Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Sunday September 26 2021, @12:45PM   Printer-friendly

New report suggests Texas' grid was 5 minutes from catastrophic failure:

The preliminary report has been put together by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in combination with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a nonprofit set up by utilities to help set standards and practices that keep the grid stable. The draft itself isn't being released at this point, but the two have posted a detailed presentation that describes the report's contents. A final version will be released in November.

The outline of February's grid problems is well understood: a severe cold snap raised demand at the same time as it caused failure of many of the generating sources in the area affected. The problems struck a number of states, but only Texas' ERCOT grid suffered severe failures. The neighboring Southwest Power Pool suffered five hours when its demand exceeded its generating capacity, But, because of its tight integration into neighboring grids, it was able to call upon 13 gigawatts of generation capacity in states farther east.

[...] The largest single cause of failures during the event was frozen equipment, which ranged from individual gauges and instruments on large plants to the icing up of wind turbine blades. This accounted for 44 percent of the failures of generating equipment. Mechanical failures accounted for another 20 percent. Between the two was a failure of fuel supplies, accounting for nearly a third of the failures. And "fuel supplies" here primarily means natural gas.

[...] But a major problem was loss of power to the gas distribution and supply system. Apparently, Texas grid operators had taken no steps to identify natural gas facilities and prioritize power delivery to them when starting the rolling blackouts. "Most natural gas production and processing facilities surveyed were not identified as critical load or otherwise protected from load shedding," the report indicates.

Previously:
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=21/02/15/2347241


Original Submission

Related Stories

Texas’ Power Grid Crumples Under the Cold; Millions W/O Power, Cell Phone Service Disrupted[UPDATED] 96 comments

[UPDATE (2021-02-16 14:46:07 UTC): mea culpa! Corrected temperature comparison of Boca Chica vs. Chicago. Also, noted and corrected temperature error in quoted text. --martyb]

Boca Chica, Texas is located at the southernmost point in Texas and is where SpaceX builds and launches its next-generation Starship orbital rockets. At 2:30 PM local time, the predicted high temperature for the day was 17°F (-8.3°C) which was colder than nearly as cold as Chicago, Illinois where the day's high temperature was predicted to reach 15°F (-9.4°C) .

Millions without power in Texas as snow storm slams US:

Temperatures nosedived into the single-digits as far south as San Antonio, [Texas] and homes that had already been without electricity for hours had no certainty about when the lights and heat would come back on, as the state's overwhelmed power grid throttled into rotating blackouts that are typically only seen in 100-degree Fahrenheit (38-degree Celsius) summers.

The storm was part of a massive system that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain to the southern Plains and was spreading across the Ohio Valley and to the Northeast.

[...] In Houston, where county leaders had warned that the deteriorating conditions could create problems on the scale of massive hurricanes that slam the Gulf Coast, one electric provider said power may not be restored to some homes until Tuesday.

[...] Several cities in the U.S. saw record lows as Artic[sic] air remained over the central part of the country. In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 39 degrees Celsius), while Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit (minus 26[sic -32] degrees Celsius).

In Kansas, where wind chills dropped to as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) in some areas, Gov. Laura Kelly declared a state of disaster.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:00PM (37 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:00PM (#1181559) Journal

    the icing up of wind turbine blades.

    Is there a sidelong assertion that wind turbines can't handle cold? It's preposterous. Wind farms are found much farther north in the US where it's much colder, and they don't have any special problems with it.

    The underlying message of the article is that everyone should be very afraid of standing on their own two feet when it comes to producing power. They knock Texas for having its own grid, which is silly because Texas is larger than most countries. Would they knock Germany for having its own grid?

    We all need to decentralize power production. It's a means of central control and it's a relic of a bygone age. And if we decentralize power production, we begin to decentralize everything else that depends on power, like transportation and the perpetuation of our material culture. All of us in I.T. should understand this viscerally, given our experience with FOSS and the dangers of closed source--decentralization leads the way to greater freedom for all.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:12PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:12PM (#1181564)

      We all need to decentralize power production. It's a means of central control and it's a relic of a bygone age.

      Do your part. Install solar panels on the roof and a battery buffer enough for 7 days for your household.

      • (Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Monday September 27 2021, @12:12PM (1 child)

        by Fnord666 (652) on Monday September 27 2021, @12:12PM (#1181826) Homepage

        Do your part. Install solar panels on the roof and a battery buffer enough for 7 days for your household.

