mike from st pete
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How do folks in North Korea survive?
It's Official: Texas has achieved Third-World Status
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Texans, any help coming from outside the state?
According to my niece who lives in the Dallas area, FEMA has arrived.
My daughter who lives in Austin didn't mention anything about that, but they are under a boil water order. Oddly, she has heat, electricity, Internet, but no hot water. She lives in an apartment complex, so my guess is that hot water comes from a central boiler system in each building and that is off line for some reason.
I think she has electric heat, but again I'm not sure.
My daughter who lives in Austin didn't mention anything about that, but they are under a boil water order. Oddly, she has heat, electricity, Internet, but no hot water. She lives in an apartment complex, so my guess is that hot water comes from a central boiler system in each building and that is off line for some reason.
I think she has electric heat, but again I'm not sure.
all wing, no cargo
some do, some don't
FEMA is supposed to be bring diesel generators, food, blankets, water, to Texas. The article I read had no details about where or when items would be delivered.
Since it will be in the upper 60s by the beginning of next week is much of Texas, things should normalize fairly quickly.
Despite the weather my shipment of premium cigars from Austin arrived Wednesday.
Since it will be in the upper 60s by the beginning of next week is much of Texas, things should normalize fairly quickly.
Despite the weather my shipment of premium cigars from Austin arrived Wednesday.
OP
I'd like them to bring ammo.
JDBoardman
US Veteran
I would suspect that a band of third-graders could do a better job than our over-paid and under-experienced ERCOT wienies have done.
As I see it, one of the biggest problems facing our energy sector (and our society in general) is an over-reliance on academic "qualifications" and an under-reliance on actual hands -on experiernce. One of my regular tasks when I was working for the utility was escorting the new crew of college graduates through and around the power plant. The number of times I saw (and cringed) as one would be walking along, oblivious to his/her surroundings with their hand on a steam line was shocking. Now they may be well up there in smarts. but they have no experience (and the way you gain experience is making, or watching other people making, mistakes). We would hire a 21-year-old college graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering at 75 K per year, while not hiring the 40-year-old Chief of the Boat as anything other than a grunt maintenance man. When I left, nuclear power had become the submarine admiral's full-employment program.
Sure seems a crazy way to run a utility. Hard to believe it's even legal.
Here's the full article:
As Texas deep freeze subsides, some households now face electricity bills as high as $10,000
Here's the full article:
As Texas deep freeze subsides, some households now face electricity bills as high as $10,000
OP
If you pronounce "Griddy" as you would in Spanish, you'll get the idea behind the company.
Old Arkansawyer
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What?? There are Texans with no power, freezing and no water to drink,
well, let them join the happy people flying to Cancun.
Reminds me of the quote the peasants have no bread, let them eat cake.
The same mindset.
well, let them join the happy people flying to Cancun.
Reminds me of the quote the peasants have no bread, let them eat cake.
The same mindset.
In Texas we get to choose our retail electric provider. Only a fool would choose a variable rate plan like that. I choose two year contracts with whichever provider has the lowest FIXED rate price at the time of renewal. There are a bunch of companies that offer variable rate plans and gimmicky plans with slot prices, minimum usage requirements, etc. Those are to be avoided at all costs.
My current contract is for about 9.5 cents per kwh. I'm up for renewal next month, so I'll be looking for the lowest fixed rate for the next two years. ERCOT makes it easy to find a new plan at powertochoose.org.
My current contract is for about 9.5 cents per kwh. I'm up for renewal next month, so I'll be looking for the lowest fixed rate for the next two years. ERCOT makes it easy to find a new plan at powertochoose.org.
At least one passenger, proof of concept.
All of the arguments could be solved with one thing, Nuclear power. I know it is not PC, but it's that or freeze your hind end off. Wind & solar sure don't work very well.
I have a strong concern for friends I have had while living in TX. Not to mention hearing about all the cattle that have froze to death. Awful situation out there.
When I lived in Amarillo and Borger, also Fritch, I remember a lab wind farm that experimented with various designs of windmills just west of Amarillo on I-40 you could see off the freeway. I forget which university ran that project.
