Folks in OK and TX

[james03]

https://sanangelolive.com/news/texas/2021-02-17/behind-scenes-februarys-texas-power-grid-disaster

TL;DR:  Wind turbines caused the problems in Texas.

[Melkor]

Stocked up on Copenhagen.  I'll be fine.

Indeed you will be

[maximus]

Move to Britain.  No extreme weather events here.

Coldest it gets is 20F.  Warmest 90F.  Typical winter day 40 to 50 F.  Typical summer day 70 to 80 F

No earthquakes.  No Tornados. No flash floods. No prolonged electrical outages.  No Volcanos.

Other than the 3 days of darkness I am not sure what to prep for.

How many americans will you allow in the country? Ideal temps you have there.

[maximus]

The truth is that the federal government controls how Texas generates electricity – the mix of sources and the capacity of each. The DOE requires that Texas’ fossil fuel power generators operate far below their maximum output.

Gov. Abbott knew that if the EPA would allow our natural gas and coal power plants to operate at peak efficiency they could meet 110% of the demand the state faced last week. The EPA refused.

Sadly, Biden’s acting EPA chief, David Huizenga, is not an expert at power generation but instead an expert with nuclear waste management. When Gov. Abbott received the EPA’s refusal he knew Texas was in trouble and there was nothing he could do about it. ...... While Texas lost much of our renewable supply (wind and solar) Texas natural gas and coal are required to operate at 60% capacity to reduce emissions. They CAN operate at 100% if they get a waiver from the federal government as Abbott requested but Biden refused.

When neurotic low IQ libtards are in charge, people die.

James, do you have a source for the quoted segment?

[MaximGun]

Everyone is a capitalist until they face a bill they cannot pay.  Then they scream for bailouts.

Completely the customer's fault.  In the good times they are paying much less.  The company Griddy is very very clear on the market pricing and this has happened before in heatwaves and such.  They have made loads of videos warning people.

Customers are not children and the government does not have a magic money fountain.  The taxpayer is paying for these gamblers when they lose in a freak weather event, but not collecting anything when they win at a 2c per KWH rate.

This is EXACTLY the same as bailing out the bankers. 

If you have a brain and are on a variable deal you would get a long power cable and plug it into your neighbour's socket so you could run a fridge, TV, cellphone charger, and the things you need.  If the neighbour is on fixed rate deal, it would not make more than 50 dollars of difference to their bill for a week.  Give them 100 bucks as a thank you and get their shopping for them or shovel snow.  I reckon a long thick wire with 2 socket input and 8 output would cost less than 90 dollars if you assembled it yourself and it would last for 50 years.  Fantastic piece of prepper kit, allowing you to camp near a home in a tent or RV and access their power in the aftermath of any war disaster.

[james03]

https://www.rightjournalism.com/biden-refused-gov-abbott-s-request-that-he-sign-major-disaster-declarations-for-177-texas-counties-after-refusing-to-allow-texas-power-plants-to-operate-at-100-capacity-resulting-in-massive-power-ou/

Note the attached order.  It is a weasel worded order, but the money quote is where the plants are not allowed to violate emissions until power is selling for $1,500/MW-hr.  Note a typical price is $60.  The order also requires the generator purchase emission offset credits.

This is all wrong.  If your power has gotten to $1500/MW-hr., you are already screwed.  What should have happened is "no limits".  Get plants up and running with plenty of spinning reserve, and then when the turbines failed, you'd have the power available.  Note also that the grid had to exhaust all other means (such as load shedding) before they could exceed emissions.

Wind turbines and Fed enviro screw ups caused the black outs.

[GiftOfGod]

This is EXACTLY the same as bailing out the bankers.

If you don't see the difference between New York billionaires and Texan working people, then there's no hope for you.

[MaximGun]

Look, it is very simple.  You pay a fixed rate and get to pay several hundred dollars more than the wholesale price year after year.  Or you pay a floating wholesale rate and watch the price and manage the risk in rare times where the price jumps up.

It is a zero sum game.  Let these people off paying their bills and it is the fixed rate customers or the tax payer who picks up the tab.

Make risky behavior risk free and you will get more of it.

There is no difference.  Bailouts are just someone else paying your bills for you.

[GiftOfGod]

Look, it is very simple.  You pay a fixed rate and get to pay several hundred dollars more than the wholesale price year after year.  Or you pay a floating wholesale rate and watch the price and manage the risk in rare times where the price jumps up.

It is a zero sum game.  Let these people off paying their bills and it is the fixed rate customers or the tax payer who picks up the tab.

Make risky behavior risk free and you will get more of it.

There is no difference.  Bailouts are just someone else paying your bills for you.

I agree with you there.

I think our disagreement is this: I think that the government should bail out the masses (in limited emergency situations).
You think that the government should bail out billionaires. Or you believe that the government should not bail out anyone at all.

I think that the Texan government screwed up by not regulating this. A simple cap could have prevented it, so the Texan government should bail out Joe and Jose and learn from its mistake: don't let utilities be unregulated.

[MaximGun]

In that case in those limited emergency situations the people  who hedged their risk by paying a fixed rate for their power should be bailed out too.  Since otherwise they are just the fools who paid.

The people who did not speculate should be compensated everytime the stock market crashes since they did not blow up the bubble.

Happily married people should get government money for their children being stable members of society.

How about the government stops giving away money which it is stealing from future tax revenues to prop up its own power.

How about we say to Texans.  "Yes, you can have freak weather.  Deal with it."  Have a spare heater or a plan of what to do.

Treat adults like children and they will behave like children.

Everyone sucking at the government's tit just makes government ever more powerful.

It snowed.  That is not an emergency.  Drive slowly and put warm clothes on.  Read a book.  Go to bed by candlelight.

Nazis bombing London is an emergency.  8 inches of snow is rare weather.

[MaximGun]

Government should only bail out people in unavoidable and unseeable situations.

A snow storm is not that.  An asteroid strike is.

If you go hiking without a radio and a huge search and rescue has to be mounted you should spend as long as it takes paying that money back.  Because radios are cheap and could save thousands of man hours by you simply calling for help when you break a leg.

Banks should have collapsed and the bankers been fined into oblivion.  Then you would have responsible bankers instead of a casino economy.

Make people own their foolish mistakes and they will think and plan more.

[Heinrich]

Nazis bombing London is an emergency.

Yes, but Londoners voted for the politicians who voted to go to war with Germany(and bomb German civilians first by stated strategy)before Germany declared war on them. So, they wanted it, they got it.

[mikemac]

It seems to me that if Texas had have been connected to the grid with other States it would have prevented this.  Particularly seeing Texas was so dependent on the wind turbine industry.

[MaximGun]

James,

Any reason the extension cord to the neighbour on a fixed rate deal idea would not work?

How many amps can you draw out of a standard US socket without cooking it or throwing an RCD?

Would seem like a best of both worlds scheme in Texas.  One house on whole rates with Griddy and another on fixed rates.  At low prices suck it all out of one meter.  At peak rates switch to the fixed rate meter.  Big consumer unit and an a switched armoured cable would be even better.

[Heinrich]

James,

Any reason the extension cord to the neighbour on a fixed rate deal idea would not work?

How many amps can you draw out of a standard US socket without cooking it or throwing an RCD?

Would seem like a best of both worlds scheme in Texas.  One house on whole rates with Griddy and another on fixed rates.  At low prices suck it all out of one meter.  At peak rates switch to the fixed rate meter.  Big consumer unit and an a switched armoured cable would be even better.

Are you saying outside of emergencies that this is OK?