        Is there anyone who has a battery buffer that large? I mean sufficient to actually act as the sole provider of power for their household, even at a reduced consumption rate, for a week?

        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 28 2021, @04:01PM

          by Freeman (732) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @04:01PM (#1182262) Journal

          The batteries required would be extremely expensive and would likely need maintenance and/or replacement, before the solar panels would.

          My father-in-law has a grid tied system that makes enough solar to power his house during the day. He's setup to sell back excess power to the power company. Which provides him with enough excess, so he doesn't have to pay for any power. Since, the excess produced is more than what he uses at night. Getting the power company to actually cut a check for the excess power produced is a whole separate issue. So far as I know, they just won't do it, unless he switches provider / drops them.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:29PM (12 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:29PM (#1181570) Journal
      Icing up is not merely cold. And bet those northern regions you refer to have various tricks for mitigating icing which probably haven't been tried in Texas.
      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:39PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @01:39PM (#1181572)

        Oh, hello, Captn Obvious. Have you seen General Specific today?

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @09:18PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @09:18PM (#1181677)

          "We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." -- George Orwell

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @02:29AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @02:29AM (#1181730)

            It's better to stay sunken at that depth and do not attempt to get to the surface, right? Right?
            Don't even think of adding something relevant, regurgitating what was said is just enough. Goodthink is here and we're comfortable with it.

      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by RedGreen on Sunday September 26 2021, @02:34PM (5 children)

        by RedGreen (888) on Sunday September 26 2021, @02:34PM (#1181580)

        "Icing up is not merely cold. And bet those northern regions you refer to have various tricks for mitigating icing which probably haven't been tried in Texas."

        Not that I have seen here with the turbines just outside of my home town in Nova Scotia we get plenty of frozen weather every year and them turbines just keep spinning. Now having it stay on with the wind blowing seems to be a challenge some of the time for them slimy bastards and their lack of maintenance for the trees. Every year when I was a child they came and trimmed them back, but then again the public own the utility then, now owned by for profit corporation it is only when the branches have fallen on them lines that the corporate bean counters send out the trucks.

        --
        "I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
        • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:40PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:40PM (#1181600)

          Probably because they can get emergency state money to repair infrastructure, whereas maintenance is out of their own bonus checks. Smart.

          • (Score: 4, Insightful) by RedGreen on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:43PM (1 child)

            by RedGreen (888) on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:43PM (#1181625)

            "Probably because they can get emergency state money to repair infrastructure, whereas maintenance is out of their own bonus checks. Smart."

            No such idea here the government is outlawed from that they get to cover the costs themselves. They have done the math and it is cheaper to send out the repair crews after the power goes down. Christ we have to wait hours some of the time for the restore as it can take that long to get the now centralized crews dispatched and on site. It can take days in a bad one, again as a child we had some monster storms nothing like we get now and the power remained on for all of that. I can remember the plows not being able to plow the streets of snow they had to bring in the heavy equipment but the power remained.. Now get off my lawn.

            --
            "I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @06:17PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @06:17PM (#1181629)
          Regular maintenance helps, as does using grease that doesn't solidify at lower temperatures )but thats a few bucks more per windmill! Think of the profit margins!!! Oh the humanity!)

          Defrosters )resistance heating wire) embedded in the blades also helps, same as the back window on cars sold in winter climates. same as you wouldn't get on an airplane without deicers.

          And yet despite lacking this, wind didn't stop producing. Nuclear, on the other hand …

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @12:50AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @12:50AM (#1182059)

            Windmills don't use defrosters. They use chemical deicing systems like aircraft. The Texas wind farms are equipped with them or they wouldn't have been able to restart until everything warmed up again. The delay they had was because they don't normally keep deicing fluid in the windmills, so workers had to go out and fill them.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by el_oscuro on Monday September 27 2021, @02:07AM

        by el_oscuro (1711) on Monday September 27 2021, @02:07AM (#1181727)

        Texas had plenty of warning when their grid shit the bed 10 years ago during another cold snap. And cold snaps are a thing which affects the entire country east of the Rockies, so there is no excuse for Texas.

        --
        SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday September 27 2021, @05:19PM (1 child)

        by Thexalon (636) on Monday September 27 2021, @05:19PM (#1181917)

        "They haven't been tried" isn't really a good characterization of it. Wind turbines work just fine in the winter where I am in northern Ohio, for instance, and while I'd be hard-pressed to tell you the design details, there's no question they've sorted it out.

