I have a friend in Texas, she emailed me the following message

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Patricio Da Silva, Feb 20, 2021.

  1. Patricio Da Silva

    Patricio Da Silva Well-Known Member Donor

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    Texas Plight simplified
    ERCOT = Electric Reliability Council of Texas. They operate and manage the de-regulated, private energy grid.
    1.) After 2011’s snow storm during Super Bowl week at the new Cowboys stadium, various agencies (including ERCOT) agreed that winterizing our power grid should be a top priority.
    2.) The public forgot and politicians and private companies did nothing.
    3.) In this latest storm, the temperature was so cold that not only did natural gas lines freeze, but delivery systems for coal and natural gas froze as well. Some wind turbines also froze, but wind accounts for about 10,000 Megawatts of total production and ERCOT has said 30,000 Megawatts total were lost at the peak of the outage.
    4.) Neither fossil fuels nor renewable energy is to blame. What’s to blame is that the winterization of equipment was put off as an expense because it eats into profits. Remember, the power companies in Texas are all private and completely de-regulated. So, which company is going to eat into profits to protect against a 100 year storm unless required to do so?
    5.) We are experiencing more erratic climate because 99% of all scientists agree that climate change is real. I’ll bet someone thought that the 2011 storm was a once in a lifetime storm and that this wouldn’t happen again. I guess folks should start listening to the professionals. [​IMG]
    6.) Now the Governor is all hot and bothered because A.) I’m sure he cares that a lot of people might die (I don’t like the guy, but I doubt he’s heartless), B.) This is a stain on his record, and C.) I think he will run for the Presidency in 2024. So he’s on the news blaming ERCOT, wind turbines, and saying that he’s going to hold people accountable... basically the same nonsense politicians spew after knowing they messed up.
    7.) What the Governor isn’t telling you is that every member managing ERCOT was appointed by him. That this problem was caused by lack of investment for the public good. That the Texas legislature has not mandated any regulations on the power companies since the 2011 storm. And, that all politicians know that 90% of you will forget by next week when the weather hits 60 degrees.
    Coming out of this mess, people should ask themselves: Why keep voting for politicians who tell you government can’t help you? That’s like hiring a CEO who tells people don’t buy his company’s products.
    Overall, I hope people don’t forget. I hope those who are riding out this storm with no worries realize there are millions who are worried. I hope we all realize that building stronger communities is not done individually.
    We should work together to be better.
     
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  2. Quantum Nerd

    Quantum Nerd Well-Known Member

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    It's the same in Florida. FPL has to go through the same futile process after EVERY hurricane to fix countless power lines, they have even charged customers for this, being allowed by regulators who are in the pocket of FPL. Of course, they could bury the power lines and fix the problem once and for all. However, that would cost money and eat into profits. We can't have that. Therefore, we keep looking like a 3rd world country with an unsightly mangle of power lines all over the place. Isn't crony capitalism great?
     
  3. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I love it when they leave out critical information intentionally. It weakens their whole argument. She left out how much total electricity was being produced . What is not there is information on whether they would have had sufficient electricity had no wind turbines failed.

    There is no doubt Texas screwed it up royally. It is a classic example of barging into a situation without sufficient knowledge and without sufficient backup to get them through if some messes up. That is my primary worry about wind and solar power.

    I love solar and wind power. However, just do it slowly and methodically. Take a step. Study it. Fix it. Take another step, fix it and so on.
     
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  4. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    The Q-GOP is just a SUBSIDIARY of the breed obsessed Wall Street Casino Banksters crime cartel.

    The Q-GOP was told to DEREGULATE and that is exactly what they done in every elected position they hold nationwide.

    We the People have been DUPED by being told that the private sector does things better than the government.

    Well regulated states are not having a problem with this storm that hammered half the nation.

    Time for those who have been DUPED to start voting the Q-GOP out of office.
     
  5. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Are you actually surprised the customers pay for this? All businesses make mistakes and the customers always pay for it in the long run.
    Have you any concept of how much it costs to bury the lines? Most likely, thousands of dollars per customer. And of course the customers have to pay for it. Given the choice, do you think the customers would be willing to pay, given the choice? There is nothing illegal about operating a profitable business. Burying the the power lines and paying for it themselves would most likely bankrupt them.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2021
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  6. Quantum Nerd

    Quantum Nerd Well-Known Member

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    Well, I realize that in America, it is popular to take the shortcut for short term gain, instead of investing into the future. That's why people rather buy their shiny, new SUV every three years for $40,000, instead of buying their new SUV only every five years and having enough money left over to put solar panels on their house, which would give them almost free electricity for the next 20 years. But, where's the fun in this, and the bragging rights?

    The thing is: In Germany, most low voltage power lines are buried. It can be done, although it is going to cost a little. But it will save maintenance in the long run.
     
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  7. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    No. It is going to cost a lot. Think about it. I live in the country. To bury my share of a power line would probably require me to bury about a half mile of cable. I have no way to do a good estimate of how much it costs, but I paid for my share of burying a water line and it cost me around $2000. That power line would cost many times more than that.

