue -

It's other problems -

Also, cold doesn't really affect PV solar's effectiveness that much. Sure, if the panels are flat enough snow collects on them, that's a problem, but the cold itself? Nah. They work off light, not heat. It's the "photo" part of "photovoltaic", not "thermovoltaic'.

Renewables like windmills and PV solar also allow for distributed generation; if lines go down between you and the main plant, renewables like this might provide enough juice to keep your grid live, or at least change it to a brownout rather than blackout scenario. If you've got enough investment, at least.

[Stormspellz]

Southeast TX resident here:

The main culprit is absolutely shit infrastructure. I'm talking about transformers dying on a nice sunny day and killing power to large swathes of the city for a couple days.

Neither Centerpoint nor Entergy have any drive to ameliorate things, even though the past 3 years keep having worse and worse issues.

why would they when they bribe donate to the correct republicans