Flashback: How Texas’ power grid failed in 2021 — and who’s responsible for preventing a repeat

Texas Tribune ^ | Feb 15, 2022 | Mandi Cai, Erin Douglas, Mitchell Ferman

[al baby]

Thats a Psaki switch

[PAR35]

It should be the EUCOT = Electric Unreliability Council of Texas.

As I recall, the problem with the gas was that there is a lot of water in the gas which is separated out before mid-stream transmission. The water in the lines from the wells froze because the power was cut.

Oncor issued me a new smart meter shortly after power was restored. Apparently their attempts to cut my power in the rolling blackouts failed because the meter didn’t cut me off as they wanted.

[ChuckHam]

It was definitely a Fuster Cluck. I hope ERCOT has their act straight now.

[Pres Raygun]

Okay. I am in fact a conservative Christian from Texas. I suffered through the 2021 Snowpocalypse. I also know that the Texas Tribune is not to be trusted even when the tell the truth, because when they do tell the truth they only tell half-truths like this piece does. Yes it is true that when demand exceeded supply during the storm, power was cut to natural gas infrastructure which made things worse. That problem has been addressed since the storm. The real cause of the outage was the state’s over reliance on wind and solar power during a state wide snow storm. ERCOT foolishly had not required wind or solar generating companies to secure backup power generation to make up for the unreliability of wind and solar power, when the turbines were covered in ice and the solar panels covered in snow. During that storm, I monitored ERCOT’s website in real-time and could see daily the failure of wind and solar to supply any electricity to the grid. The Tribune piece does not address this given their obvious bias. I’m particularly tired of Freepers throwing stones at Texas while we are hurting from a natural disaster. Yes our conservative leadership is not above criticism, but bringing up a problem from 3 years ago that appears to be solved does suggest an agenda by the poster.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

It’s so presumptive and just not..fruit of the Spirit..the way you’re writing.

Firstly, this takes the ridiculous blame off of Trump and dispels the notion that somehow pouring money into failed FEMA or even the Weather Service are the answers…

Secondly, why does it why not makw points in a thoughtful way instead of ad hominem presumptions. Trying to discount and dismiss my voice on a public forum and accusing me of having some sinister agenda(?)

I’m from a fire and earthquake prone place so my radar is extra high when it comes to natural disasters and unpacking the state’s role in addressing these realities.

When you think of what our tax money goes to…from funding abortions to who knows what else, it’s high time that partisanship be placed aside as we realize natural disasters do not discriminate and all of our lives are on the line due to poor infrastructure. If basic safety is not within the realm of government jurisdiction, (state, local, AND federal) then really what is its purpose?

[CondoleezzaProtege]

I wonder if engineers can figure out a buffer of some kind for the flash floods? I bet they could!!!!

[Wayne07]

“ERCOT has board members”

Had, not has. All current ERCOT board members are Texas residents, by law.

[Pres Raygun]

I'll admit I could have been more diplomatic. In my opinion there has been an inordinate amount of unfair misinformed criticism of Texas and our conservative leadership regarding the July 4th disaster here on FR. I assumed maybe wrongly that you are either not from Texas or not really a conservative, since you posted a 3 year old story from a far left newspaper, that any conservative Texan would not trust. Further, the story was 3 years old.

So I took TexanKamaAina's criticism to heart and replied to the Tribune's story with substance. Would you please in turn respond to my comments? You could also explain why you posted the story in the first place? You see it just feels like another pot shot at Texas to this Texan.

[Jane Long]

What efforts are you pushing for CALIFORNIA to fix their fire prevention and earthquake safety measures?

Seems like you have your work cut out, in CA, with all of the issues with storms, fires, homeless druggies, etc ....might be best to focus on your state.

[minnesota_bound]

No one has been fired for the brush fires in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire except for the lesbian fire chief who stated that fire trucks and firemen were not dispatched quick enough or that 70+ trucks were in for repair.

The mayor and governor still have jobs and 6 months after the fires only 1 house is being built. Those two are delaying the rebuilding hoping to wait out the owners of the land so tall apt buildings can be built instead of single family homes.