Community Chat

[SilleeMee]

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@Porcelain wrote:

Whoa. More people are going to die in Texas because of weather extremes and their shaky electrical grid.

That is really awful! I wish they would get off their rears and finally spend the money to fix it.

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@Porcelain 

I lived in San Antonio for a very short while. At the time my then husband worked for a construction company there. He told me that a lot of the buildings and homes don't have good insulation to prevent the extreme temperature changes up or down. So that puts a strain on the grid when thousands of people need to heat or cool their spaces. I'm shocked that there are places that don't insulate! Insulation saves energy.

[Spurt]

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@beckyb1012 wrote:

I do not want to even think about the heat inex with the temps this high.

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@beckyb1012 

And to add to the "fun" in order to avoid brown-outs/black-outs due to a stressed out electric grid,, the utility company sends out an email strongly suggesting restricting running appliances dishwasher/washer/dryer etc etc and setting your A/C 20 degrees below the expected high temperature ...that means when its 104 your A/C should be set at 84....so QVC take note when its that hot inside your home I dont know that many people that will layer their clothing outfits---example---wear cardigans, sweaters, denim jackets, sweaters, or long sleeved tops!!!! 🙄🥵 the hosts/vendors keep telling us about the "cold" A/C in our homes, offices, and businesses---🙄🙄🙄....Not in Texas nor I gather in the hot weather places where they are more or less told to conserve or else face brownouts/blackouts......

[kaydee50]

So happy that we sold our home in Henderson, NV a few years ago.  Could not tolerate the heat and even worse the intensity of the sun.  How I survived there 13 years, I do not know--LOL!!

And now they're running out of water.  Good luck everyone and stay safe!

[Kachina624]

@SilleeMee   @Spurt    I don't know what Texas is doing with all of their oil money.  You'd think they could put some toward improving the electric grid.  They're sure not sharing with retired state employees.  I can vouch for that.

New Mexico is awash in oil money.  They've appropriated $500. rebates to all taxpayers to cover increased gas expenses, gave teachers a huge pay increase, same to state police, and smaller raises to state employees.  Huge increases to education.  They're handing out money like Santa Claus.

[SilleeMee]

@Kachina624 

I can ask a similar question about Colorado's weed business taxes. I mean some of it goes to improving some things but a lot and I mean a lot is still left in the vault. What are they doing with all the money?

[PickyPicky3]

I just saw video of an infant formula flight landing at Dallas-Forth Worth. Fire trucks were spraying water on the Fedex plane. To keep the cargo cool in this heat? Is this done regularly in the summer in Texas?

[Spurt]

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@Porcelain wrote:

Whoa. More people are going to die in Texas because of weather extremes and their shaky electrical grid.

That is really awful! I wish they would get off their rears and finally spend the money to fix it.

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@Porcelain 

First of all Texas homes are just built different, no basements, built flat on the ground ....pipes are either in the ceiling or in the side walls......It was a rare artic storm that caused the problem, normally below freezing weather doesnt last long .....Folks are to told to take care of pipes by maintaing heat and leaving cabinets open below kitchen and bathroom sinks  so pipes dont freeze....AND during the artic storm green energy sources failed---wind turbines, solar, nuclear....and our city was impacted by an incompetent CEO or CPS ENERGY...who made many poor decisions which addeed to our woes during the storm....she resigned...and it was discovered she failed to provide required maintenance and other improvements that should have been done....

.In the summer we have "energy action days" when we are told to up the thermostadt and dont run certain appliances to prevent brownouts/blackouts......

But the NATIONAL GRID is also in trouble----during the Texas artic storm we were supposed to get help from

Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma---even though states are on a National Grid each state is still responsible for maintaining certain energy resources for their own state---Well these 3 states couldnt help they were facing brownouts/blackouts on their own due to high demand----also the National Grid is very vunerable to hackers....

Also see this article---

America’s power grid facing real trouble

Terry Jarrett 4/29/22

There are two reasons why consumers experience a power outage. The first is obvious: a storm comes along and knocks down trees and power lines. That’s what typically happens. But there’s now a second reason for power outages in the United States—there simply isn’t enough electricity to go around.

Power generation in the United States has always been an extremely dependable commodity. But recently, there’s been a startling decline—

 MISO President Clair Moeller explained that some utilities simply don’t “have sufficient generation to cover their load plus their required reserves.” That has left them scrambling to obtain back-up power at nearly any cost. Moeller cautions that some states could see an “increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to maintain system reliability.” In other words, get ready for blackouts. 

In recent years, America’s electricity supply has endured what one industry analyst described as a “slew of coal and nuclear retirements.” That has translated to the loss of a large chunk of reliable electricity production across the nation.

Wind and solar power are currently being added to regional grids. But they only provide power when the weather cooperates. Adding this renewable capacity looks good on paper. But reliable, on-demand capacity from coal and nuclear is being eroded at the same time. During peak demand on a bitter cold, windless day—or on a scorching summer night—there may not be enough power to go around. 

This is a situation poised to go from bad to worse. Utilities are now begging for reliable power generation. But America’s coal plants are being pushed into early retirement by regulatory pressures. That means environmental regulation is out-of-sync with the alarming facts on the ground. 

Any transition to renewable energy must be managed in ways that don’t impose soaring costs on consumers—or sacrifice reliable power delivery. Natural gas prices have doubled in the past year, and the challenge of matching power supply with the limits of renewable energy remains an ongoing challenge. We need to rethink the role existing coal plants can play in getting us to our energy future. 

