Texas Cold Weather Discussion

[nakneker]

Dang, I feel for everybody dealing with no power and the cold, I've been there and it is no fun at all. I hope the weather changes soon and life starts getting back to normal! I hope the elderly that don't have friends and family close are making it through ok. Rough stuff!

Our local power company wanted too much $$ to run power out to our place when we built, we went with solar, dropped a well, installed a back up generator, have woods stoves, propane and 50+ cords of hardwoods on the place. We had serious cold spell 8-9 years ago that broke a lot of pipes and cut the electricity to some neighbors of ours. We invited them to stay with us for a couple days, it was kinda of crowded but they were very grateful and we've been good friends ever since. As crappy as these things are sometimes we can find a silver lining in the experience.

Thoughts and prayers to all of you who have been affected by this!

 

[pirate ammo]

And some have not lost anything. My power has only flickered twice and the water is still flowing. I put all
my waterlines deep enough to start with, and as far as the power, i guess I'm living right.

 

[Evan]

Comparing no a/c to no heat in sub freezing temps... Nice

Original explorers deemed Florida unfit for human habitation. Wasn't until air conditioning that any significant number of people decided they could live there. Heat exhaustion kills just like hypothermia. Can always put on more clothing but can only take so much off .

 

[skeeljc]

Texas is an isolated power grid. Apparently they did that so they do not have to comply with federal regulations regarding provisions for severe weather. It appears the problem in Texas is a state issue.

 

[JTEX]

Texas is an isolated power grid. Apparently they did that so they do not have to comply with federal regulations regarding provisions for severe weather. It appears the problem in Texas is a state issue.

Yeah....its a state issue that the feds make us shut down our coal fired power plants. Its a state issue that its almost impossible to get federal approval to build any new power plants......

.

 

[nmkid]

Texas is an isolated power grid. Apparently they did that so they do not have to comply with federal regulations regarding provisions for severe weather. It appears the problem in Texas is a state issue.

If a person is to believe TV reports...It appears most Texas power plants are not built to operate in cold weather. Simply put...They are not insulated enough. Hang in there, folks!

 

[joshb]

They just had a lengthy report on the News about the Public Water system being compromised and the need to boil your water before consuming it. They spent ten minutes telling people how to boil water, pointed out a U Tube video on “How to boil water” and then reminded everybody not to drink the boiled water until it cooled a little, because.......... I’M IN THE FREAKIN TWILIGHT ZONE!!?!
Add the thought that most people don’t have power to run their stoves and.....

 

[riverside jeep]

Even though we're off the beaten path we have very reliable power. The problem now is that after all the fires in Kommifornia caused by power lines every time we get any kind of wind and it's been dry for while the power company shuts it off.

I'm sure you noticed your energy bill the last few months, Everybody yells "make them pay for the fire!", Were do they think that $$ is going to come from?

 

[LHSmith]

I'm sure you noticed your energy bill the last few months, Everybody yells "make them pay for the fire!", Were do they think that $$ is going to come from?

Exactly. This is akin to my state, PA-where the politicians want to add more taxes to our newly found natural gas deposits from fracking shale deposits. They and the media won't tell you that the energy companies will recoup that extra cost of business by passing it on to the consumer. They argue that money would be better spent on education.....an public education system that has no oversight and despite all the spending is creating dumber and dumber people- you know the ones that are too stupid to know how to take care of themselves and need help in every facet of daily life.

 

[Texas10]

I'm sure you noticed your energy bill the last few months, Everybody yells "make them pay for the fire!", Were do they think that $$ is going to come from?

Here in Texas the cost of electricity doesn't vary because we as consumers can sign multi-year contracts for a set rate in our deregulated market. This market also provides little or no incentive to modernize or upgrade to harden against this type of weather extreme. We went through this in 2011 and ERCOT made recommendations for winterizing power plants but since there was no enforcement, nothing changed. And here we are again, but much worse now due to huge influx of people moving to Texas since 2011. DUH!!

On the bright side, Jackie, as of this morning ERCOT has stopped rolling blackouts and has ordered utilities to begin restoring power as power plants are coming back online. We'll get through this with mostly (notice I wrote "mostly") nothing more serious than broken water pipes and drywall damage and long lines at gas stations and grocery markets for a few days or weeks. Unfortunately some will have perished due to various factors including lack of emergency response, or ability to relocate to warmer abodes, and heating via BBQ pits, cars and generators running inside homes.

Meanwhile, our Governor continues to play the blame game fingering wind power as the cause of the black outs, while those actually performed better than forecast according to ERCOT generating 13% of available power, more than expected. It was natural gas power plants that suffered frozen supply pipelines that fared the worst, and they and coal fired plants, along with a Nuc plant that shut down were the cause. Exactly what happened in 2011.

