Freezing in the Dark – the Logical Result of Terrible Public Policy
Right now, I’m typing this on my iPad sitting in front of my fireplace in my house with no power, no heat, frozen pipes in one bathroom and wearing the warmest sweater I own. I’m one of those 60% of Houstonians who got randomly picked to not have power this week because some idiot arbitrarily made that decision. Oh, and yes, my next door neighbor does have power. If you don’t have power and are looking for someone to blame for that condition, I have one question for you. Who do you vote for on Election Day? If your answer is Republicans, then my answer is to light a candle, walk into your iced up bathroom, hold up the candle to the mirror and look. The person in the mirror is who’s responsible for you freezing in the dark.
There are three major power systems in the US – the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and…wait for it…Texas. Why? Texas didn’t want those big, bad, federal bureaucrats telling it what to do. It’s been that way all the way back to WWII after the Federal Power Act was signed to provide regulation for interstate power transmission between states. Under that act, all power that is transmitted over state lines had to conform with federal regulations for safety, measurement, and pricing. Texas said no thanks to that, preferring to keep everything intrastate and telling surrounding states to kiss our big red butt. The big NY blackout in 1962 provided more impetus for Texas to emphasize that independence, forming ERCOT in 1965. Ironically, that acronym stands for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which is most certainly not.
During the deregulation craze of the late ‘90s, the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) issued several rules, including Rule 2000, which provided for the deregulation of the production, transmission, trading, and selling of electricity. ERCOT took that opportunity to go full “free market” becoming a hub for trading, selling, and buying electricity, designing a system that brought IPPs (independent power producers), local utilities, and industrial customers together. The problem? No one was put in charge or held accountable for reliability. All that works fine in normal times, but in weather events, system upsets, and growth in demand, it’s perfectly set up for Fingerpoint City, which leads us to the clusterfuck that is the week of February 14, 2021.
A little information about how power is generated in Texas – about 50% of our power it generated by natural gas fired generation; 20% comes from coal; 20% from wind, 10% from nukes, and the rest from other renewables including solar, which is only about 1%, which, in my opinion, is unacceptably low. Also, the Texas Public Utility Commission, which has been a Republican lap dog for decades, has rules that are not enforced. For example, we’re supposed to have 15% excess capacity for peak demand, but they NEVER enforce that requirement. In fact, that number has hovered in the 7 to 8% for YEARS. Worse, we had a wake up call in 2011 when we had a big freeze. The problem is that ERCOT, Perry, and Abbott have all ignored that wake up call, increasing demand and reliability issues. Add that to Texas silly anti-federal government dogma, and you get this slow motion disaster that we’re all living.
Abbott woke up from his stupid coma today, and declared that “reforming” ERCOT is now on his emergency legislative agenda for this session. That’s a laugh, since his last “emergencies” were non-existent voter fraud claims and fretting over who uses which public bathrooms.
Abbott’s had his chance, Perry before him, as has the TXLeg which has been populated by mouth breathers and morons for two decades. Texas, just like the federal government, can’t survive without an actual functioning government. Abbott has gotten away for way too long with his cavalier “let them eat cake” strategy. His cynical “local control until I disagree” strategy hasn’t worked and will never work. Abbott, Patrick, and all the mouthbreathers and morons have had control long enough. Texas deserves better. We deserve a government with adult supervision run by leaders who focus on reliable power, stable government, dependable healthcare, and appropriate education, not the libertarian fever dream that Texas has become.
Impeach Abbott. Impeach Patrick. Vote the rest of the bums out. Maybe millions of Texans spending a week freezing in the dark might just change their votes.
It’s funny/sad that the GQP is using this as a way of falsely slamming renewable energy. Also, some local clowns seem totally convinced it’s all the fault of our liberal mayor and/or city council.
1Did I hear that Abbott said he’ll do something about the tx power grid when hell freezes over? No offense to the customers of the WMDBS, but blame those that blame renewable energy, a standard repugnantican rally cry. They can’t accept that the extreme climate exceptions are becoming the norm. It ain’t going to get better till the current regime gets the boot.
2On the list of “emergencies” Abbott has addressed so effectively, let’s please not forget Jade Helm.
3El Jefe, wish we could be of more help until help arrives. But if you have extra blankets that are already not used keeping you warm, tack them up over your windows; if you have tarps use those too for added insulation. If you’re not in an area where the raccoons and bears won’t “thank you” for the donations, empty your freezers into coolers and set them outside, so you can unplug those appliances. Layered clothing too, my friend; bundle up. Cuddle up and be safe closing off all rooms that you are not using. As others have suggested, keep your water taps at a drip to prevent pipes freezing. Water if it’s still flowing fill your bottles, sinks and tubs.
4Pictures on the ABC News tonight of Houston skyscrapers all lit up with neighborhoods nearly dark.
