Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

LetMyPeopleVote

(143,998 posts)
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 02:51 AM Feb 2022

"People should probably be worried": Texas hasn't done enough to prevent another winter blackout, ex

I am worried




After last winter’s freeze hamstrung power giant Vistra Corp.’s ability to keep electricity flowing for its millions of customers, CEO Curt Morgan said he’d never seen anything like it in his 40 years in the energy industry.......

That’s because the state still hasn’t fixed the critical problem that paralyzed his plants: maintaining a sufficient supply of natural gas, Morgan said.

Natural gas slowed to a trickle during the storm, leaving the Midlothian facility and 13 other Vistra power plants that run on gas without enough fuel. The shortage forced Vistra to pay more than $1.5 billion on the spot market for whatever gas was available, costing the company in a matter of days more than twice the amount it usually spends in an entire year. Even then, plants were able to operate at only a fraction of their capacity; the Midlothian facility ran at 30% of full strength during the height of the storm......

But energy experts say Texas’ grid remains vulnerable, largely because newly written regulations allowed too much wiggle room for companies to avoid weatherization improvements that can take months or years. More than nine months after February’s storm — which could exceed Hurricane Harvey as the costliest natural disaster in state history — a lack of data from regulators and industry groups makes it impossible to know how many power and gas facilities are properly weatherized.
7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"People should probably be worried": Texas hasn't done enough to prevent another winter blackout, ex (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote Feb 2022 OP
K&R brer cat Feb 2022 #1
"not done enough..." that's a laugh. harumph Feb 2022 #2
I feel bad for the National Guard folks down there being a photo op at the border. NightWatcher Feb 2022 #3
I suspect this event won't stress the system as much as last year's event, tanyev Feb 2022 #4
The US system is so short term in its thinking Johnny2X2X Feb 2022 #6
K&R Solly Mack Feb 2022 #5
Abbott's Broken Promises and Failure as Governor Leads to Potential Power Grid Collapse LetMyPeopleVote Feb 2022 #7

harumph

(1,867 posts)
2. "not done enough..." that's a laugh.
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 08:18 AM
Feb 2022

I'm not really sure what (if anything) has been done except
the writing of a few memos.

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)
3. I feel bad for the National Guard folks down there being a photo op at the border.
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 08:19 AM
Feb 2022

I hope they have better housing and can weather this.

tanyev

(42,354 posts)
4. I suspect this event won't stress the system as much as last year's event,
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 10:29 AM
Feb 2022

so most people's power will stay on and Abbott will sprain his shoulder patting himself on the back over how he "fixed" the entire grid.

Johnny2X2X

(18,731 posts)
6. The US system is so short term in its thinking
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 11:28 AM
Feb 2022

The system will fail catastrophically some year, but probably not the next few years so Abbot doesn't care, he'll be gone by then.

Invest in infrastructure and long term projects? There's just no reason for Republicans to do it, because they don't care what happens in 5 or 10 years. I know we got a $1.2T infrastructure deal, but it's not enough considering the issues have been largely ignored for decades.

Most Americans don't travel enough to realize hoe embarrassing our infrastructure is. If they do travel it's usually to some touristy island that is borderline 3rd world outside the resorts, so they compare the US to that. They don't understand how much nicer the airports are in places like Korea, Japan, Singapore, and most of Europe. They don't get to see how amazing the Euro rail system is that makes so much accessible so easily and quickly. They don't get that roads in a lot of these countries are so much better maintained and designed in places like Germany or Sweden. And if they don't get things like that, they surely don't get that many countries are going to renewables and it reduces costs in the long run while saving the environment.

Short term thinking is just built into our political system, it's built into our economy that looks for profits right now rather than investments. It permeates our culture in every way.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"People should probably b...