Instead of dismantling our existing generating capacity, let’s build on its shoulders. Rolling blackouts or complete grid failures due to faulty planning are unacceptable. It’s past time for a responsible energy policy, not a reliability crisis. 

Terry Jarrett is an energy attorney and consultant who has served on both the board of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Missouri Public Service Commission.

[Spurt]

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@PickyPicky3 wrote:

I just saw video of an infant formula flight landing at Dallas-Forth Worth. Fire trucks were spraying water on the Fedex plane. To keep the cargo cool in this heat? Is this done regularly in the summer in Texas?

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@PickyPicky3 

Im not sure about North Texas I do know their summers are hotter than ours here in South Texas and South Texas is facing record breaking temperatures ----the normal is 92 for May/June and its been over 100 for a month and a half.....part of the problem was the tropical storm near Florida---land areas west of the storm like Texas get the hot air and hot temperatures generated by the storm and the area near the storm get the rain and winds.........plus high pressure areas are making this a miserable "summer" in Texas along with a drought............. 

[Porcelain]

Texas is definitely the worst, though, @Spurt. And they have the least excuse, with all that oil and their own private electrical grid. They should be doing the best, since they have the most control and talk the biggest game.

#7. Missouri

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 9
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 3
--- Most common cause: system operations

Severe thunderstorms in June 2021 cut off power to 38,000 Missouri residents. A week later, some Missourians experienced two power outages within 24 hours due to a faulty underground cable. And at the end of the same month, a storm flooded areas of Jefferson City, downing multiple power lines.

#6. Kansas

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 9
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 1
--- Most common cause: system operations

Kansas has faced several power outages due to extreme weather. Storms in June and July 2021 left 38,000 then 65,000 residents without power. A December 2020 power outage affected almost 10,000 Kansans, some twice. Further outages weren’t caused by weather conditions, like a substation explosion that led to more than 20,600 reports of power failure.

#5. Washington

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 10
--- Most common cause: severe weather, vandalism

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 21
--- Most common cause: vandalism

During a heatwave in June 2021, thousands of Washington customers lost power. One power company, Puget Sound Energy, said the outages were caused by high temperatures, not by too many people running their air conditioning. A different company, Avista, scheduled planned outages to prevent their systems from overloading from heat and the increased demand for electricity as people turned on air conditioning.

#4. Arkansas

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 10
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 11
--- Most common cause: severe weather

In May 2021, storms and high winds cut power for 60,000 Arkansas residents, toppling trees and pulling down power lines. During Easter weekend in 2020, severe storms gave the state the most outages in the country, leaving more than 100,000 people without electricity. Three days later, the power was still out for 21,000 Arkansans.

#3. California

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 15
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 55
--- Most common cause: severe weather

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s outdated power lines sparked the 2018 California Camp Fire, killing 85 people and destroying nearly all of Paradise, California. The company has since taken to implementing planned outages amid high wildfire risk conditions. Rain, an infrequent occurrence in the state, also causes power outages: Last month, PG&E said that the Bay Area outages, which affected more than 26,000 customers, were caused by light rain turning the dirt on power lines into mud.

#2. Louisiana

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 19
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 18
--- Most common cause: severe weather

Hurricanes in Louisiana have contributed to power outages vast in both quantity and scope. Hurricanes Laura and Delta touched down just six weeks apart in 2020. One utility company, Entergy Louisiana, had nearly finished restoring power to those affected by Hurricane Laura when Hurricane Delta led to outages for over 300,000 of its customers. Overall, more than 600,000 Louisiana residents lost power as a result of Hurricane Delta. In May 2021, flash flooding in Louisiana led to four deaths, including an oxygen-dependent older man who died from oxygen failure during a power outage.

#1. Texas

- Total electric disturbance events (2021): 66
--- Most common cause: severe weather

- Total electric disturbance events (2020): 47
--- Most common cause: severe weather

One of the nation’s worst power outages ever hit Texas in February 2021, leaving 4 million residents without power in freezing weather. More than 200 residents died, and over 1,400 people sought hospital care due to carbon monoxide poisoning, as people used alternative power sources, like charcoal grills, to stay warm. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said natural gas providers’ equipment failure primarily caused the outages. Still, all of the state’s power sources were affected by the low temperatures.

[Spurt]

@Porcelain 

February 2021 was the big artic storm event...ERCOT also contributed to the problems too and was also incompetent ---they spent 45 seconds according to one witness discussing whether we had enough reserves to handle the coming artic storm and they guessed yes and spent most of that meeting laughing and picturing cowboy's wearing boots in the snow...and we will be paying for their spike in energy costs for the next 25 years(they divided that way to lessen the impact on our bills, and also took a second rate increase....)

Texas is a big state and San Antonio doesnt get oil money-----our main sources of income are through  military installations, tourism, the medical industry, the IT industry, car manufacturing plants.....So I dont know where all that oil money goes.......

All I know is our city conducted a thorough investigation and what needed to be done to prevent future events like the artic storm.....and they said we should survive a "normal" summer but this summer hasnt been anything like normal....

To give you an idea of the idiots that run our city's utility last year when they sent out one of their summer heat warning/conserve energy emails----CPS  Energy conducted a meeting with our Mayor and other officials from surrounding towns---the Mayor of a town named Helotes noticed that same day we got the email about conserving energy he noticed that the A/C thermostadts were set at 65....AND MOST OF THE EMPLOYEES WERE WORKING FROM HOME BECAUSE OF COVID!!!! And the meeting took place at the Energy Company's BRAND NEW building...🙄