        Texas keeps a separate electric grid from the rest of the country so they don't have to follow the same regulations as the rest of the country, and some of those regulations have to do with preparation for extreme weather. You know, the kinds of things that usually aren't a problem, except for when, say, the temperature drops well below its usual range. Engineering types generally want to prepare for contingencies like that, but business types would rather not spend the money. Especially when, as happens in Texas, massive screw-ups actually *increase* electric company profits thanks to demand pricing.

        TL;DR: The engineers could solve this, the suits don't want to.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:02PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:02PM (#1182194) Journal

          "They haven't been tried" isn't really a good characterization of it. Wind turbines work just fine in the winter where I am in northern Ohio, for instance, and while I'd be hard-pressed to tell you the design details, there's no question they've sorted it out.

          Texas keeps a separate electric grid from the rest of the country so they don't have to follow the same regulations as the rest of the country, and some of those regulations have to do with preparation for extreme weather. You know, the kinds of things that usually aren't a problem, except for when, say, the temperature drops well below its usual range. Engineering types generally want to prepare for contingencies like that, but business types would rather not spend the money. Especially when, as happens in Texas, massive screw-ups actually *increase* electric company profits thanks to demand pricing.

          I think actually that was a wise decision on Texas's part.

          Let us note that California hasn't solved these sort of grid problems (with a bit more massive screw-ups than Texas, if you ask me) despite being part of the western grid. So being on a separate grid hasn't actually been materially different than being part of the grid, nor has being more regulated federally been an obvious improvement over less regulated federally. There is a unwarranted assumption that attachment to a grid and federal regulation are useful here.

          Texas can just adopt regulations "to do with preparation for extreme weather" and that box is checked off. It doesn't need federal level regulation to do that.

          TL;DR: The engineers could solve this, the suits don't want to.

          Which is just as true at the federal level as it is at the Texas level.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Sunday September 26 2021, @02:44PM (1 child)

      by digitalaudiorock (688) on Sunday September 26 2021, @02:44PM (#1181581) Journal

      The underlying message of the article is that everyone should be very afraid of standing on their own two feet when it comes to producing power. They knock Texas for having its own grid, which is silly because Texas is larger than most countries. Would they knock Germany for having its own grid?

      That's a pretty poor characterization from what I recall. My understanding was they they went on their own, among other thing, to avoid the regulations required to be on the national grid...one of which would have been to be prepared for that cold weather "We never have in Texas". So it was a conservative "fuck regulations" move that backfired and effectively proved why those regulations exist. Maybe I misunderstood, but I don't think I did.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 26 2021, @03:58PM (9 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 26 2021, @03:58PM (#1181595) Journal

      Is there a sidelong assertion that wind turbines can't handle cold?

      I see more of an indictment of the management of Texas' power, along with many other decision makers around the country. Most of them are unfit for management.

      You know, and I know, a wind turbine just doesn't care how hot, or how cold it is. The turbine can generate electricity at any temperature likely to occur in the earth's atmosphere. But, idiots wanted to save money, and failed to install the equipment to deal with icing conditions. "It only gets cold around here once a decade, we don't need to waste the money!" Idiots. Same goes for the natural gas plants that iced up.

      This is not unlike developers who build communities in river bottoms, justifying it with "It only floods here once a century." It's not a question of if, but when, will the next flood wipe the community out.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:44PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:44PM (#1181601)

        This is not unlike developers who build communities in river bottoms, justifying it with "It only floods here once a century." It's not a question of if, but when, will the next flood wipe the community out.

        Immense pain is coming to Florida in the next decades. I for one look forward to the howls of conservative low tax stand-on-your-own-2-feet types wanting their underwater houses (literally) bought off them by We The People the federal govt. No - and your welcome douchetards.

        • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday September 27 2021, @05:28PM (1 child)

          by Thexalon (636) on Monday September 27 2021, @05:28PM (#1181919)

          I've been meaning to take a trip to Florida when/if they stop being a Covid hot spot, on the grounds that I'd like to see what it's like while it still exists.

          And yes, I fully expect that the same people that refused to take any responsibility for any of the world's problems before it started affecting them too directly will continue to refuse to take any responsibility once the problems do start affecting them directly.