Like those in other similarly situated countries. Uncomfortably . . .
It will for those profiting from the scare. BTW, anyone notice how cold winter has been?
bigwheelzip
Absent Comrade
Haliade-X
GE's latest family of wind turbines, Haliade-X, is leading development of the next generation of wind power generation. 276 have been ordered for Britain's Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu0RqylJdQo&feature=emb_logo[/ame]
GE's latest family of wind turbines, Haliade-X, is leading development of the next generation of wind power generation. 276 have been ordered for Britain's Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu0RqylJdQo&feature=emb_logo[/ame]
Jeff423
US Veteran
The essential problem with the energy system in TX and many other things - roads, bridges, etc. domestically is a lack of spending on infrastructure.
Odd that windmills and power plants don't freeze up in Alaska and Norway...but do in Texas.
Very true, and I agree. Would not catch me signing up for variable rates either. But there are a lot of fools out there. Only a fool would drive at high speed in the oncoming lane around a curve, but it happens. It's also illegal. As it should be. Even the usurious rates for interest in credit cards are regulated to save fools from themselves.
This is true of the rest of the country, too. Politicos of all flavors have been vowing to invest in reforming our infrastructure for a very long time. We need to see it actually happen.
Alaska and Norway put significant upfront equipment money into accounting for the severe weather conditions they knew they would face. Texas gambled and went cheap, hoping for the best. And lost . . .
JcMack
Member
Pretty much the same across the U.S.. The only repairs, update, upkeep on roads, bridges, utilities and you name it is when these systems fail. In '56 Eisenhower pushed for interstate roads to connect the country. The population in the U.S. in '56 was 170 million. Now it's at least 330 million using patched up systems long, long overdue for serious update or repair.
It's like running your car without oil until it seizes, then blaming it on the brand.
Texas, it wasn't a Ford or Chevy problem.
Old Arkansawyer
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I will confess to being a little cheap. Our home water system is a well
with a sand filter. Well house and sand filter house are 45 yards apart
and our house is about 25 yards from the sand filter. The well house has
never had an electrical outlet, is foam insulated and only the pressure
tank and associated piping above ground. Outside temps down to +5
and no problem, this week down to -11 and frozen and broken pipes, all
PVC broken, about a foot with elbows.
Sand filter house has an electrical outlet and I keep a 750 watt heater
with thermostat plugged in, not toasty, but above freezing. So, when
the sand filter runs dry I realize we are out of water. This all happens
before daylight Wed. morning. Oh, did I mention 9-10 inches of snow
on the ground? No roads have been salted, plowed or anything close
to clearing. 20 miles to town I go in the Ford 4 wheel drive, for whatever
reason I had put mud/snows tires on the rear in Dec. $8.00 worth of
pipe and fittings and back to the well house and water is flowing again.
Another couple hours for the sand filter to fill and water in the house.
All this trouble for the lack of a cheap outlet.
with a sand filter. Well house and sand filter house are 45 yards apart
and our house is about 25 yards from the sand filter. The well house has
never had an electrical outlet, is foam insulated and only the pressure
tank and associated piping above ground. Outside temps down to +5
and no problem, this week down to -11 and frozen and broken pipes, all
PVC broken, about a foot with elbows.
Sand filter house has an electrical outlet and I keep a 750 watt heater
with thermostat plugged in, not toasty, but above freezing. So, when
the sand filter runs dry I realize we are out of water. This all happens
before daylight Wed. morning. Oh, did I mention 9-10 inches of snow
on the ground? No roads have been salted, plowed or anything close
to clearing. 20 miles to town I go in the Ford 4 wheel drive, for whatever
reason I had put mud/snows tires on the rear in Dec. $8.00 worth of
pipe and fittings and back to the well house and water is flowing again.
Another couple hours for the sand filter to fill and water in the house.
All this trouble for the lack of a cheap outlet.
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Old Arkansawyer
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Sorry for the gap, I no idea how it got there or how to remove it.
