So, is the Texas power grid 'fixed'? (Houston, Dallas: insurance, condo)

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by CastletonSnob1

In other words, a winter storm like in 2021 probably WON'T happen?

Wrong, it’s the same forecast than last winter

NOAA 2021-2022 Winter Outlook Hints At Warm, Dry Texas Winter

[detachable arm]

It won’t be cold this winter- because I said so.

Abbott also said the grid is fixed, and he said it semi-forcefully complete with hand gestures showing he is a true leader. Chill out, we’re in good hands, everything will be fine.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

It won’t be cold this winter- because I said so.

Abbott also said the grid is fixed, and he said it semi-forcefully complete with hand gestures showing he is a true leader. Chill out, we’re in good hands, everything will be fine.

Agreed.. ..if he had just used hand gestures last winter this wouldn't even be a thing today..

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Agreed.. ..if he had just used hand gestures last winter this wouldn't even be a thing today..

If Abbott did his job, things would have been better


How Texas’ power grid works

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, an independent nonprofit, manages the price of power and also balances supply and demand in the grid, which ERCOT said was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts during the mid-February winter storm that caused dayslong power outages for millions of Texans. ERCOT is regulated by the state government.

ERCOT and electric utilities answer to the state Public Utility Commission, whose board is appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. And everyone answers to the Texas Legislature, which can write laws to regulate any part of the system. A Texas Tribune and ProPublica investigation found that Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but repeatedly prioritized the interests of large electricity providers rather than force expensive changes.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Dopo

If Abbott did his job, things would have been better


How Texas’ power grid works

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, an independent nonprofit, manages the price of power and also balances supply and demand in the grid, which ERCOT said was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts during the mid-February winter storm that caused dayslong power outages for millions of Texans. ERCOT is regulated by the state government.

ERCOT and electric utilities answer to the state Public Utility Commission, whose board is appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. And everyone answers to the Texas Legislature, which can write laws to regulate any part of the system. A Texas Tribune and ProPublica investigation found that Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but repeatedly prioritized the interests of large electricity providers rather than force expensive changes.

Not applauding Abbott over the power grid and I was being sarcastic in my last post..

..but I do have to ask, How much power do the board members and ERCOT in general have over the individual generating stations given ERCOT does not own or operate them? ERCOT's role in the power grid seems to be to manage the role of energy distribution and pricing of power across the grid (think of them as an Air traffic controller), but does not operate the actual stations generating power (think of them as an actual Airline who provides and maintains equipment) but rather keeps them in synchronized between supply and demand.

The actual generating stations seem to be operated by NRG, Oncor, ect. Do the board members therefor have the power of oversight to command generating stations to winterize? Keep in mind that this particular aspect of the operation actually isn't terribly different than the national grid. In the national grid most generating stations are owned by private companies. They are just regulated by the federal government and overseen by each particular interconnection: https://www.energy.gov/oe/services/e...recovery-act-0
...and I think that is the important missing link in our system as the feds do not regulate power producers in the ERCOT system. So do the Board Members have the authority to tell generating stations to winterize given they do not directly manage them?

I agree our power grid is a Texan hackjob with all of the investing entities in the system.. ..but that doesn't necessarily mean that all the blame fell solely on ERCOT or its board members. To me it seems as though there were alot of factors that went into play that concocted into a giant mess when ***** hit the fan... typically thats how many man-made disasters unfold...

Edit: Looks like the PUC has the ability to enforce plants for winter preparedness, but what about winterization of the actual facilities where significant financial investment would be required?:

https://www.puc.texas.gov/agency/res...herization.pdf

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/lo...7-df57e678b3d2

[elnina]

Originally Posted by tmtex

NOAA 2022-23 Winter Outlook calls for warmer and drier than normal conditions in Central Texas. As we enter our third consecutive La Niña winter, the odds remain tilted toward warmer and drier than normal weather in Texas.

So, and that's excuse not to fix it...

[jdhpa]

I found a good video on the engineering aspects of the power loss during the snow storm last year:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08mwXICY4JM

[CastletonSnob1]

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11...rcot-forecast/

[crone]

Ercot and the governor need to consider the needs of residential and businesses already here over growth. My electricity contract expired in June. We have been with Energy Ogre for 3 years.

The provider they placed us with get .20 a kWh. So we are in for a year unless we pay the 200 cancellation fee. We might. The rates have come down enough to do the arithmetic.

In that same time frame the state is courting crypto miners. They get their electricity for .075 They are also getting tax abatements from the rural areas and the state. I'm beginning to wonder about the effectiveness of this incessant playing one area against another for taxes and utility rates. BTW, those crypto miners use the same amount of electricity as the state of NY, including NYC.

[EDS_]

The background being the storm was the worst cold blast in many decades - maybe since 1899. The smart play is to hedge. Spending $5-7 billion to harden an aging system, an aging system that will be mostly phased out by PV solar over the next couple of decades, would be dumb.


Per maximum societal advantage that $5-7 billion should be spent on net new PV solar, batteries and other storage means. Some should be spent on new natural gas generation as well.