          --
          The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
          • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday October 01 2021, @09:41PM

            by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Friday October 01 2021, @09:41PM (#1183488)

            I fully expect that the same people that refused to take any responsibility for any of the world's problems before it started affecting them too directly will continue to refuse to take any responsibility once the problems do start affecting them directly.

            After all, why should they? It will obviously be the fault of liberals/gays/taxes/immigrants/critical race theory/facemasks/the gay agenda/etc. [insert scapegoat of the day].

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:05PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:05PM (#1181685)

        Wind turbines are vulnerable to icing for the same reasons aircraft are. Texas' turbines were equipped for it but they needed to send people out to actually put the deicing fluid in them. They don't store it in the turbines because they only need it once or twice per decade, so they just keep a few barrels on site and fill as needed. This is why the wind farms were generating again within hours.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:30PM (4 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:30PM (#1181691) Journal

          Traffic lights are also subject to icing. In the days of incandescent light bulbs, no one ever noticed, because those bulbs incidentally threw off waste heat that kept them from icing up. Then we moved to LED traffic lights and, WHOOPS!! Same technology that deices your rear window works for deicing traffic lights. Too bad some heating elements can't be incorporated into those wind turbine blades, right? If only there were some way to make them come on automagically when the temperature dipped below ~30°F. Then there would be no need for some dummy to go out in the field to spray them down.

          • (Score: 1) by Acabatag on Monday September 27 2021, @03:37AM (2 children)

            by Acabatag (2885) on Monday September 27 2021, @03:37AM (#1181753)

            In the long term, there are going to be other interesting problems with LED lighting. Many electrical switches are designed for to switch a specific range of current reliably. This means there is a minimum current required for the switch contacts to stay non-corroded and conducting. When they switch the proper current, a mild arcing effect keeps the contacts tarnish free by design. When you suddenly are running 1/10 less current through the switches and there isn't a cold-filament current surge effect at power-up, they are more prone to failure.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:13AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:13AM (#1182066)

              Modern traffic light controlers are either solid state or use sealed relays. Older style relays used friction between the contacts to mechanically remove tarnish.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:03PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:03PM (#1182755)
              Really? I'd think the mild arcing is what wears out the switch.
              Anyway LED lights often have a high inrush current.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:01AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:01AM (#1182065)

            Heating elements cost more to operate than chemical deicers, especially on an airfoil where you have both a large surface area and accelerated airflow. The power drain would be enormous.

            Worker don't "spray them down". There are tanks inside the mills that feed channels in the blades. In cold climates those tanks are normally filled each fall before cold weather sets in and then topped up as needed, but in Texas they only need it for a few days per decade, which is much less often than they'd need to drain the system for maintenance, so it is simpler to fill them on demand.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by epitaxial on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:54PM (3 children)

      by epitaxial (3165) on Sunday September 26 2021, @04:54PM (#1181605)

      Texas created their own grid and staffed the toothless regulatory agency with political cronies. This article really explains how the same fuck ups happened in 2011 and then 1989. Chances are it will happen again because fuck you we're Texas. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/18/state-energy-winter-protections-lacking-reports-have-suggested/4490501001/ [usatoday.com]

      • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:51PM (2 children)

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:51PM (#1181626) Journal

        happened in 2011 and then 1989

        Wait, in Texas, 1989 came after 2011? :-)

        --
        The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:07PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:07PM (#1181662)

          > Wait, in Texas, 1989 came after 2011?
          When you are around, I guess so...

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by drussell on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:42PM

          by drussell (2678) on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:42PM (#1181667) Journal

          No, the article talks first about the issues in 2011 and then also afterward talks about how essentially the same thing happened before that, in 1989.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @09:59PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @09:59PM (#1181683)

      Like any airfoil wind turbines are vulnerable to icing, so they are commonly fitted with deicing equipment just like aircraft are. What is conveniently not mentioned, either here or by the governor, is that Texas' wind farms were up and running at maximum capacity within hours of the freeze. The temporary shutdown was because the operators needed to actually put the deicing fluid in their turbines. As they only need it once or twice per decade at most they fill them every fall like in colder climates, they just store a few barrels in a shed on site just in case.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @06:27PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @06:27PM (#1181937)

        Wow, guess I shouldn't be surprised, any opening to attack non-burning energy sources.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:18AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:18AM (#1182069)

          It's even worse than that. They helped keep prices from skyrocketing even more during the crisis, potentially costing insiders billions in disaster profits.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @12:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @12:21PM (#1181830)

      > Would they knock Germany for having its own grid?

