Posted on 02/20/2021 7:44:24 AM PST by madison10
You’re both missing the point.
Yeah, Texas’s weasel guvs caved by having wind widely installed, but the Biden admin stopped the state from cranking up its own traditional sources until too late on this planned disaster.
It was Fed caused, not just some freak of nature or inappropriate wind tech.
Obviously they believed their own global warming sheit
How many tens of billions of dollars is it going to cost to repair all the plumbing and sheetrock damage caused by the blackouts in Texas?
Whatever the “x-year flood” rating is on their storm sewer system ought to be applied to their electrical infrastructure for “x-year freeze”.
I acknowledge that was caused by the federal government, but even if it hadn’t been, those windmills would still have stopped working because of the storm.
All wind turbines in all northern-midwest states have de-icers and cold weather options. They are designed and maintained (lubricants) for reliable operation down to -30F.
We get “100 year storms” every other year and stay nice and toasty.
Texas reaped what it sowed.
That’s what happens when you give Oklahoma people control.
I mean look what Jerry Jones did to the Cowboys..
Yes—and TX could have compensated if allowed to.
They should never have agreed to them to start with—or moved from their own control of their grid.
This state by state comparison is silly.
Not only is the weather different in Texas vice Michigan, it is even a different climate.
Suppose New York or Florida get a Massive earthquake?
Suppose California or Washington State get a major hurricane?
In invasion of Central Americans from Canada into Minnesota?
No rain for a year in Mobile, Alabama?
Enormous wildfires in Maryland and Delaware?
Governments cannot prevent a natural or, in some cases, even a man made disaster.
It all come down to mitigation and then prioritization based on likelihood of a particular threat.
Hurricane damage will always be prioritized higher in Florida than earthquakes, and California vice versa.
Texas could have spent more money on protecting their infrastructure from cold weather, but let’s not ignore this money would be paid by the consumer/taxpayer in the end.
Most of us rightfully would reject government or utility spending a lot on scenarios that are the least likely to occur.
Obviously this is a sliding scale, as the lower-prioritization to winterize has bit Texas in the hiney, but Michigan would be down-right insane NOT to winterize.
From what I hear, everything is bigger in Texas, even the failures.
In my part of Texas home water pipes need to be 12” underground. I have put mine at 18”. However, we are boiling water.
Let us know how you hold up in 105 degree weather.
Solar panels around here are 99% covered in snow, and have been for 2 weeks
And heated windmill blades require pulling power off the grid when the wind isn’t blowing
Yes he did!
When I moved to south of Fort Worth in 90, we had a cold spell. I was in the yard when my neighbor popped out. I said: Beryl, I did not know it got this cold here. He replied, boy don’t you know there are only two fence posts here between you and Canada.
“We’ve been very happy with our wind investments,” Harwood said. “They’ve operated very well for us.
When the birds were polled, their answer was not so much.
I've watched the windmills sprout up over the past decade in mid-Michigan, first near Ithaca, then spreading North to my own summer home back yard in Rosebush.
But windmills in Michigan are designed so that they will work in snow, icing conditions, and extreme cold. I doubt that 10 degree F weather was taken into account when designing windmills in Texas.
We also don't put our water softeners outside of our house in Michigan, but it is often done in Texas.
Probably more resilient than the ones in Hawaii and Arizona too.
When we moved to MO 10 years ago, there were two years of heat waves with temps up around 110 for weeks. Just recently had below zero for two weeks. Not a space heater to be found at walmart right now. Just empty shelves where they sat before being sold out.
Never lost electric though.
Lived in MA for 20 years, hurricane FL for 25 and here for 10. Only time I’ve every been without electric service was due to physical damage to lines.
Never been through a man made outage which is what TX is.
If it got to zero degrees before, it will again.
Wind constitutes 6% of Michigan’s electricity grid as opposed to 28% in Texas. Making up for the loss of wind power would not be as difficult in Michigan as it has become for Texas.
It seems obvious to me that the grid should be able to handle many times more than the available energy....
Why should we only supply enough power for the population instead of having more power available than needed as a backup?
Wind and solar should only be used to augment the grid and not be a viable part of it.
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