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What Went Wrong With Texas’s Main Electric Grid and Could It Have Been Prevented?
Texas Monthly ^ | Andrea Zelinski

Posted on 02/18/2021 5:06:56 PM PST by beancounter13

After winter storms continued to barrage the state Tuesday night, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the body overseeing the grid that serves 90 percent of the state’s homes, couldn’t offer a timeline for when power for every Texan would be restored. Over the long weekend, the council had advised local utilities to shed energy use with rolling outages in order to maintain the reliability of the electric system after a surge in demand, or otherwise risk uncontrolled blackouts that will take longer to reverse. Some four million homes in the state had been left in the lurch without energy in the bitter cold—many for over fifty hours—and as of Wednesday morning, 2.7 million homes still lacked power.

As Texans have fled for hotels, bunked with friends and family, or, without options, hunkered down in their homes watching pipes burst and the water in toilet bowls freeze, lawmakers have questioned whether the council has mismanaged the response. On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott said the situation was “unacceptable” and called for the council’s leaders to resign. State legislators are now planning to investigate what led energy generation to drop off when Texans needed it most.

To help make sense of what led to ERCOT’s trouble handling this energy crisis, Texas Monthly spoke with Joshua Rhodes, an energy guru—who was also frozen out of his South Austin home and had temporarily relocated to a warm location in Dripping Springs. Rhodes is a founding partner at IdeaSmiths LLC energy consulting firm and a research assistant at the University of Texas at Austin whose work focuses on the area of smart grid and bulk electricity systems. The interview has been edited for clarity.

(Excerpt) Read more at -texasmonthly-com.cdn.ampproject.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Weather
KEYWORDS: ercot; freemarkets; gopstronghold; texaspowergrid
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To: beancounter13

I wonder if Hunter Biden was considered as a board member of ERCOT?


41 posted on 02/18/2021 6:01:36 PM PST by 38special (For real, y'all.)
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To: beancounter13

Ask the managers who do not live in Texas!


42 posted on 02/18/2021 6:02:32 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U
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To: beancounter13

Regardless of the cause there will be political consequences to this. GOPs better get on the ball to fix this problem.


43 posted on 02/18/2021 6:03:50 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: Trump.Deplorable

#1: Texas is FILLED with illegals, using more power and water. We’ve never had so many low temps for so long. But one might ask the managers who don’t even live in Texas.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/ercot-board-vice-chair-texas-cold-power-outage-15953854.php


44 posted on 02/18/2021 6:06:18 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U
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To: freepersup

If you worked during the refueling outages, then you know more than I do. At the same time, the one nuke plant in Texas I have toured is on an 18 month cycle. Like you said, the planning is like clockwork, and it never stops. They start planning the next one as soon as the current one is complete.


45 posted on 02/18/2021 6:06:58 PM PST by beancounter13
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To: beancounter13

“The interviewee references an ERCOT note for the 40% number for wind”

And then contradicts himself a few sentences later.

You can’t say that ‘wind turbines are expected top proved 25 percent and produced half that’ and then also claim ‘40 of the loss is due to the wind turbines not working.

It’s just lying BS to cover for people too stupid or greedy to prepare for the worst-case scenario, being siezed upon by people with an anti-renewable agenda


46 posted on 02/18/2021 6:08:43 PM PST by RedStateRocker ("Never miss a good chance to Shut Up" - Will Rogers)
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To: beancounter13

Very informative article!

Thanks for sharing!


47 posted on 02/18/2021 6:08:47 PM PST by End Times Sentinel (In the conflict between the stone and the stream, the stream will always prevail.)
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To: SecondAmendment

Understood. Having been in the industry for a few years before moving to a new role, I saw lots of good stuff there. That is why I wanted to share it.


48 posted on 02/18/2021 6:08:54 PM PST by beancounter13
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To: tbw2

A search on annual production of coal fired electricity to me to a pdf from NARUC (National Assoc. Regulatory Utility commission?) about coal flexibility white paper.

Starts off with something like “The huge changes seen in the electrical generation industry between 2008 and 2018....” The title is about coal, the photo on the cover is some windmills.

I haven’t waded through the paper, but I’m guessing there will be stuff in there about how the lack of coal (and its flexibility) may affect responses to changes in demand due to weather and other circumstances.


49 posted on 02/18/2021 6:10:46 PM PST by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful!)
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To: Free in Texas; Trump.Deplorable
"Succeed! Oh knoes! Snowflakes, we need federal money now!

Texans talk tough, until it snows"

"If you’re gonna smear us all. use a seine instead of a broad brush. It’s much more efficient."

================================================================

Smearing everyone in a state? That's par for the course around here.

Happens, nearly, daily.

Every Californian deserves whatever bad thing du jour is going on in their state.

Same with New Yorker's and Oregonians and Washingtonians and on and on.

Point is, we ALL have politicians (or people in charge) who are corrupt or do stupid things or don't act appropriately in the interest of their constituents.

Speaking of Texas...look no further than Ted Cruz. What a stupid move, going to cancun while his state is in a deep freeze and people are struggling.
On a tangent, he took whatever wind was in the sails of some in the media and even the (D)'s from talking about the guy in Albany with "blood" on his hands.