      There's a reason Germany is part of ACER.

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday September 27 2021, @05:34PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday September 27 2021, @05:34PM (#1181922) Journal

      Would they knock Germany for having its own grid?

      German does not have it's own grid. [wikipedia.org]

      Germany's electrical grid is part of the Synchronous grid of Continental Europe.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by canopic jug on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:09PM

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 26 2021, @05:09PM (#1181615) Journal

    Most of the news on this is from the second half of February. So I am not sure why Ars Technica is dusting off and republishing the story, except for a vague mention of new information. See also The Two Hours That Nearly Destroyed Texas’s Electric Grid [bloombergquint.com]. Contrary to the disinformation being spread early on, gas and coal were at the heart of the problem.

    At 11 p.m., the green dots on the monitor overlooking the control room turned red. Across the state, power plant owners started seeing instruments on their lines freezing and causing their plants to go down. In some cases, well shut-ins in West Texas caused gas supplies to dip, reducing pressure at gas plants and forcing them offline. At that point, virtually all of the generation falling off the grid came from coal or gas plants.

    Later, back in March of this year, after the press had already forgotten that Texas had an energy problem, Dr. Jesse D. Jenkins testified before the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, United States House of Representatives on the Lessons Learned from the Texas Blackouts: Research Needs for a Secure and Resilient Grid [house.gov].

    The central challenge is that electricity supply and demand have to be kept in balance at all times. If demand exceeds supply, generators strain to meet the greater load, which results in a decline in the frequency at which the alternating current grid reverses polarity (60 hertz, or 60 times per second during normal operations) as synchronized generators slow their rotation under the strain. If the imbalance is too large and frequency drops less than 1% below the nominal 60 hertz (or less than 59.4 hertz) for more than a few minutes, generators will automatically disconnect to avoid damage, triggering a cascading failure that can result in a total systemwide blackout. A grid operator’s primary duty is to avoid this outcome.

    According to ERCOT, the Texas grid was just “minutes and second away” from this total system failure. If that scenario had occurred, it could have left Texans without electricity for weeks, requiring a “black start,” a delicately orchestrated operation to carefully bring power plants and transmission lines back, one-by-one. While ERCOT and other system operators drill and plan for black starts, the operation has never actually been performed, as the Texas grid has never suffered a complete system-wide blackout.

    Until the final report is released, that's going to be one of the more authoritative summaries of how they ended up in the situation they did.

    --
    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
  • (Score: 2) by Username on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:37PM (1 child)

    by Username (4557) on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:37PM (#1181655)

    It can only meltdown, but at least you won't freeze to death.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:07PM (#1181686)

      Some of Texas' nuclear plants did freeze, and for the same reasons that their coal and gas plants froze: The support equipment wasn't rated for cold.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:41PM (#1181658)

    They should have played Factorio. Every Factorio noobie quickly learns you don't cut power to the miners feeding your power plant.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Unixnut on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:57PM (14 children)

    by Unixnut (5779) on Sunday September 26 2021, @07:57PM (#1181660)

    > But a major problem was loss of power to the gas distribution and supply system. Apparently, Texas grid operators had taken no steps to identify natural gas facilities and prioritize power delivery to them when starting the rolling blackouts. "Most natural gas production and processing facilities surveyed were not identified as critical load or otherwise protected from load shedding," the report indicates.

    I don't get this. Most natural gas pumping stations run on engines that are powered by the gas pipeline itself. That way as along as there is gas flowing down the pipeline, the pumping station has power to pump. A self sustaining cycle.

    While I don't know how it works in the USA, in Europe the gas pumping stations use some of the gas as fuel to pump further. The quoted text makes is sound like their gas pumping stations are dependent on the electrical grid, which seems like needless complexity, higher risk of failure, and dependency on a centralised system. That just sounds like an all round bad idea to do.

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:45PM (8 children)

      by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Sunday September 26 2021, @08:45PM (#1181670)

      They deregulate because they want to cut what they consider drains on profit. Among those "drains" are systems put in place to prevent disasters from occurring, and to mitigate problems should worse case scenarios occur. It's Ponzi scheme economics, collect money and hope to get out before you're responsible for any liability.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Monday September 27 2021, @05:33PM (7 children)

        by Thexalon (636) on Monday September 27 2021, @05:33PM (#1181921)

        hope to get out before you're responsible for any liability.