 

[75vmax]

This is the Colorado city TX Mayor

 

[FNSafari]

Here in Texas the cost of electricity doesn't vary because we as consumers can sign multi-year contracts for a set rate in our deregulated market. This market also provides little or no incentive to modernize or upgrade to harden against this type of weather extreme. We went through this in 2011 and ERCOT made recommendations for winterizing power plants but since there was no enforcement, nothing changed. And here we are again, but much worse now due to huge influx of people moving to Texas since 2011. DUH!!

On the bright side, Jackie, as of this morning ERCOT has stopped rolling blackouts and has ordered utilities to begin restoring power as power plants are coming back online. We'll get through this with mostly (notice I wrote "mostly") nothing more serious than broken water pipes and drywall damage and long lines at gas stations and grocery markets for a few days or weeks. Unfortunately some will have perished due to various factors including lack of emergency response, or ability to relocate to warmer abodes, and heating via BBQ pits, cars and generators running inside homes.

Meanwhile, our Governor continues to play the blame game fingering wind power as the cause of the black outs, while those actually performed better than forecast according to ERCOT generating 13% of available power, more than expected. It was natural gas power plants that suffered frozen supply pipelines that fared the worst, and they and coal fired plants, along with a Nuc plant that shut down were the cause. Exactly what happened in 2011.

So wind turbine failures are not to be criticized?

Half of Texas Wind Turbines Freeze, Hurting Electricity Output (breitbart.com)

 

[LHSmith]

So wind turbine failures are not to be criticized?

Half of Texas Wind Turbines Freeze, Hurting Electricity Output (breitbart.com)

Exactly. If the mainstream media claims something....it's always the exact opposite. Their track record is 100%.....100% wrong.

 

[Rsadams]

No water for 4 days now because the rolling blackouts killed a pump at the water department... Been melting snow for the toilets down to 4 gallons of drinking water and it's started snowing again... Lucky enough to have power but can't get down the driveway to leave...

 

[M-61]

it's always the exact opposite. Their track record is 100%.....100% wrong.

Yes! I can no longer watch any stations version of the news.

 

[Texas10]

So wind turbine failures are not to be criticized?

Half of Texas Wind Turbines Freeze, Hurting Electricity Output (breitbart.com)

Figures never lie, but liars always figure. Most of those wind fields were up and running. ERCOTS planning overstated the reduction in wind field power during the freeze, and UNDERSTATED the reduction in Gas power plant reliability. Wind fields continued to produce 13% of the power that was available.

The Texas power grid failed mostly due to natural gas. Republicans are blaming wind turbines.

As Texas on Tuesday entered its third night with sub-freezing temperatures and 3.3 million customers without electricity, the operator of the state's unique power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), urged Texans who still have electricity to turn off lights, unplug...

www.yahoo.com

 

[swd]

I'm sure you noticed your energy bill the last few months, Everybody yells "make them pay for the fire!", Were do they think that $$ is going to come from?

And the massive increase from all the homeowners insurance company’s.

 

[KMart]

Simply put...They are not insulated enough. Hang in there, folks!

There is a HINT of truth there. I worked for a German company doing business in Texas. I have participated in many, many planning, building, and operating projects in Texas. The parent company demands "value engineering" and wants the plant to be built as cheaply and quickly as possible. They hold the purse strings.
When it comes to building in winterizing, that is a cost they don't want to pay. I say we need to do this and this and this to prevent freeze ups and down time. The intelligent German engineers that have only seen Texas during March to September says, the average daily temperature in this area is X. It doesn't get cold in Texas. You can not spend the money.
Fast forward 2 years and the German is the manager of the unit and in Jan/Feb the weather turns to Chit. The unit freezes up, shuts down and millions of $ are spent repairing equipment and more money is lost for 10 days of lost production.
The German comes down and says "This cannot be". Dresses everyone down letting everyone know YOU failed. Someone finally speaks up and says, I remember someone telling us 2 years ago that it doesn't get cold in Texas.

 

[pirate ammo]

No water for 4 days now because the rolling blackouts killed a pump at the water department... Been melting snow for the toilets down to 4 gallons of drinking water and it's started snowing again... Lucky enough to have power but can't get down the driveway to leave...

Bring some jugs over we got water, charge your phone while your waiting, stop at the Valaro for beer on the way.

 

[FAF1947]

Only four days? Meh. Try 17 days post a hurricane with no AC. In suburban Miami.

If I remember right we were out for 3 weeks after Ike or Rita when I was living on Lake Sam Rayburn. Ended up at our daughters house in Spring after all the guest left. At this house we installed a Generac with a 500 gallon propane tank that ran for 4 days after the last hurricane.