5My understanding is that Idaho, South Dakota, Indiana, Mississippi and Louisiana are running for “Most Inept and Corrupt State Government in the USA.” Perhaps Texas should join the competition?
6I feel for you. It sucks to be cold this time of year. Here in Iowa our wind farms work just fine. Same for Minnesota and Illinois. Our utility imploded our coal fired generation station last year. The only place wind and solar don’t seem to work is on Fox News. I see that you have had the coldest night in 30 years, today was our coldest night since yesterday.
7I wonder how Abbott and his buddies feel about seceding now when they had to call big daddy in Washington to rescue them. I guess they can go back to that when the crisis is over.
I am so sorry things are getting worse for you. Like Jane & PKM, I wish I could help. The things I would advise are only things that would help you prepare for future crazy weather. Not beneficial now. I’m glad to hear that you at least have a fireplace though.
When things settle down there, I’ll email you about some of the things I have to get me through when it’s windy and cold and the power goes out.
8Really sorry to hear about your situation, EJ. For God’s sake, stay warm.
9You’re right that people should remember this when they vote. Where I live, we’ve had a week of freezing but sunny weather, followed by a smallish snowstorm on Monday. Everything kept working, and the sidewalks and streets were swept and clear by the time most people went to work.
I am old enough to remember the oil shocks of the ’70s, and I remember what the rest of the country seems to have forgotten.
When the national government instituted the 55 mph speed limit to economize on gasoline, Texas replied with bumper stickers saying to go fast and ‘freeze a Yankee in the dark.’
The mills of the gods grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding fine.
10When aholes start complaining about the state of the state, my 1st question is rePUKEian? or Democrat?. If they say rePUKEian then I laugh at them an then ask how they like the situation THEY caused!!!!
11What is happening in Texas is the result of DEREGULATION and PRIVATIZATION as well as power companies that are too cheap to buy winterization (insulation) packages for their turbines and annual winterization maintenance of their power plants. At least your power is cheap….when its on.
12Not much help for Houston, but maybe the folks in Austin can help keep warm by burning down the Governor’s Mansion?
I have relatives and friends in India, where power outages are a routine and daily occurrence. Enough so that if you have money, you install whole-house battery units. My mother-in-law had no such problems for many years, because a government minister lived on her street. As soon as he had accumulated enough bribe money, he moved to a swankier part of town and now MIL’s house loses power 2-4 hours a day. Purely coincidental, of course. And I’m sure that the Texas electric companies are equally browning out the rich and poor neighborhoods with no attention paid to which districts voted Republican or Democratic.
13~ Are there no workhouses?
Headline: Texas mayor resigns after telling residents without power during bitter cold snap to ‘get off your ass’
At a time when the Lone Star State is being battered by severe winter weather, record cold and widespread power outages, Tim Boyd — the far-right Republican mayor of Colorado City, Texas — lambasted residents of his city for complaining about being without electricity.
14>Maybe millions of Texans spending a week freezing in the dark might just change their votes.
Only if they remember…which is not likely.
We’re at the end of the road, so when an ice storm took out our power over Christmas a few years ago, we were in the dark for
5 1/2 days, while our neighbors across the road (whose lines came from a different direction) had their Christmas lights on. We were just glad to have three very furry dogs.
Huddle up and take care of yourselves…
15I heard on the news this morning is that Texas chose not to purchase carbon blades for their windmills or heating units for those blades. Northern states and Canada routinely purchase these when ordering their windmills, which can then continue to operate through freezing weather. I guess you get what you pay for.
16When the Nazis invaded Russia, they did not bother to insulate their steam locomotives. The Russians knew better.
You know what feels bad? When the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming, and you cannot get your train to move.
17Since I had no power for thirty hours, I’ve had time to think and my mind keeps going to Enron. I think ERCOT is going to flash and burn just like Enron did and for similar reasons. And they deserve it! I have power now, but a pipe in the boiler of our building cracked so I have no heat or hot water until at the earliest Monday. And the City just shut off water to this area to fix pipes – and has issued a boil water notice. Between the pandemic non-response and now this, if Abbott, Patrick, Twig Bush, et al get re-elected, I may give up and move to somewhere with thinking people!
18Sorry to hear of your situation El Jefe and glad to hear you’re coping. It does look like this mess was a long time coming with plenty of warnings. Thank you for running through the history.
On a more immediate note; can you run a heavy-duty extension cord from your house to your neighbor’s to “borrow” some electricity?
19It’s your fault. You weren’t prepared. This guys says so:
https://www.facebook.com/PeopleForBernie/posts/3068899156663611
20Wasn’t Abbott yakking about seceding a little while back? How does that look now?
21Rick Perry calls on Texans to endure frigid temps without heat to ‘keep the feds out of their business’ – Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com/rick-perry/
22I was looking at power grid maps, and it strikes me that the reddest parts of the state — the Panhandle and East Texas — are on relatively reliable interstate grids, while the bluer parts are on the ERCOT grid. Maybe there’s a reason for that, but if so I wish somebody would tell me what it is.
