Texas

[EastMT]

How the hell do people further north deal with this kind of weather year after year? It's embarrassing that us in Texas have had such a hard time. I am embarrassed anyway...

No different than people in cold climates dropping dead at 100 deg. Being from AK now in Texas, I resemble this comment.

I was excited that there was a storm, hit the road because the park would be empty, had no idea there would be a gas shortage. We were supposed to go to Carlsbad, but we’re concerned couldn’t get enough gas to get home, so cut it short.


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[Fitzwho]

I’ve been lucky only had one day without water and internet, but have had electricity the whole time and have piped in natural gas so all good on the heat side. Have a coworker that lives a little over half a mile from me that hasn’t had power since Sunday night.

Parents’ power has been on and off a half dozen times usually not on for more than 30 minutes.

Definitely a full fledged Sh_t Show. The roads through my neighborhood are still just packed snow and ice.

 

[Htm84]

How the hell do people further north deal with this kind of weather year after year? It's embarrassing that us in Texas have had such a hard time. I am embarrassed anyway...

 

[Okhotnik]

Ive lived in Texas twice. Great people!c But, I'll take temps in the teens over 5 months of 100 degrees any day. I spent the day ice fishing . It was great

 

[Hondo]

In my area over 1/3 of homes are without electricity and many are without water. Many homes do not have fireplaces and many homeowners that have them do not (know how to) use them.

The roads have been iced over and we are not well equipped to handle that as it is such a rare occurrence and when it does happen it is usually short in duration (1-2 days). Closing down for a day or two every 7-10 years or so has been the fiscally prudent approach taken by local government.

Today the roads were ok for several hours so I shared firewood; food and water with friends and family and got my parents relocated to my sisters house as they have been without power for most of a day.

Grocery stores that are open have lines wrapped around the buiding and gas has run out at many stations. Power and water are still out at our office. Tomorrow should be the last day below with freezing rain and low temps and things should be getting better on Friday.

My wife, son and I have been fine. We are well stocked and have had no power or water interruptions but are prepared for either. My son and I have slept many nights outside in similar conditions so it has really been more of an opportunity to wear some of our mountain gear than any hardship.

My nephew is at the ranch making sure the cattle have hay and water. Another nephew NW of us tried to rescue a near frozen whitetail deer that didn't make it but he did save a struggling blackbuck antelope that is doing well.

My thoughts and prayers are with those that are having a hard time.

 

[Fatcamp]

How the hell do people further north deal with this kind of weather year after year? It's embarrassing that us in Texas have had such a hard time. I am embarrassed anyway...

Just how we live.

Every spring we convince ourselves that winter is "over" and cavort in the sun and the waves. Eventually, it starts to get cool in the evenings, the leaves turn, and doubt creeps in that it might be happening again. Basically, it's an entire half of the country that joins in universal denial every year.

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 17. Gonna go shed hunting with the dog in a light coat, hat and gloves. 30's this weekend will be tshirt weather.

Stay safe folks. It will be over soon.

 

[jmez]

It is just part of life here. Our houses are built for it. We drain pools in the winter. Snow plows keep the roads open.

We haven't had any rolling blackouts where I live.

I don't even wear a coat until it hits single digits. Just a hoody until then.

It is pretty amazing though that something that is just everyday life in one part of the country causes armageddon in another.

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[Mt Al]

How the hell do people further north deal with this kind of weather year after year? It's embarrassing that us in Texas have had such a hard time. I am embarrassed anyway...

You get the prize for most quoted post! No reason to be embarrassed at all, just totally out of the ordinary. Plus, we rarely get ice like that in Montana. We get slippery snow with accidents, but there's nothing like smooth ice to make things go pear shaped in a hurry. We couldn't handle it either.

Texas is an awesome place with mostly awesome people who will adapt and be more ready next time.

 

[Reburn]

The only thing I'm ashamed of is oncor and ercot.