It's like running your car without oil until it seizes, then blaming it on the brand.
Texas, it wasn't a Ford or Chevy problem.
Or no antifreeze if you live where it get below zero.
SW_shooter
Member
In regards to the OP's original post. Yep it was cold, very cold for this part of the country. I grew up in MN and it wasn't anything I haven't experienced before. But the folks here in TX are not used to this kind of weather and don't have the tools to deal with it either. (ie snow removal equipment and road prep equipment)
As for the power situation, well you get what you pay for or don't pay for. ERCOT has made it so we can chose electric plans with different rates and some are quite low which in turn keeps electric bills low. When I had my McMansion (3900 SF) our electric bill ran $500/month in the summer. That house was insulated and had better quality windows. Now I live in a 1700SF home that was built cheap. Little if any insulation and very bad old crappy windows that leak like a sieve. Our summer cooling bills were in the $400-500/month range in the summer in this house. This cold snap was worse in that the cold penetrated everywhere and our furnace ran continuously just to keep the house at 68 degrees. Can't wait to see that bill.
As for the power failures. Well ERCOT or whomever ordered the wind turbines left off the heating elements designed to keep ice or snow off the blades because of cost cutting and figured in TX it wouldn't happen. Guess mother nature won that one. Gas burning plants failed because at the low temps the gas doesn't flow as required (or so I'm told) and therefore the equipment froze up. Solar? When its cloudy/overcast or night you don't get anything and for those days of cold/snow/ice we didn't see the sun. It's not a political problem as far as party affiliation, its a problem of the state mandating ERCOT (thus the power suppliers) keep consumer prices low which in turn limits the profitability of the power system and therefore the back ups were limited or non-existent because power generating plants weren't kept in as good shape as needed and backup places weren't usable.
My limited understanding is that the power companies claim that because they have to keep prices low and therefore have limited profitability they cannot keep equipment in as good of condition as needed and thus the failures. They also claim that because of the financial limits they cannot keep backup systems in place, so they basically run on a very close to the line system. During the very hot parts of the summer we always get warnings of possible rolling power outages because the system is near overload. This time it happened during a very cold part of the season.
Perhaps we should learn a lesson and pay a little more so the system can be improved and won't fail in summer or winter?
As for the power situation, well you get what you pay for or don't pay for. ERCOT has made it so we can chose electric plans with different rates and some are quite low which in turn keeps electric bills low. When I had my McMansion (3900 SF) our electric bill ran $500/month in the summer. That house was insulated and had better quality windows. Now I live in a 1700SF home that was built cheap. Little if any insulation and very bad old crappy windows that leak like a sieve. Our summer cooling bills were in the $400-500/month range in the summer in this house. This cold snap was worse in that the cold penetrated everywhere and our furnace ran continuously just to keep the house at 68 degrees. Can't wait to see that bill.
As for the power failures. Well ERCOT or whomever ordered the wind turbines left off the heating elements designed to keep ice or snow off the blades because of cost cutting and figured in TX it wouldn't happen. Guess mother nature won that one. Gas burning plants failed because at the low temps the gas doesn't flow as required (or so I'm told) and therefore the equipment froze up. Solar? When its cloudy/overcast or night you don't get anything and for those days of cold/snow/ice we didn't see the sun. It's not a political problem as far as party affiliation, its a problem of the state mandating ERCOT (thus the power suppliers) keep consumer prices low which in turn limits the profitability of the power system and therefore the back ups were limited or non-existent because power generating plants weren't kept in as good shape as needed and backup places weren't usable.
My limited understanding is that the power companies claim that because they have to keep prices low and therefore have limited profitability they cannot keep equipment in as good of condition as needed and thus the failures. They also claim that because of the financial limits they cannot keep backup systems in place, so they basically run on a very close to the line system. During the very hot parts of the summer we always get warnings of possible rolling power outages because the system is near overload. This time it happened during a very cold part of the season.
Perhaps we should learn a lesson and pay a little more so the system can be improved and won't fail in summer or winter?
LVSteve
Member
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