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Politicans will blame the other side just like they always do. This was a once in a 20 year storm that effected every county in Texas. It's like blaming a homeowner for not having a full house generator installed in his home. Sure it's a smart to have one but does using it once every other year make financial sense.
Being a once every twenty years storm isn’t an excuse.
As has been pointed out electrical suppliers were notified this could happen and should take actions for when it does. They didn’t. The state should’ve mandated they did.
Hopefully this is a wake up call and they do something.
People have died. These homes with broken pipes are totaled. It probably would’ve been cheaper just to prep the plants for this cold.
My son lives in Austin, TX. Power went out in his apartment at midnight Sunday (early morning Monday) Central time.
It's still out.
He texted me yesterday morn to say that the temperature in his apartment was 41F. No lights, no heat, no TV etc. He and his roomie would go to their cars occasionally to warm up and charge their cell phones. I advised him that if they started the car and drove around for at least half an hour to keep the car's battery fully charged, they could let the heater run as hot as it would go, and repeat the process indefinitely as long as they kept buying gasoline.
He and his roommate finally went to his roommate's sister's house, in one of the sections of Austin that still has power on, says she's happy to let them stay as long as they need to. She's a trooper.
Austin's "outage map" still shows the power in his neighborhood is cut off.
My son lives in Austin, TX. Power went out in his apartment at midnight Sunday (early morning Monday) Central time.
It's still out.
He texted me yesterday morn to say that the temperature in his apartment was 41F. No lights, no heat, no TV etc. He and his roomie would go to their cars occasionally to warm up and charge their cell phones. I advised him that if they started the car and drove around for at least half an hour to keep the car's battery fully charged, they could let the heater run as hot as it would go, and repeat the process indefinitely as long as they kept buying gasoline.
He and his roommate finally went to his roommate's sister's house, in one of the sections of Austin that still has power on, says she's happy to let them stay as long as they need to. She's a trooper.
Austin's "outage map" still shows the power in his neighborhood is cut off.
Fuel’s in short supply and I think groceries are getting there too. Deliveries are basically at a halt now that the snow is gone and we are left with ice. I gassed up a couple of days ago and it was a good thing I did; I encountered stations without fuel even then.
I was watching a brief news clip and I saw the Texas governor blame the current situation on the "green new deal." Here are some facts:
1. The Green New Deal is only talk at this point. It hasn't been submitted to Congress, voted, on etc. It's just ideas that have nothing to do with Texas.
2. Texas has been under Republican control for over 20 years. That mean the decision to remove Texas from the national energy grid to avoid regulation falls on Republicans. Nothing at all to do with the Green New Deal.
3. Ted Cruz said "F" you and jetted off to heat, water, and warmth in Mexico. He's only returning because he was shamed into it.
So, knowing that folks are lying to your face about why nearly the entire state doesn't have power (and now water), are you going to hold the right people accountable or are you going to accept what YOU know to be lies and randomly blame AOC and Democrats?
Got any links re estimates of over 5 million people?
Or even any links re estimates over 4 million people?
The population of Texas is over 29.3 million people.
A few hours before you posted this, Lt. Gov. Patrick said in an interview that the Houston metro and the DFW metro are both 90+% up, and that that will be higher tomorrow.
I was watching a brief news clip and I saw the Texas governor blame the current situation on the "green new deal." Here are some facts:
1. The Green New Deal is only talk at this point. It hasn't been submitted to Congress, voted, on etc. It's just ideas that have nothing to do with Texas.
2. Texas has been under Republican control for over 20 years. That mean the decision to remove Texas from the national energy grid to avoid regulation falls on Republicans. Nothing at all to do with the Green New Deal.
3. Ted Cruz said "F" you and jetted off to heat, water, and warmth in Mexico. He's only returning because he was shamed into it.
So, knowing that folks are lying to your face about why nearly the entire state doesn't have power (and now water), are you going to hold the right people accountable or are you going to accept what YOU know to be lies and randomly blame AOC and Democrats?
You honestly think that any failure in TX is a Red/Blue issue, for real, like you intellectually think that is true? Like this type of stuff never happens with D govs? While you may be correct practically from the standpoint that the populace will politicize, from an accountability standpoint, blaming a party is ignorance at it's most basic.
Are you not aware that ERCOT was created over 40 years ago based on actions taken by the state over 70 years ago, so your second statement (the first part anyway) is factually incorrect.
Here is a tidbit that I posted earlier in some other thread, it's not to condemn 'reusable energy', rather, it's to put things into context:
Quote:
Well:
"ERCOT is missing about 46,000 megawatts of production ability due to loss of generators, Woodfin said. About 61% of that loss comes from thermal (coal, nuclear, gas) plants shutting down. Only about 39% of the loss comes from wind/solar plants shutting down, Woodfin said."
and
"In a separate Winter Summary published on December 16, 2020, ERCOT listed 6,204 megawatts of power capacity for combined wind sources. Total capacity for all sources was listed as 84,966 megawatts."
So assuming these numbers are correct, wind/solar accounted for 40% of the lost capacity but yet it only makes up 7% of total capacity. I'd say that those numbers seem like enough reason to look at these alternative energy sources, even if it's just to say that they may require more, or at least different, approach to maintenance and resiliency.
Punting one party for another and bending over and taking it just the same is the whole reason we find ourselves in these types of predicaments.
I’m tired of everyone picking a fight. Especially folks not in the thick of it.
All I want is for the damn ice to melt off the roads so I don’t have to worry about whether or not I can get some food.
I understand completely what you guys are going through, our ice storm caused our power to go out for at least two weeks where I live and close to a month in other places, it was awful. Prayers for your great state.
Fuel’s in short supply and I think groceries are getting there too. Deliveries are basically at a halt now that the snow is gone and we are left with ice. I gassed up a couple of days ago and it was a good thing I did; I encountered stations without fuel even then.
I still had over 2 1/2 gallons left, but I still waited in line and filled up.
Yesterday (Houston metro, and surface streets only) I drove to one particular location, and drove back a slightly different way re a one lane each way bridge looking dicey in the other direction (about 75 miles total). Many of the times that I saw a 7-11 or a Circle K that was open, I stopped to see what was available and purchased accordingly...haven’t seen such bare shelves since near the beginning of the pandemic. I only saw one Walmart that was open....with a long line of people standing in a strong wind.
I understand completely what you guys are going through, our ice storm caused our power to go out for at least two weeks where I live and close to a month in other places, it was awful. Prayers for your great state.
In 2008, I drove to Memphis to get away from the strongest part of Hurricane Ike. The winds still picked up all of the outdoor chairs at my hotel and deposited them in the pool.
When I got pack to the Houston metro, I didn’t have power for about three weeks.
I understand completely what you guys are going through, our ice storm caused our power to go out for at least two weeks where I live and close to a month in other places, it was awful. Prayers for your great state.
Thank you! I and we all appreciate it.
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