They just posted this an hour ago.
EMERGENCY UPDATE: Yesterday,
@ERCOT_ISO
directed Oncor and other utilities to begin restoring power previously dropped from the electric grid. As a result of the increased generation and stable demand, Oncor has since been able to cease controlled, or rotating, outages.

Ercot dropped the ball bad. And the state legislator. There was a report written in 2011 when something similar happend about how to ensure it wouldnt happen to the system again. 0 items were complete as the govenor and legislator didnt have the appitite to spend lots of $ on the grid for something that happens so infrequently. Thanks Rick Perry. Maybe they will pop their head out now.

It doesnt make sense for counties below the freeze line to have a bunch of snowplows and winter equipment sitting for years at a time for a once every 10 years storm. I bet its another 5 years before we see any snow again here in the Austin area.

Its been bad for alot of people me included loosing power for so long. Some areas still dont have power or didnt late last night. Its been a real shitshow. I got power back yesterday afternoon and have kept it all night.

I'm just glad I got to use some of that expensive cold weather kuiu that I so infrequently use here. My wife and I stayed pretty warm despite a house in the high 40's.

 

[Reburn]

If your not familiar with the deregulation of the power industry in Texas you should brush up on it why ONCOR is still partially responsible as the electric distributor and ERCOT as the managing goverment authority on making sure the power plants are up to snuff. ERCOT dropped the ball badly. Resignations are being called for. Especially the 5 board members that arent Texas natives.

5 ERCOT board members don’t live in Texas, one from Canada

As millions of Texans are still without power, Texas lawmakers and the governor are demanding answers after ERCOT activated the state’s Energy Emergency Alerts. The first alert happened at 12…

www.kxan.com

Article about how they dropped the ball.

ERCOT Didn't Conduct On-Site Inspections of Power Plants to Verify Winter Preparedness

Three days into a life-threatening crisis where millions of Texans remain without power during persistent sub-freezing temperatures, the people in charge of the state’s power grid still can’t say when power will be restored statewide.

www.nbcdfw.com

 

[Laelkhunter]

Radio station I was listening to this morning (they are based out of Houston), said that three coal firing electric plants had been shut down in Texas (not sure when), in favor of the "clean energy" wind turbines and solar panels, both of which quit working. SO no electricity being generated, SO someone has to go without to allow electricity to be supplied to necessary customers (Hospitals,etc)

 

[Matt mi]

Crazy thing is people up here in north and South Dakota are having rolling black outs to save power down there. When it’s 32 below doesn’t take long to mess stuff up. Didn’t get above 0 for four days here. Crazy how stuff way down there affects way up here

Isnt Texas on their own power grid ,not connected to the rest of country?

 

[cuerro viejo]

The only thing I'm ashamed of is oncor and ercot.

They just posted this an hour ago.
EMERGENCY UPDATE: Yesterday,
@ERCOT_ISO
directed Oncor and other utilities to begin restoring power previously dropped from the electric grid. As a result of the increased generation and stable demand, Oncor has since been able to cease controlled, or rotating, outages.

Ercot dropped the ball bad. And the state legislator. There was a report written in 2011 when something similar happend about how to ensure it wouldnt happen to the system again. 0 items were complete as the govenor and legislator didnt have the appitite to spend lots of $ on the grid for something that happens so infrequently. Thanks Rick Perry. Maybe they will pop their head out now.

It doesnt make sense for counties below the freeze line to have a bunch of snowplows and winter equipment sitting for years at a time for a once every 10 years storm. I bet its another 5 years before we see any snow again here in the Austin area.

Its been bad for alot of people me included loosing power for so long. Some areas still dont have power or didnt late last night. Its been a real shitshow. I got power back yesterday afternoon and have kept it all night.

I'm just glad I got to use some of that expensive cold weather kuiu that I so infrequently use here. My wife and I stayed pretty warm despite a house in the high 40's.

Outside of two generations going down for not being insulated, biggest thing was bottleneck in infrastructure in terms of getting NG from field to plant.

