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'Unplanned' outages hit Texas power plants in soaring temperatures
Officials with Texas' power grid operator pleaded with residents Monday to limit their electrical usage amid soaring temperatures and a series of mechanical problems at power plants.
The appeal, from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, comes four months after deadly blackouts during a winter storm left millions of people without power — and weeks after state legislators passed a package of measures aimed at fixing some of the problems exposed by the storm.
Officials with the nonprofit group, which oversees 90 percent of Texas' energy production, asked residents to set their thermostats higher, turn off lights and avoid using larger appliances until Friday.
A spokeswoman for the group told reporters that the outages accounted for more than 12,000 megawatts, enough to power 2.4 million homes. Some areas of the state, including Dallas and Tarrant counties, were warned about poor air quality and potentially dangerous heat, with the heat index approaching 110 degrees.
A senior official with ERCOT, Warren Lasher, said it wasn't clear why there were so many unplanned outages. But he said that the group is "deeply concerned" about the plants that are offline and that a thorough investigation is being conducted to better understand the problems.
(Score: 1, Troll) by crafoo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @10:32AM (23 children)
When the boomers finally die we can build nuclear plants.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @10:39AM (3 children)
Yes but you millennials will hire nuclear plant designers based on their hair colour and number of preferred genders, leading to a whole new round of problems.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @10:44AM (1 child)
They'll be taking a census of uranium atoms to determine the proper gender ratios of the atoms.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 5, Touché) by Tork on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:55PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @07:53PM
Ah, you've misunderstood.
In the 1960's, they would have only hired masculine presenting white males in white shirts with black ties wearing black glasses.
Now they'll try to hire the most qualified people. But since the bosses are all masculine presenting white males in white shirts with black ties wearing black glasses who originally got hired decades ago, they do some additional outreach to make sure all groups have an opportunity to apply. This is to help account for the extensive data about selection bias of the bosses tending to hire people they find familiar. So if the smartest nuclear engineer has purple hair, they aren't immediately filtered out of the hiring process for "not fitting in." It's not that we want to hire people based on their hair color. We want to avoid *not* hiring someone based on their haircolor like our forebears did. Trying to avoid haircolor based hiring decisions in misinterpreted by narrowminded out of touch fossils as being a haircolor based hiring decision. (Because filtering out people based on haircolor was typically an implicit rather than explicit part of the hiring process, and therefore went unexamined. Because, again, a lack of diversity in the hiring org led to a blindspot about the difference between the actual hiring process and the written hiring process.)
This is part of why modern reactor designs are so much safer than legacy 1960's designs. There were some technological limitations, but there was also a lot of group think. Lack of outsiders led to a relative lack of "red team" thinking focused on disaster scenarios like Fukushima because engineering culture at the time focused more on consensus building rather than disruption as a path to advancement.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:57PM (9 children)
Sure, hopefully fusion plants.
You know there is a great fusion reactor called the sun.
Problem is, sometimes where we want power rotates away from it.
I wonder if one could put up solar farms and a super circling the globe to move power from day to night?
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:48PM (7 children)
We need power now. Just build modern conventional nuke plants. They work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:05PM (6 children)
Replying to my own post: nukes would take too long to build for a realistic answer. Texas needs to clean house with its electric power management board first. Bunch of incompetent cronies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:00PM (5 children)
Sigh.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:56PM (4 children)
Not what I said.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:03PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:23PM (2 children)
No, I think he was saying "Shut the fuck up, you lying sack of shit!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:23PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @02:17PM
There's no need to retract his post, the response was inaccurate, it's not what he said.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:26PM
> Problem is, sometimes where we want power rotates away from it.
Isn't there some way for the Forestry Service to change the Earth's orbit to correct that problem? *gomert*
(Score: 5, Touché) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:46PM (3 children)
Texas definitely needs nuclear because:
1. being such a tiny state, it lacks sufficient land to construct any solar, wind farms, and battery storage like Australia can do
2. being located at such high latitude[1], it lacks sufficient bright sunlight to make solar practical.