In the meantime, I hope the Republicans who are responsible for launching ERCOT and then forgetting to fund things like maintenance and improvements are colder and more miserable than my friends and family down there.
23@ Elizabeth – The reason those are on other grids is that those areas are not heavily populated, meaning not profitable.
24Harry Edgar @17: It’s worse than frozen locomotives. The invasion of Russia got delayed for several weeks but enjoyed tremendous victories over the Russian forces until they got to Moscow city limits when the coldest winter in many years set in. The Germans did not issue clothing for that kind of weather figuring they’d be in Moscow already.
25They paid heavily for that type of arrogance.
In principle, what is different about then and today or any other similar circumstances in history?
I do recall something about Santayana and the repeat, rinse, repeat cycle of history.
Grandma @18. I was paying the electric bill for my mom in Lake Tahoe when Enron was messing with Ca electric rates. I laughed at bill paying time because the price per kWh was half what it was in Houston.
I hear the moving where the sensible people live. A dear relative has informed us that she was not dying in Texas.
26California costs are dropping. Services are very good, especially for seniors and handicapped/sick.
Come on over!
Tesla Gigafactory Austin has snowdrifts on the roof!
27When things get back to normal, read about the mayor of Colorado City, Texas, who makes Abbott look like FDR:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/17/texas-mayor-tom-boyd-quits-storm-sink-or-swim
28Elizabeth … you note: ‘the reddest parts of the state — the Panhandle and East Texas — are on relatively reliable interstate grids, while the bluer parts are on the ERCOT grid.”
A couple of guesses of people I know: T Boone Pickens and low populations. Pickens shifted into wind farms, and realized he needed to sell the energy somewhere other than the low population Panhandle or going south into Texas population areas. it would be more profitable to link into other distribution grids, so he chose sites and built transmission lines to hook into other grids.
29You’ll never guess where Greg Abbott was during the most catastrophic winter storm Texas has seen in decades. Mar a Lago with Trump! I s##t you not.
30Not sure all this is true, but I’ve heard it from usually reliable sources that, before the crisis, utilities in Texas were paying each other $35 per megawatthour (that translates to 3.5 cents per kilowatthour) for wholesale electricity. And on Tuesday, the wholesale rate shot up to $900 per megawatthour (or 90 cents per kilowatthour). And, I’m told that some Texas utilities are allowed to pass on emergency rates to their retail ratepayers, and simply multiply the rate they pay by a factor of 3 or 4, and that’s what the customer is going to have to pay if they like having electrical service. Texas is the only state that allows this.
If that is true, I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in Republican county party meetings when those bills arrive in the mail. Imagine, having burned through 20 or 30 kilowatthours struggling to keep warm (a 1200 watt plug-in heater will burn through 28.8 kwh per day), and then getting a bill for $2.70 per kwh for that power. Hundreds of dollars per day, just for electric power. Not going to go down well for the “free marketeers” when it’s pointed out that Texas is the only state that allows this – because of federal regulation that is in effect elsewhere.
31When the going gets tough, the wealthy get gone. Teddy Cruz has just headed for Cancún. What he doesn’t know is that half of Mexico’s electricity is dependent on gas exported from Texas, which exports to Mexico have now been cut off. So Teddy sweetie might get all the way to Cancún, only to discover that the power is off in the hotel, and the restaurants are closed.
He could come down here to Costa Rica, where our beaches are warm, the hotels and restaurants are open and the power is on. Because we have a “socialized” power grid that’s powered by renewables.
32It does not in the least take away from Texas R responsibility for this debacle to point out that the US also has failed here. The fact that in the rest of the country electrical power is a commodity traded across state borders pretty much proves that the trade in electricity is interstate trade. The federal govt has not just the power, but also the duty, to regulate interstate commerce. What Texas has been allowed to get away with is even worse than a tariff on electricity from other states. It is allowed to simply forbid the importation and exportation of electricity to and from most of the state.
So, sure, by all means rail against the R regime in Texas. That’s an important step in understanding the problem, and you have to understand the problem before you can anything constructive towards solving it. But that solution is going to have to require the govt of the US doing its duty and taking from the govt of Texas the regulation of electricity production and distribution.
The person you see in that mirror in Houston is first and foremost a citizen of the US, and not just — or even very importantly — a citizen of Texas. The US govt needs to accept responsibility for preventing future debacles like the one you’re in right now.
33Those Texans did die of exposure, they had COVID.
34texas freezes as ted cruz proves that he is the terrorist anchor baby louie gohmert warned us about. it was castro’s ghost and those navajo space lasers that cruz used to target those power plants! cruz flew to cancun for a secret seance with fidel and the lizard people. Q claims all his early porno movies will be re released “soon”. so that pretty much puts dan patrick in a position to readjust his medicines and rely less on the hallucinogens.
if i left something out do fill in the blank…………….
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