The stars at night are real bright when there's no light deep in the heart of Texas.

[crimson5pheonix]

I would advise against speculation here. You have no idea what is involved in running the grid or even what laws and requirements there are for ERCOT. Saying something like this without much more information is at best, foolish. Now, that article does sound like them trying to cover their asses, but all this shit is complicated enough without random guessing.

No no, I'm not necessarily saying it's a good idea, don't get me wrong. It might have been, but I know if they had done it, the headlines would have been "ERCOT shut down a hospital while River Oaks stays lit" and I would have been mad, and correctly so, as the rich ass neighborhoods across Texas rarely if ever had their lights turned off, but we're living in the alternate line where they kept the hospital running, but neglected to remember that downtown was automated which surely pushed a ton more people off their heat in the freezing cold.

And someone at ERCOT might have had to make this choice once they realized the fuckup.

 

[Worgen]

No no, I'm not necessarily saying it's a good idea, don't get me wrong. It might have been, but I know if they had done it, the headlines would have been "ERCOT shut down a hospital while River Oaks stays lit" and I would have been mad, and correctly so, as the rich ass neighborhoods across Texas rarely if ever had their lights turned off, but we're living in the alternate line where they kept the hospital running, but neglected to remember that downtown was automated which surely pushed a ton more people off their heat in the freezing cold.

And someone at ERCOT might have had to make this choice once they realized the fuckup.

I would advise even not just blaming ERCOT. Right now they seem to be the punching bag but it sounds like our power is so deregulated that ERCOT just manages the grid, but a bunch of individual power utilities generate it, cause for some reason that seemed like a good idea. Either way our system is enough of a convoluted mess and Greg Abbot And Rick Perry probably have much more responsibility for it then ERCOT as for someone to blame for shit.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I would advise even not just blaming ERCOT. Right now they seem to be the punching bag but it sounds like our power is so deregulated that ERCOT just manages the grid, but a bunch of individual power utilities generate it, cause for some reason that seemed like a good idea. Either way our system is enough of a convoluted mess and Greg Abbot And Rick Perry probably have much more responsibility for it then ERCOT as for someone to blame for shit.

Texas is to blame. ERCOT is the warden, the private power companies are the prison guards, and the weather of late has proven that when the inmates siege the prison, the warden and guards are ill-prepared for their duties. They decided they didn't need interstate phone lines (federal support) to call in backup because "Texas", and "yee-haw!" I find it hilarious that our governor is calling out ERCOT for their lack of preparedness when the entire state he governs has been built on a house of cards of "probably won't happen because we're the best 'murica."

We've had power for nearly 2 days straight now, but we're some of the fortunate few. There are "boil water" directives in many Texas counties because the power outages have knocked out vital water treatment plants. There's also gas shortages. Grocery stores are ransacked. All this because it's been cold for a week in the second largest, most prideful state of the 1st world's power. Gimme a damn break.

 

[Xprimentyl]

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I would advise even not just blaming ERCOT. Right now they seem to be the punching bag but it sounds like our power is so deregulated that ERCOT just manages the grid, but a bunch of individual power utilities generate it, cause for some reason that seemed like a good idea. Either way our system is enough of a convoluted mess and Greg Abbot And Rick Perry probably have much more responsibility for it then ERCOT as for someone to blame for shit.

ERCOT can only be blamed so much for the power plants going offline, ERCOT advises the government about their regulations, they're the ones that interpret data, but it is the government that writes the regulations. As far as the power loss goes, it's split but I'd blame Texas more.

But ERCOT can definitely be blamed for the response, the lack of planning, the poor decisions, and the classism. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to forget about downtown. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to not have a plan. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to make mistakes. Nobody Listening to the wrong people to determine their power rotation. There is plenty wrong with what ERCOT did.

 

[Worgen]

But ERCOT can definitely be blamed for the response, the lack of planning, the poor decisions, and the classism. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to forget about downtown. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to not have a plan. Nobody had to tell ERCOT to make mistakes. Nobody Listening to the wrong people to determine their power rotation. There is plenty wrong with what ERCOT did.

Oh holy crap, you will not get off of them not letting Emergency services go dark will you.

 

[Gergar12]

The thing that really annoys me is that ERCOT likely was formed to save money for companies, but was likely sold as a Green New Deal sucks, Climate Change is fake argument, but then they proceed to do what neoliberals want to do anyway(lots of natural gas), and what progressives what which is wind power.