[1]Compare direct noon sunlight brightness in Texas or Florida versus, say, North Dakota where the annual funeral director's convention is held. Yes, that is a real thing.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:58PM (2 children)
https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/nuclear-energy-in-texas/ [npr.org]
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:21PM (1 child)
I suspect that the Texas legislature will discover "technical reasons" why nuclear just won't work in Texas. Lobbyists have researched this subject and given the legislators many small foldable paper reports on this subject.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:29PM
Signed by Benjamin Franklin?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:45PM
Solar farms are a way to gather nuclear energy.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mcgrew on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:09PM (1 child)
It isn't boomers, you dumb ass child, it's the amoral super rich in all generations who don't give a flying fuck about anything but personal riches and power.
Our nation is in deep shit, but it's illegal to say that on TV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:30PM
Are you saying Don Jr is not passionate about climiate change?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:20PM (1 child)
Oh yes, the failing power grid in Texas is the PERFECT TIME to push an alternative whose consequences at the hands of incompetence are far more severe.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:55PM
If we're lucky, they'll just rubber-stamp the nuclear plant [fs.blog] and not look too closely into how it works, while they have their hands full with the existing system which continues to have these issues.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @10:47AM (13 children)
Looks like ERCOT can only operate in a very specific temperature range and is very delicate. Such a contrast with the image Texas wants to project of itself.
While I'm too fond of Texas, its people deserve better than the years of Republican mismanagement that are culminating in these gross failures.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:23AM
Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:36AM
It's Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Texas style: "This weather is too cold to generate power. This weather is too hot to generate power. Ahh, this weather is just right. For the moment".
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Spamalope on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:18PM
Or... it's operating exactly as intended to produce Enron/Ca type windfall outcomes to speculators.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:13PM (6 children)
This is America. We have a vote. If your state government elects incompetent fools, it's your own damned fault. So Fuck the state of Texas AND their idiot populace, they got the crooks and morons they stupidly voted for.
And yes, as an Illinoisian I'm partly responsible for Ryan and Blago, even though I voted against both of them, Blago twice.
Our nation is in deep shit, but it's illegal to say that on TV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:36PM
Are you sure it isn't something Obama did? I'm sure on Fox News this is because of something Nancy Pelosi forced down Texan's throats...
And keep it real, Texans are like Americans everywhere - fat, consumer-tards with consumption related medical problems.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:52PM (2 children)
"Your freedom stops where my freedom begins"
It's fine for folks to vote in their own numb-nuts, it's not fine for them to vote in numb-nuts that now affect me.
TX keeps threatening to secede; I say let them. Let's call their bluff...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @08:54PM
TX could become part of Mexico. Build a wall along their Northern, Eastern and Western borders.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @02:10AM
Secession is just hot air for the rubes, and gotta love how well it pairs with their self-image as total patriots. bonkers
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:58PM
In Texas, it's unlikely that dead (of heat-related causes) people will be able to vote one way or another. I know things work a little differently [youtu.be] in Illinois, so you might want to factor that in to your considerations.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:32PM
Blago was safely sequestered in jail. Apparently to Trump draining the swamp means letting politicians who have been convicted of corruption out of jail.
Trump commutes sentence of former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich [nbcnews.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:50PM
"than the years of Republican mismanagement that are culminating in these gross failures."
No, it's the Jews, and both major parties work for them.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by TheMightyChickadee on Wednesday June 16 2021, @09:38PM
But, self-inflicted? Except for the Florida War Criminal former head of the Texas Republican Party.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @07:28AM
What do you expect, they are just a bunch of snowflakes. Need perfect conditions and go where the winds blow them.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:32AM (13 children)
Boy, those Texans are slow.
Enron. California. 2000.
The outages this winter proved very profitable [reuters.com]
Why do you hate capitalism?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:43PM (11 children)
Careful there. Capitalism is on trial. 50 years ago, Capitalism was a citizen with a stellar reputation. Much, much better than ... than ... Communism! The boomers might wonder if you're a Commie, with talk like that.
But now? #exxonknew. And Capitalism has evil relatives with which we're all better acquainted now, named Monopolism and Fascism.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:49PM (4 children)
It's not "Capitalism".
It's "Capitalism run amok".
Texas got all the deregulation it wanted, along with the consequent results. Last winter. And now. And it's profitable! So everything working as intended.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:06PM (3 children)
It's "Capitalism run amok".
amok time? fascinating...
