Texas power situation

[bigjim]

1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

fake news

I am taking this as Glen trying to be funny since his daughter experienced some of that fake freezing.  Let's work on you comedic timing Glen.

[RV_]

2 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

"Fake news" isn't the answer to everything anymore.

Amen! At least not a believable answer.

[RV_]

Where is Greg Abbott?’ Anger grows at Texas governor in deadly storm’s wake

Excerpt:

"Abbott emerged that evening for a series of television interviews. In short, curt sentences, he told Texans in the Lubbock and Houston areas that he had issued an emergency order and called for an immediate legislative investigation of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the electrical grid. He angrily accused the council of not having a backup power supply and not sharing information with Texans, “even with the governor of Texas.”

Then he went on Fox News.

“This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,” Abbott said, looking more relaxed as he chatted with host Sean Hannity, falsely blaming his state’s problems on environmental policies pushed by liberals.

This deadly disaster is one in a series that Abbott has faced in his six years as governor: Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 68 people, at least six major mass shootings that left more than 70 people dead and a pandemic that has killed 42,000 in the state. Now, at least 32 people have died in Texas because of this storm.

In each crisis, Abbott often carefully studied the situation — and its political ramifications — before taking action, usually demanding future legislative changes that may never happen. He is known to deliver different messages to the various constituencies in his state, all while trying to build a national profile as a conservative leader.

As of Sunday, more than 14 million Texans were under orders to boil their water before drinking it or did not have water. Across the state, neighbors lined up at municipal spigots for water, melted snow to flush their toilets, and lined up for food at poorly stocked grocery stores.

The anger was palpable, with petitions circulating online demanding the resignations of Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who briefly escaped the cold by flying to Cancún. Citizens across the state posted angry memes on social media about the governor, crafting basketball-sized snowballs they wanted to aim at him and superimposing “Where is Greg Abbott?” over a hellscape."

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/where-is-greg-abbott-anger-grows-at-texas-governor/2021/02/21/86324e54-72d6-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html

Gov. Abbot was Lt Governor when the freeze of ten years ago happened so he knew about it. Abbot has been Governor since 2015 and he knew about it. At least I would think he would know about it.

Rick Perry was the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections. All while something could have been done about the then known vulnerabilities of the Texas power grid they are responsible to govern.

Read your Texas actual energy grid directors/experts and the other Texans, some in the fact check I posted.     

I'd say your fellow Texan's indignation has culprits who they and you can write and hold accountable, the Governors who were responsible for the last ten years.

I lived in Texas starting in 1971 as a resident with Texas license owned a home there, and on my last short tour there leased for my retirement tour. I've lots of friends there too. 38 years on and off in Texas or in the ArkLaTex dealing with building inspectors in Texas Louisiana and Arkansas. Y'all are right it's not my problem anymore, it's yours.

With climate change the next big one could this week this year, or next. So fix the problems not the blame. It's not politics, it's math and engineering. Texans should not have to go through this a third time.

Edited February 23, 2021 by RV_

[packnrat]

after seeing what happened in texas this year, one is best suited to have there own back up power. and 40 gallons gasoline fuel supply for the generator. gasoline is good to go at -30F. all of the "gas" fuels are junk below 30F

But here in ca the governer says who gets power and who gets cut off. but at least our winters are not as bad as this, but the power gets cut here in the summers, when it does not get below 100F even at 2:am.

 

to replace diablo nuk station would take at least 30 SQ miles of nothing but solar panels. and would be useless most of the time.  and ca needs to build two new nuk plants just to keep up with the demands of northern ca, forget everything south of fresno.

[NamMedevac 70]

Well said Packenrat.  The Texas governor is delivering bottled water in SA or so I heard.  ROTFLMAO.

 

[RV_]

They and their boards told Texans they were caught unprepared the last time this happened about ten years ago. They identified the fuel delivery systems that failed and needed to have their vulnerable fossil fuel and NG pipelines, valves and the rest ten years ago. Ten years ago they said they would fix it by Texans for Texans.

Texans got what they wanted. Only Texans control the Texan independent power grid of their own, where the feds could not regulate things like hardened valves and piplines, producton of all their production and delivery systems of fossil fuels they produce themselves.

Nobody suggested Texans replace Nuc plants. Winterizing what you've got is much cheaper. The Renewables were expected to be only 7% of the winter power. No one said replace nuke plants or anything else other than the need to winterize the real culprits, as Perry and Abbot promised would be fix the Texan gas pipeline valves and other cold vulnerable controls at the gas and other fossil fueled production plants and Texas built wind and solar.

I used to say "If you don't wind your watch don't cry when it stops. Or today if your battery in your expensive Bulova stops replace the battery not the watch!

Since I no longer live there it is up to the Texans to see that the people who administer their power grid winterizes it this time.

After all, Texans have total control of their independent grid.

Ten years ago the Governor, Perry, said he would see it winterized. Abbott was his AG, and governor since 2015 and also did nothing to winterize Texas' private grid, despite knowing it would happen again, as it did.