Just because some live in localities/states that do more stupid things than others, doesn't mean everyone there is a leftist/communist/hate America type.

Just a general observation meant primarily for the "viewing public."

50 posted on 02/18/2021 6:11:24 PM PST by rxsid (HOW CAN A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN'S STATUS BE "GOVERNED" BY GREAT BRITAIN? - Leo Donofrio (2009))
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To: beancounter13

High five!

I might have errored in saying- a 16 month cycle. I should ask to be corrected more often in my posts. Perhaps a tagline directive is in order?


51 posted on 02/18/2021 6:13:08 PM PST by freepersup (“Those who conceal crimes are preparing to commit new ones.” ~Vuk Draskovic~)
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To: ealgeone

Undoubtedly, I just hope they don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. I still think the Texas Electricity market is the best in the nation. I speak as someone who is familiar with the electricity market in over 28 states.

We truly have a market driven power grid. No one else does.


52 posted on 02/18/2021 6:13:25 PM PST by beancounter13
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To: All

All those factoids in the reporter’s bio reveal that any random irrelevant storehouse of anecdotes can substitute for an actual c.v. — I fell on my ass on the way to school one day in 1962, think maybe I should be the mayor of Houston.


53 posted on 02/18/2021 6:14:46 PM PST by Peter ODonnell (Pray for health, economic recovery, and justice.)
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To: WildHighlander57
You are welcome.

We got one for about $200 (used), it does not do what a whole house generator would but $200 vs $2000? No contest.

Another $200 for battery back up for vital systems and you can pretty much live normally during a black out even an extended one.

A 15lb propane tank will last us for over a week.

54 posted on 02/18/2021 6:19:10 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (May their path be strewn with Legos, may they step on them with bare feet until they repent. )
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To: RedStateRocker

Perhaps. I am more worried about the people screaming, “fix it now”. These people tend not to understand that the electricity market in Texas is about as open and capitalistic as an electricity market can get.

Are we conservatives, or do we want big government to hold our hand?


55 posted on 02/18/2021 6:19:18 PM PST by beancounter13
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To: Ponce de Leon County

True, but in a larger system operator allowing power to be wheeled not only within the ISO’s, but between them. While Texas is big, ERCOT doesn’t have the same geographic distribution or generation versus load or the same ability to import in times of supply disruption.

More important IMHO, is the degree of infrastructure hardening that was in place for outlier cold events. Facilities in the north central plains know they will get this kind of cold, regularly - no brainer to design and spend to make sure stuff works in the conditions.

In Texas - not going to happen as often, actually rarely. So the question is return on investment. Where viewed plant by plant, in ERCOT, maybe not, and their pricing structure didn’t create market signals to do so (such as capacity payments for confirmed weatherized generation assets).

Wind reductions were an issue - but a bigger issue was thermal plants not being able to some on line.

A fair response is that investment in winterizing reliable thermal generation was distorted by by renewable energy incentives distorting market pricing making such investment uneconomical. That is likely the underlying cause.

Green new deal, distorting economics, resulting in failure to invest in critical infrastructure.


56 posted on 02/18/2021 6:20:58 PM PST by !1776!
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To: beancounter13
"...friends and family, or, without options[bucha cheese eating surrender monkeys], hunkered down in their homes watching pipes burst and the water in toilet bowls freeze"

totally unnecessary for those willing to take action.

Are there no shutoff valves and drains. Ways to siphon or pump turlet bowls?

57 posted on 02/18/2021 6:23:01 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: Paladin2

People don’t tend to have those things in Texas. We just do not normally need them.

I have lived in this state all my life, and I can recall having a solid week of subfreezing temps about once every 10 years.

I wouldn’t have the stuff I have if I weren’t a packrat.


58 posted on 02/18/2021 6:32:44 PM PST by beancounter13
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To: McGavin999
"What it tells me is I need to start saving for a generator."

If you do get a generator there are things to know so you don't neglect a good investment. My ignorance caused me to have one that wouldn't start because of my failure to deal with the alcohol in the gas we used to run it. Many don't know that those engine carburetors get messed up due to alcohol in the gasoline. Also, leaving gas in a gas can for a length of time causes it to absorb water and makes it unsuitable to run a gas engine. Pour that gas can in your auto gas tank after a winter season. Always drain out the generator fuel tank and run the engine until all the gas line gasoline is burned up after the winter season.

Those who live in apartment buildings will not have the location to set up a generator. Imagine running an extension cord up to the third floor. Imagine some turkey stealing your expensive 10,000 watt unit while you sleep or shutting it off because the noise is messing up their sleep.

I give this advice because my generator cost me over $150 for a new carburetor because of alcohol mixed gas messed it up.

59 posted on 02/18/2021 6:35:12 PM PST by jonrick46 ( Leftnicks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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To: beancounter13

Demanding accountability from those who screw up, be they in government or private industry, is conservative.

If you have the authority, you have the responsibility for whatever goes wrong on your shift, period.


60 posted on 02/18/2021 6:35:36 PM PST by RedStateRocker ("Never miss a good chance to Shut Up" - Will Rogers)
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