So ideological republican Texans I hope you enjoy the fact that you're using democrat-based power sources that are just less reliable. Seriously what is the point of saving 13.7% of coal power in Texas from federal government regulation when you could just be part of either the eastern, or western power grid, and get the same type of power source? And for that matter, why is coal so important anyways. I get it you can't do what China did which was stop building coal in China and build it in other countries for le jobs because American workers cost more, but factory workers have had to face the same unemployment yet people didn't care.

What percentage of Texas energy is renewable? Breaking down the state's power sources from gas to wind.

Millions of Texans are experiencing a power outage. What energy sources contribute to the state's power grid?

www.statesman.com

 

[Trunkage]

Funnily enough, despite my joke title the night sky was still pretty bright.

Because it took them a couple days of rationing power to realize the empty business districts were still lit up at night.

Sorry, can I go back to this..

Are people still working in Downton Houston during the day? Shouldn't they be conserving power and letting those without power get some at least during the day?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Sorry, can I go back to this..

Are people still working in Downton Houston during the day? Shouldn't they be conserving power and letting those without power get some at least during the day?

When that picture was taken, no. At least almost certainly not, the roads were iced and it was snowing/sleeting. Now? Maybe, that'd be up to the companies involved and I don't know all their policies.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than one greedy corporate raider who said a deadly winter storm is no excuse to stop working.

 

[BrawlMan]

choice!”
''The city and county, along with other providers owe you NOTHING''
''Only the strong will survive and the weak will perish ''
''But I'll be damned if I'll provide for anyone that can provide for himself''

​

Who made Vergil a mayor?

​

 

[crimson5pheonix]

It's funny that you revived this thread because yesterday ERCOT sent out an alert to conserve electricity. It's because they didn't check the weather before scheduling a bunch of gas plants to go through maintenance for summer and were "caught off guard" by heat that strained the grid.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Another revive!

Texas senators blast regulator for power grid winterization loophole lawmakers wrote into law

The law says the state's natural gas system won't be required to prepare for extreme weather until 2022 at the earliest and allows companies to opt out of weatherization requirements.

www.texastribune.org

Natural gas plants will only have to weatherize if they go out of their way to say they are essential infrastructure, as long as they don't they're under no obligation to fix themselves. Because everything is fixed forever according to Abbott.

 

[Agema]

Natural gas plants will only have to weatherize if they go out of their way to say they are essential infrastructure, as long as they don't they're under no obligation to fix themselves. Because everything is fixed forever according to Abbott.

"Sorting out the energy supply is a priority. So we've given them about 2 years to chew the fat, and then just opt out from having to do anything about it anyway. Then we can make some political capital by complaining that they didn't do it faster than the two years we gave them to not have to do it".

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

"Sorting out the energy supply is a priority. So we've given them about 2 years to chew the fat, and then just opt out from having to do anything about it anyway. Then we can make some political capital by complaining that they didn't do it faster than the two years we gave them to not have to do it".

It's Texas, so you left out "we'll also blame liberals and suggest that somehow more guns would have fixed this".

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It's Texas, so you left out "we'll also blame liberals and suggest that somehow more guns would have fixed this".

Shooting guns produces heat. If you're freezing in the winter just shoot your gun in the house until it's nice and warm.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Shooting guns produces heat. If you're freezing in the winter just shoot your gun in the house until it's nice and warm.

I want to laugh, but then I remember that people in Kansas had to be told not to shoot at tornadoes.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I want to let this subject die, but I can't for some dang reason.

Electricity consumption limits advised as half-dozen power plants remain offline

With a half-dozen power plants offline, ERCOT is advising customers to watch their consumption. They even advise keeping thermostats at 78 degrees or higher.

www.kens5.com

It's too hot in May for our grid.

 

[tippy2k2]

I want to let this subject die, but I can't for some dang reason.

Electricity consumption limits advised as half-dozen power plants remain offline

With a half-dozen power plants offline, ERCOT is advising customers to watch their consumption. They even advise keeping thermostats at 78 degrees or higher.

www.kens5.com

It's too hot in May for our grid.

To be fair, who in their right mind expected Texas to be hot?!?!

That seems like a one in a million kind of event. A little harsh to judge them for that, don't you think?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

To be fair, who in their right mind expected Texas to be hot?!?!

That seems like a one in a million kind of event. A little harsh to judge them for that, don't you think?

oNcE iN a CeNtUrY wEaThEr.

 

[Dalisclock]

oNcE iN a CeNtUrY wEaThEr.

Something Something Wind Turbines Froze Something Something