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:23PM (2 children)
Capitalism on boner pills.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:41PM (1 child)
And obesity meds to counter the heart clogging insulin depleting estrogen mimicking food pellets that are fractionally cheaper to mold into fun shapes than producing real food.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @07:33AM
Not sure you call these 'pellets'
https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/the-50-greatest-hamburgers-in-texas/ [texasmonthly.com]
While obesogens play an important role in obesity, the old saying of "too much in and not enough out" is the cause. Obesogens just make it easier to go from
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03399/fatbloke1_3399316b.jpg [telegraph.co.uk]
to
https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hampshire-uk-sept-15-2018-260nw-1244299510.jpg [shutterstock.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mcgrew on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:16PM (3 children)
There are two capitalisms: capitalism as a social tool, or as a religion. Capitalism is a useful tool, but an incredibly dangerous religion.
Our nation is in deep shit, but it's illegal to say that on TV.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:32PM (1 child)
Nature abhors any social philosophy taken as a religion, yes.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:07PM
Funny how societies crumble and the religion remains.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @12:06AM
'Dangerous' and 'religion' seem historic friends. (The words crusade and holocaust come to mind, but no doubt, that is a vey limited view of the world.)
Being convinced that something is true because of belief does not make it bad/wrong/silly.
Belief has helped bring humanity far.
But is does make it an opportunity for exploit for one wishing to further some cause.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:23PM (1 child)
Take a moment to think about how you heard that. ;)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 17 2021, @10:25AM
Agreed. Think "banana republic". Even before the oil wars, we did a lot of shameful crap in the name of profit.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:23PM
Any sufficiently libertarian power grid will eventually reimplement Enron.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by krokodilerian on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:52AM (11 children)
I live in a ... pretty much 3rd world country (technically, second world, eastern european), and if this has happened here, there would have been serious protests of the type that makes the government want to go away. How is that not happening in a state in USA where most people are armed?
I mean, this is a joke, if critical infrastructure can't work in such conditions, the people running it should be replaced (and preferably shot).
(Score: 4, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:46PM (2 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:32PM (1 child)
Whiner. Every RasPi sysadm worth their weight in street dust connect them through a power bank [ebay.co.uk].
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday June 17 2021, @06:37AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Dale on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:59PM (2 children)
Realistically because it really isn't that hot yet. mid-90s is super early summer. A couple of years ago I believe we cracked 100 consecutive days of over 100 degree temps. It simply hasn't been too terribly hot so far (but it is coming). Large areas of Texas have also not had any power disruption (as many areas were not impacted during the freeze). That isn't to say there aren't issues and that some aren't impacted by them. I'm just saying that it isn't a large enough social issue at the moment to invoke the type of response you are expecting. That being said, the day is coming with the "we show up to vote" population of the major cities will weigh the "we show up to vote better" massive rural areas. Until that scale tips there isn't anything that can happen.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:54PM (1 child)
Yes, this. Not hot enough yet. But come July and August, if half of Texas can't use the A/C, heads will roll. They could tell the residents that February was a freak occurrence, and get away with that one because it was the first winter in a long time that there'd been mass power outages. But to have it happen again, same year? With the different season putting the lie to the excuses they ran with in the winter? It's going to be "Republicans: they can't keep the lights on." Then, maybe, all this drama over social conservatism will look decidedly unimportant next to the necessities. The Republicans are in power, but they won't stay in power if they can't keep the state's power on.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:57PM
Keeping the state's power on might require . . . OMG . . . I'm gonna actually say it . . . regulation!
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:43PM (3 children)
Silly, guns are for defending yourself from poor people not the govt.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:06PM
They are also good for compensating for manhood insecurities.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:03PM (1 child)
I know, right? Certain ethnicities have a right to murder and assault others unchecked. Isn't that the law now?