    Now look at the other half of the equation. Burying a power line in an urban area requires burying a line under streets and buildings. More people to share the cost, but orders of magnitudes higher. There is nothing "little" about it.
     
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  8. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Funny, you mentioned German technology. The German's built a technologically advanced tank during WWII, the Tiger Tank. Problem was it was nearly impossible to keep running under battlefield conditions. The Russians built a primitive tank but it was reliable.

    My wife and I used to laugh at Mercedes cars. They spent an awful lot of money to build an ugly car.

    We were looking at a used BMW sports car that needed some work. I talked to our local mechanics. They said they would not work on a German car. It surprised me, but after doing some checking I found out it was not an uncommon opinion of German engineering.
     
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  9. FoxHastings

    FoxHastings Well-Known Member

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    I think the most important statement was :

    4.) Neither fossil fuels nor renewable energy is to blame. What’s to blame is that the winterization of equipment was put off as an expense because it eats into profits. Remember, the power companies in Texas are all private and completely de-regulated. So, which company is going to eat into profits to protect against a 100 year storm unless required to do so?
     
  10. Patricio Da Silva

    Patricio Da Silva Well-Known Member Donor

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    Most businesses are not monopolies. You don't have a choice on power. The FLA power company should have fixed it a long time ago, so the problem doesn't repeat and people continue to be billed for mistakes that should be. Most states power sources are winterized which can deal with the cold without power eruptions, and now with climate change upon us, the warmer states, particularly those in the south, must be alerted to the fact that now, a very cold winter is much more likely now than it used to be something like once in a many decades event.
     
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  11. wgabrie

    wgabrie Well-Known Member Donor

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    Yes, I think it will cost a lot too. But I also think that the urban centers with a lot of people should pay for the infrastructure of poor rural communities and even out the cost. That's how it should be.
     
  12. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I choose where I live. I do not ask people from other areas to pay for my choices.
     
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  13. wgabrie

    wgabrie Well-Known Member Donor

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    Without sharing the cost of infrastructure, rural infrastructure would be close to non-existent. And urban areas would be over-built.

    Everything is spread out in rural areas requiring longer stretches of water/power lines per person. The only way to make it work and attract utilities to build in rural areas is to average out the cost between rural, suburban, and urban areas.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2021
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  14. joesnagg

    joesnagg Banned

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    EVERBODY kicks the can down the road when it comes to laying out big money to fix things, private citizens, corporations, and the government. Bitch about what happened, throw some spit and duct-tape on it, and forget about it till the next catastrophe rolls around. Predictable as the sun rising.
     
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  15. Libhater

    Libhater Well-Known Member

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    I agree with your #5 that we do indeed have climate change. But I'm a bit curious as to whether this global warming crisis where the world is going to end in 11 or now 9 years as spewed out by certain leftists is responsible for the deep freeze in Texas.
     
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  16. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    Bingo!

    That right there is the underlying issue and the biggest flaw in thinking that allowing private companies to run critical infrastructure would be any better than the government.
     
  17. 61falcon

    61falcon Well-Known Member

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    Just more proof that the vast majority of all of our infrastructure here in the USA is antiquated outmoded and well past it's expiration date, and no administration left or right has been willing to take the steps necessary to begin to address the issues we face to modernize and upgrade it.
     
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  18. Zorro

    Zorro Well-Known Member

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    Some Facts to consider.

    We are in an interglacial between glacial advances. At the peak of the last glacial advance, 20,000 years ago, Chicago was under a mile of ice.

    Our current interglacial, the Holocene, is just under 12,000 years old.

    The previous interglacial, the Eemian, last 15,000 years. The glacial advance between the Eemian and the Holocene lasted 100,000 years.

    The peak temperature (or optimum) of the Holocene was about 8,000 years ago. While the temperature zigzags, we've been in an overall cooling trend for 8,000 years.

    [​IMG]

    It is quite reasonable to assume that this interglacial will terminate in a glacial advance that could last 100,000 years, that Chicago will again be under a mile of ice, and that it will be extremely difficult for humans to, again, survive it, though we did survive the last ones.

    It's also reasonable to assume that a LOT of people will die during this period and that life carrying capacity of the earth, and not just human life, will be greatly reduced.

    It is my firm belief that we spend a lot of mental effort on warming when cooling is the far greater threat. What this current, hopefully short duration, event shows us is just how difficult the sudden onslaught cold is, and it is very reasonable to conclude that as we continue to cool, that we will experience more of these.
     
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  19. ronv

    ronv Well-Known Member

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    Why did you bury the water line?
    You could have just laid it on the ground.
     
  20. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    How much do you think burying the lines would cost, not to mention what kind of work is involved in repairs. Basically rebuilding the grid.
     
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  21. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So people would not drive over it.
     
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  22. Bullseye

    Bullseye Well-Known Member

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    She had time to write (and research) all this while freezing to death in the dark? :eek:
     
  23. ronv

    ronv Well-Known Member

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    I drive over the hose all the time. :)
     
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  24. kriman

    kriman Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    "All the time?". No one does anything "all the time" except for a few essential bodily functions.
     
  25. Cybred

    Cybred Well-Known Member

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    So you have your own power plant?
     
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