Despite Greg Abbott's Lies, FERC Concludes NG, No Utility Planning At The Heart Of The Deadly 2021 TX Blackout

[hatrack]

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No one type of energy was to blame for the tragic blackouts in Texas. All types of electricity generation facilities experienced failure, according to an analysis of the event by the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute. “Natural gas, coal, and nuclear were expected to serve as the firm baseload power that could be relied upon,” the report concluded. “However, that proved not to be the case, particularly for gas-powered electricity, though all fuel sources faced some challenges from the winter weather.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, similarly concluded that natural gas power plants were responsible for the majority of Texas’ power outages. The other major take-away from the FERC report? Many of the power generation facilities in Texas had not followed recommendations to prepare for severe winter storms with equipment winterization plans.

All types of equipment have temperature limits above or below which they can’t operate efficiently, or at all. Wind farms can operate in frigid temperatures if equipped with de-icing equipment. Gas infrastructure can be enclosed or fitted with heating cables to prevent some cold weather shutdowns. As climate change continues to cause more extreme weather – heat waves, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and perhaps even winter storms associated with polar vortexes – facility operators need to be prepared to keep the lights on. That’s a challenge another state, California, has been working to address.

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Texas’ blackouts were not caused by clean energy or climate policies, but largely by a lack of preparation for the increasingly extreme weather that climate change brings. As renowned climate scientist Lonnie Thompson wrote in 2010, “Sooner or later, we will all deal with global warming. The only question is how much we will mitigate, adapt, and suffer.” This characterization holds true for the stability of the power grid as well. We can begin to solve the problem by implementing clean energy and climate policies to reduce climate pollution and minimize future extreme weather events. And we can try to adapt by winterizing infrastructure and deploying grid-stabilizing solutions like battery storage and inter-regional transmission connections.

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https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/09/how-mismanagement-not-wind-and-solar-energy-causes-blackouts/

[Think. Again.]

1. Excellent article, Thanks.

[marble falls]

2. Anyone in Texas knew before the crash, it was going to crash and only when was uncertain. It's a good ol'...

... boy network with pahlenty of cash. The Texas system is set up to allow for gouging from operating sections to overcharge for down sections rather than take power from the national grid - which Texas is the only 48 continuous state not on. Connecting to the national grid would just take a few days to accomplish. Last summer they came a whiskers length from crashing again.

[hatrack]

3. Beryl was instructive . . .

After Houston's grid crashed in the wake of a Category 1 passing just northwest of the metro, an interesting fact that came out was how much that Centerpoint, the Houston-area electric utility, was spending on tree and limb removal and trimming, per customer per year.

It was about $11 and change, while other large TX electricity providers were spending (roughly) $25 - $40 in the same category. I guess that explains with the Centerpoint CEO had generators in his house . . .

Speaking of generators, this is the same utility that spent $800 million on generator leases (that customers paid for) and then didn't use most of them post-Beryl, with 2.5 million people w/o power in Houston, in July. Most of those generators, in fact, weren't portable, and hadn't been set up in logical locations beforehand (hospitals, local government facilities, etc.).

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Alvarado said CenterPoint had asked her to write the letter urging regulators to approve its generator investment. She said the company told her “it would be the quickest way to get power back to our constituents” after a power outage.

“We’re listening to the people that provide power to our constituents, which is CenterPoint,” she said. “Those are the only ones that came to us.”

CenterPoint acknowledged in recent weeks that most of the generators that make up its $800 million investment “are not designed to be mobile,” though it repeatedly made the opposite claim to regulators, lawmakers and investors when seeking funding. The company more recently leased 13 much smaller generators, which it deployed during Beryl, but it would not disclose the costs.

“Prior to the purchase of these large scale temporary generators, there were numerous legislative and regulatory hearings,” CenterPoint spokesperson John Sousa wrote in an email. Sousa added that if state officials now want a different approach, “we are supportive of having this discussion and committed to doing what is best for our customers.”

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-lawmakers-enabled-centerpoint-to-lease-massive-800m-generators-why-are-they-surprised-now/ar-AA1oo0sO