I have a feeling we learned a lesson in what it means to be the nations leader in wind, and second in the world. Those wind turbine lease checks aren't so attractive now

If we would of spent same money on NG Infrastructure as we had solar and wind infrastructure we wouldn't of been in this mess.

Mean time we are still burning off NG.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Isnt Texas on their own power grid ,not connected to the rest of country?

Yes, it's except panhandle and a tiny silver of east Texas.

 

[Reburn]

Outside of two generations going down for not being insulated, biggest thing was bottleneck in infrastructure in terms of getting NG from field to plant.

I have a feeling we learned a lesson in what it means to be the nations leader in wind, and second in the world. Those wind turbine lease checks aren't so attractive now

If we would of spent same money on NG Infrastructure as we had solar and wind infrastructure we wouldn't of been in this mess.

Mean time we are still burning off NG.

I talked to one of my friends one time about the logistics of getting all the flare gas from oil wells into a distribution pipeline and it made my head hurt.

I still think renewable energy like wind is the direction that Texas should push but NG is going to continue to be a staple for a long while.

 

[Marbles]

I hope everyone down there comes through ok.

Radio station I was listening to this morning (they are based out of Houston), said that three coal firing electric plants had been shut down in Texas (not sure when), in favor of the "clean energy" wind turbines and solar panels, both of which quit working. SO no electricity being generated, SO someone has to go without to allow electricity to be supplied to necessary customers (Hospitals,etc)

Wind works fine in northern states (Alaska uses wind farms year round), the issue is TX did not spend the money to winterize the wind mills. TX has the same issue with natural gas as the valves and gauges froze. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Wind has its issues, but blaming it in this case does nothing more than insure the diverse array of problems that lead to this are never addressed to score political points.

Another question to ask, are TX consumers willing to pay the added cost to winterize the power grid? This storm will be a fading memory in a year, but an extra $20-50 on a power bill will be fresh in everyone's mind with a monthly reminder.

 

[Reburn]

I hope everyone down there comes through ok.


Wind works fine in northern states (Alaska uses wind farms year round), the issue is TX did not spend the money to winterize the wind mills. TX has the same issue with natural gas as the valves and gauges froze. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/

Wind has its issues, but blaming it in this case does nothing more than insure the diverse array of problems that lead to this are never addressed to score political points.

Another question to ask, are TX consumers willing to pay the added cost to winterize the power grid? This storm will be a fading memory in a year, but an extra $20-50 on a power bill will be fresh in everyone's mind with a monthly reminder.

Wind is good. However the wind farms going down wasnt the majority of the problem. As a life long Texan I feel wind is still good and we still need to be pushing for renewable enegry sources. Its hard though when everyone demand cheap reliable clean power. That is a oxymoron. Those things dont go hand in hand. Diveristiy is key.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Marbles, not sure if they were blaming the wind turbines, but the fact that most are pushing to go to "clean green energy", and do away with gas and oil, especially in Texas has it's drawbacks.
Kinda like buying an electric car to avoid polluting the air with combustible by-products, but the plant that makes the batteries produce tons of pollution, and the coal fired electric plants are needed to recharge the car once you get home.

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

Wind is good. However the wind farms going down wasnt the majority of the problem. As a life long Texan I feel wind is still good and we still need to be pushing for renewable enegry sources. Its hard though when everyone demand cheap reliable clean power. That is a oxymoron. Those things dont go hand in hand. Diveristiy is key.

Yeah I really love what those windmills do for the overall experience of being out in mother nature. I REALLY love seeing the thousands of them sit idle for most of the year in the panhandle and west texas.

My favorite thought is when the technology becomes obsolete and we get those beautiful monuments to stare at for the rest of eternity. Hey, at least everyone in the city gets to feel good about all that renewable energy being produced in their 500 SF apartment stacked on top of each other by the thousands.

 

[Pk_in_Dallas]

I’m going to look into one of those natural gas powered generators that powers the whole house when electricity goes out. My mom and dad have one and it has been used 3 times in the past year since being installed. I think they are about $10k installed.


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