Source: 

Regulators examine Texas energy market after natural gas prices soared 10,000%

https://krdo.com/money/2021/02/23/regulators-examine-texas-energy-market-after-natural-gas-prices-soared-10000/

[RV_]

The above article from a Colorado News outlet, and the effect here:

Excerpt:

"Cost Adjustments

We pass changes in fuel costs - up or down - directly on to customers.

---

Energy costs fluctuate, and changes in fuel costs - up or down - are passed directly on to customers. While we monitor fuel costs monthly, we usually ask for any necessary adjustments quarterly.

Adjustments are based on a "look back" of the previously forecasted fuel costs and a "look ahead" at projections for the next quarter.

Energy costs are variable and driven by price fluctuations in the coal, natural gas and purchase power market. The ECA is an Electric Cost Adjustment and the GCA is a Gas Cost Adjustment.

On Feb. 1, we passed along decreases for both natural gas and electricity, based on fuel costs. That amounted to a decrease of $6.28 per month for a sample residential customer and 6.3% decrease for sample commercial customers and a 5.1% decrease for sample industrial customers.

Proposed Gas Cost Adjustments

We do not “make” natural gas. We are a distributor. We do have long-term natural gas supply contracts to protect our customers as much as possible from price volatility. We also buy and store natural gas when prices are low. However, we still do have exposure to market prices – especially when circumstances are extraordinary, as they were in mid-February. 

Extreme demand for electricity and natural gas caused fuel prices to surge across the country, as a result of the weather event that affected much of the country Feb. 13-16.  We’d been seeing typical natural gas prices on the market at around $2.50/Dekatherm (Dth). Prices soared to nearly $200/Dth during the storm. (If you think of this in terms of what we’d experience if we were talking about gasoline -- imagine filling your 20-gallon gas tank in your car one day at $50 and then the next for $4,000.) 

In conditions like we’ve recently experienced, we follow Utilities Board-approved policy guidelines to recommend out-of-cycle cost adjustments. This is necessary to carefully balance our financial stability while remaining sensitive to customers.

The Utilities Board Finance Committee reviewed options Feb. 24 for how we will proceed with the pass-through of natural gas rates to our customers.  They reviewed alternatives that range in impact from about $11.45 to about $36.43 per month to the sample residential customer. Commercial and Industrial customer impact ranges from 16.3% to 51.8% and 5.7% to 18.2 %, respectively.  The favored option was the mid-range alternative and is detailed in the chart below. Recommended cost adjustments will go to City Council for approval on March 9. If approved, increases to natural gas rates will be effective March 11.

These numbers are subject to change, as new calculations will be made using actual fuel costs through Feb. 22.

Service
Sample Bill
(Feb. 1, 2021)*Sample Bill
(March 10, 2021)Increase/(Decrease)Percent
Change

Residential

Electric$86.29$86.29--

Natural Gas$37.42$55.52$18.1048.4%

Water$74.93$74.93--

Wastewater$33.38$33.38--

Total$232.02$250.12$18.107.8%

The routine quarterly Electric Cost Adjustment filing is expected on March 23, effective April 1. 

Customers can soon calculate how the change will impact their individual bills using our online bill calculator.

Source: Colo Springs Utilities is non profit as Gary pointed out earlier

Edited February 27, 2021 by RV_

[RV_]

Jerry Jones’ natural gas company ‘hits jackpot’ as Texas freeze drives up prices

Comstock Resources Inc. has been able to sell gas from its Haynesville Shale wells in East Texas and northern Louisiana at premium prices since Thursday.

The Frisco-based natural gas producer owned by Dallas billionaire Jerry Jones is cashing in on a surge in prices for the fuel as a brutal freeze grips the central U.S., leaving millions without power.

Comstock Resources Inc. has been able to sell gas from its Haynesville Shale wells in East Texas and northern Louisiana at premium prices since Thursday. As demand jumps amid the cold, gas at some regional hubs has soared past $1,000 per million British thermal units.

Gas from Comstock’s Haynesville wells was sold on the spot market for between $15 and $179 per thousand cubic feet, chief financial officer Roland Burns said Wednesday on an earnings call. That translates to between $15.55 and $186 per million British thermal units.

“This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices,” Burns said. “Frankly, we were able to sell at super premium prices for a material amount of production.”

Gas production has tumbled to a four-year low as a polar blast triggers blackouts across Texas and other central U.S. states, freezes liquids inside of pipes and forces wells to shut. Producers may take until March to fully restore supplies due to equipment damage, according to Charles Nevle, senior director for North American gas at IHS Markit.

At the Henry Hub in Louisiana, the delivery benchmark for futures in New York, spot gas traded at $20 or higher on Wednesday morning, according to two traders. That compares with a settlement of $16.13 on Tuesday and just $3.73 a week ago."

Source: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2021/02/17/jerry-jones-natural-gas-company-hits-jackpot-as-texas-freeze-drives-up-prices/