Most murders and robberies in America are committed by black people, yet they only make up less than 14% of the population. Look up the govt stats.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:58PM
it's also Blacks attacking Asians, but the reanimated corpse that stumbles around in the Whitehouse blames "white supremacists" and uses the excuse to mobilize the FBI against law abiding dissident whites. It's OK. I hope they get their way with some of their plans soon, so people will wake up.
https://odysee.com/@modernpolitics:0/ModPol-Greenwald:9 [odysee.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:56PM
We treat politics like sports teams, hence all the contrarianism. You know how some cities have been rummaged after a big loss? We had a notable one of those on Jan 6th.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:06PM (12 children)
one assumes that the "soaring temperatures" originate from the sun and not from geothermal earth or from some nuke xploding ...
coupled to the required norm of "anti-islanding" of pv generators this is very convinient to avoid data being generated that would show how much electricity is being supplied on "sunny days".
also let's get this entropy debate going again:
air-con split type compressor sits shaded under, say, 10 square meters of pv cells (providing about 1100 watts) -vs- fossile fuel or nuke powered compressor (also 1100 watts).
which one contributes ZERO increase in average temperature? which one increases average temperature in an already hot environment?
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:32PM (11 children)
The total amount of energy received by the Earth from the Sun in one hour is about π*(6371e3)2*1300 [wikipedia.org]Wh =1.66e17 Wh.
The total energy produced by humans in 2019 is about 170,000 TWh = 1.7e17Wh [ourworldindata.org]
So, your argument is technically correct but weak. As weak as 1/(365*24) = 0.000114
the "enhottening" of the environment is related to the amount of energy that the extra CO2 captures from the Sun rather than the extra heat that the humans manages to produce. Strictly from the point of view of avoiding extra CO2, solar or nuclear are equivalent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by js290 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:10PM (10 children)
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:31PM (8 children)
Interesting but fishy
From the second link
I don't think that the solar irradiance or total surface atmospheric pressure changed much over the last 200ky. And yet we had a glaciation until about 12000-11000 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by js290 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:59PM (7 children)
relative to CO2? which is still less than 0.05% of atmospheric gases by volume.
See Younger Dryas impact hypothesis...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:26PM (6 children)
Which still jumped 60% since and over the level at the beginning of the industrial revolution [i.redd.it].
Still a better hypothesis for the warming of the climate than an yet to be discovered impact crater, which supposedly melt the ice... what... in North America only?
And better than just "two forcing variables: top-of-the-atmosphere solar irradiance and total surface atmospheric pressure" which remained pretty constant over the recent period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Redundant) by js290 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:04PM (5 children)
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:25PM (4 children)
Any explanation for which this adiabatic compression increased since the last glaciation and picked up speed lately all over the world?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by js290 on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:35PM (3 children)
Climate constant has been the hoax... "Every culture that has depended on annual plants for their staple food crops has collapsed." [bit.ly]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @11:53PM (2 children)
And yet that's exactly what your beloved theory would predict: at constant solar input and constant atmospheric pressure, the average temperature of a planet's atmosphere will be constant, because those two forcing factors alone determine it.
When the evidence contradict the theory, whatcha gonna do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by js290 on Thursday June 17 2021, @02:20AM (1 child)
Mark Shepard on Restoration Agriculture - "Annual agriculture is all about living through our concepts... our idea we've imposed on reality & when reality doesn't behave according to our idea, what do we do? We input... we can never input enough to make our false concept correct." [bit.ly]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:50AM
I asked you to sustain with arguments your theory in the face of evidence contradicting it and I get from you unrelated red herrings wrapped in appeal to authority papers.
That's sad for you if even not the sharpest tool in the shed can see the hollowness of your discourse.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday June 17 2021, @05:38AM
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:54PM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:36PM (1 child)
Must be fake. But Lol.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 16 2021, @08:22PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:57PM
No close captions nor transcription too. You expect me to lip read or what?
What I need is a rare, vermillion, ukrainian unicorn [youtu.be]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by oumuamua on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:33PM (10 children)
Gas and diesel generators. When your green energy grid has a high-demand backup of home generators it becomes very un-green.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 16 2021, @01:53PM (2 children)
The idea that Texas has a "green" energy grid is ludicrous. They've been resisting "green" anything quite firmly for decades now.
But I would recommend anybody with their own home in Texas start figuring out how to add in solar or wind generation to their homes, so they can power it when ERCOT bites the dust, as has happened twice in the last few months.
Oh, and I assume that Cancun is awaiting Ted Cruz's arrival.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:10PM (1 child)
You obviously forgot about T. Boone Pickens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boone_Pickens [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 16 2021, @07:53PM
I'm familiar with Pickens and his plan for renewable energy. I'm also well aware that the Texas state government, very much in the pockets of oil and gas barons, has zero interest in making it happen.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:20PM
The gas plants are the ones going down, AGAIN!