        What liability?

        That's the thing: The way the regs are written in Texas, what happened during the disaster is that what used to be $10 worth of electrical power became well over $1,000 worth and the residents were getting charged accordingly. Which means that when the dust settled, this massive and deadly screw-up was also quite profitable, and there was basically no downside whatsoever for anybody in the power industry.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 28 2021, @04:10PM (6 children)

          by Freeman (732) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @04:10PM (#1182266) Journal

          This is why you don't go with "variable rate" anything. Sure, it's probably fine most of the time, but that variable rate can and will likely cost you a lot in the long run.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:29PM (5 children)

            by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:29PM (#1182399)

            And that's all good advice when the "you" in your prescription is actually you, but the people deciding to use the variable rates are the Texas government officials who decide on what options are available to their residents.

            --
            The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
            • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:44PM (4 children)

              by Freeman (732) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:44PM (#1182406) Journal

              Variable rate credit cards are a thing as well. What isn't provided is a safeguard for the uninformed consumer.

              In the event that people peddling the variable rate XYZ thing were being honest. Marketing material might look something like: We are putting you on the hook for massive payouts in the future. Please sign-up today, so we can fleece you tomorrow. Don't wait, destroy your future, now!

              Etc . . .

              --
              Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
              • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:26PM (3 children)

                by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:26PM (#1182421)

                My point is, it's not you signing up for a variable rate credit card (which is dumb, no question). Instead, it's not even your decision: You're getting a variable rate credit card, and you are required to use it for at least $300 worth of purchases per month.

                --
                The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
                • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:33PM (2 children)

                  by Freeman (732) on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:33PM (#1182424) Journal

                  Maybe, I'm missing something, but you choose your provider. You also, choose your plan. In the event that you chose a "variable rate", don't be surprised when it goes bonkers.

                  --
                  Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
                  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday October 01 2021, @09:37PM (1 child)

                    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Friday October 01 2021, @09:37PM (#1183486)

                    Maybe, I'm missing something, but you choose your provider. You also, choose your plan.

                    Maybe in selecting a credit card (although their terms of service usually allow them to make whatever changes they want anyway), but where power is concerned your choice is usually "yes, I want lights" or "no thanks, I'll sit in the dark". You get to choose the local power company or nothing. The politicians handing out the power concessions choose what "plans" consumers have, and their choices only incidentally reflect what is best for consumers.

                    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 04 2021, @01:49PM

                      by Freeman (732) on Monday October 04 2021, @01:49PM (#1184105) Journal

                      Ah, well, in Texas, there are multiple providers (These guys sell you power, think a giant corporation of marketing people.), with a couple of regulated utilities that provide service for those providers (These guys fix the power lines, etc., the unloved people who fix your power when Tornadoes take out bunches of power lines). There are also multiple plans for those service providers. Literally someone had to choose the "Yes, I want Variable Rate power" option.

                      --
                      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:13PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26 2021, @10:13PM (#1181688)

      That used to be the case, but a couple of decades ago gas lines were switched to electric pumping due to changes in tax law, both in the US and in Canada. Yes, it is incredibly stupid, but that is what happens when you put politicians in charge. :(

      • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday September 27 2021, @02:46AM (2 children)

        by PiMuNu (3823) on Monday September 27 2021, @02:46AM (#1181735)

        > due to changes in tax law

        How do tax laws cause a change in the type of pumps used?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @03:58AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 27 2021, @03:58AM (#1181760)

          Same way tax law determines whether or not to do anything.

          For instance, it's stupid for me to go to work...it's not economically viable to work for someone else for pay.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:33AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @01:33AM (#1182073)

          When the new tax on gas powered pumps is higher than the cost of switching to electric then gas companies will switch to save money.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Monday September 27 2021, @05:40PM

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday September 27 2021, @05:40PM (#1181923) Journal

        Electric compression reduces emissions and (more importantly) saves operators money.

        Install Electric Compressors [epa.gov]

  • (Score: 2) by seeprime on Monday September 27 2021, @07:04PM

    by seeprime (5580) on Monday September 27 2021, @07:04PM (#1181952)

    Samsung's shutdown destroyed two months of chip production, aggravating an already bad supply issue. This was a severe failure on Texas part. And still, they're convincing Samsung to build another new fab building in Texas. I wonder how much graft is involved here.

(1)