“said the primary cause of the outages Tuesday appeared to be the state’s natural gas providers”
I believe them, but the gas doesn’t freeze. The extraction or distribution equipment must have been crippled by the cold. I’d like the power guys to explain why that happened. If you’re moving natural gas you have a heat source right next to all of the equipment.
Did any of Texas’s water distribution equipment freeze up?
Psaki’s remark illuminated nothing.
“I’d like the power guys to explain why that happened.”
Click the links in posts 12 and 59.
That’s correct. In the oilfield we call them ‘Heater Treaters’ and put them next to the natural gas compressors.
NYT: The bulk of the power loss in Texas came from natural gas suppliers, according to regulators, as pipelines froze, making it difficult for plants to get the fuel they needed. Production from coal and nuclear plants dropped as well. A similar phenomenon played out in Kansas and other states. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/climate/texas-blackouts-disinformation.html -----------------------------
ERCOT, February 17, 2021: The efforts came despite the fact that the burning of fossil fuels — which causes climate change by releasing vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere — is helping to drive the phenomenon of increasingly dangerous hurricanes and other storms, as well as unusual weather patterns.
As of 9 a.m., approximately 46,000 MW of generation has been forced off the system during this extreme winter weather event. Of that, 28,000 MW is thermal and 18,000 MW is wind and solar. - http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225369
BBC: when critics pointed to a loss of nearly half of Texas's wind-energy capacity as a result of frozen turbines, they failed to point out double that amount was being lost from gas and other non-renewable supplies such as coal and nuclear.
Texas has promoted the development of wind energy over the past 15 years. And on average, renewable energy sources - mostly wind - account for about 20% of its energy supply. But the largest proportion comes from fossil fuels, as well as 10% from nuclear. - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-56085733