Thexalon is actually mistaken, Texas has a lost of wind power. Wind turbines that continues to work find during the cold snap. And those same turbines are continuing to work fine during the heat too.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:02PM (2 children)
It looks to me like Home Depot has lots of Green portable generators. [homedepot.com]
All I had to do was search for Green Portable Generators.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 17 2021, @10:34AM (1 child)
Yeah, I know I'm kinda color blind, but a couple of those greens look yellow to me.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 17 2021, @02:48PM
They only need to look green to you, the user.
Similarly, anyone can have a green vehicle without having to give up fossil fuel power.
Santa/Satan maintains a database and does double verification of it.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday June 16 2021, @08:28PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Wednesday June 16 2021, @09:03PM
If Wikipedia is correct, Texas's power source breakdown is
Coal (19.0%)
Natural Gas (53.5%)
Hydroelectric (0.3%)
Wind (17.3%)
Nuclear (8.6%)
Biomass (0.3%)
Solar (0.9%)
Other (0.1%)
That does not meet most definitions of "green", though natural gas does have advantages.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:11AM
Not me, I'm not buying a generator. But I am buying stock in companies that make generators!
Note to Texans: we have nice stable power up here near Niagara Falls.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @02:35PM (12 children)
In 2010, Texas had 25 million people.
Just 10 years later, Texas had 29 million people.
That's a 20% increase, and new power plants have not kept pace.
Everybody is moving to Texas.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:02PM (9 children)
Now do California.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:41PM (5 children)
California has rolling blackouts and requests its residents not use power hungry devices during those times.
California's population in 2010 was 37.3 million and in 2020 was 39.5 million, for an increase of only 5.9% in that time period versus Texas's 20%.
California population figured taken from:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA [census.gov]
Not sure what you're trying to prove.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @03:49PM (1 child)
Let me help. Ahem, everyone ls LEAVING the liberal socialist hellhole for wonderful America-loving Texas (not seceding this year apparently)!! Suck it up libs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:04PM
I never said that. Reading comprehension time, idiot. I said everyone was moving to Texas, and a growth rate of 20% makes that a defensible statement to plain English speakers. I never mentioned California. But, if you want to be superliteral about it, the population in Texas grew at a rate of 3-1/3 that of California. That's a huge difference not in California's favor for this discussion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:18PM (2 children)
When California's annual rolling blackouts start this summer, maybe you'll understand what I'm trying to prove.
Population is a factor, but a bigger factor is that US infrastructure is failing. Take note that neither Team Red or Blue is winning.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 16 2021, @05:58PM (1 child)
There was 19 years between those "annual" blackouts. [politico.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:17PM
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-power-grid-operator-flex-alert-power-usage [foxnews.com]
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:11PM (2 children)
Texas population 2011-2022: 14% increase [macrotrends.net]
California population 2011-2022: 5% increase [macrotrends.net]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @04:32PM
So, roughly, Texas's population grew 3 times as fast as California's during the same time period.
(Score: 2) by SunTzuWarmaster on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:03PM
Just out of curiosity - why did you cite a link which says "Texas Population 2011-2022", compare it to the 2010 number of the grandfather poster, and insinuate that they are inaccurate?
Let's go to the Census data rather than some macrotrends.com, shall we?
April 2020 - https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/TX [census.gov]
Texas Population 2010-2020 = 25145561-29145505 (16% increase)
Seems pretty accurate to the claim of:
"In 2010, Texas had 25 million people.
Just 10 years later, Texas had 29 million people."
Seems to dispute the claim that the GP made that it is a 20% increase, seeing as it is only 16%.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA [census.gov]
In 2010, CA had 37,253,956 people.
Just 10 years later, CA had 39,538,223 people.
CA Population 2010-2020 = 37,253,956-39,538,223 (6% increase).
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 17 2021, @10:36AM (1 child)
Mexico and Nicaragua are moving to Texas.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 17 2021, @03:15PM
If it weren't for Third World immigration (I'll toss in China here too), the population of the US as a whole would be falling. Everyone from the Third World is moving here. And Biden is now *flying in the families* of the illegal aliens he invited in!