I had no idea Greg Abbott was this stupid.Everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 8, 2021
Today, I signed bills into LAW to reform ERCOT & weatherize & improve the reliability of the state's power grid.
Thanks @KHancock4TX, @DrSchwertner, & @chrispaddie for your leadership on these issues. pic.twitter.com/sXH5NTZ4Jq
BREAKING: ERCOT is now asking people to conserve electricity through Friday, saying there are a significant number of power plants offline and expecting possible record use for June. pic.twitter.com/zWZkf0bkPq
— Matt Largey (@mattlargey) June 14, 2021
NO shit. And ERCOT can't tell us what's wrong, either:The upgrades to the power grid that Texas lawmakers approved last month won’t eliminate the chance of blackouts in the state. https://t.co/ww0h7QSHNk
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 14, 2021
Except that, frankly, it all sounds like February; the only difference being, extreme cold in Texas is extremely rare. Extreme heat in Texas, in the summer,* is extremely normal.ERCOT says a large number of power plants in Texas are offline, but could not provide details as to what may be causing the "very concerning" number of outages.
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 14, 2021
At the same time, the state is experiencing near record June demand for electricity. https://t.co/oAYHuwROjq
So now ERCOT can’t handle cold or heat. Someone should check the flight logs to Cancun bc I’m sure Cruz is already on his way there. And fuck Abbott too #AbbottFailedTexas
— Amelia (@agerson24) June 14, 2021
If you listen closely, you can hear Ted Cruz booking a flight to Cancun https://t.co/gmPLkaeMXi
— Nunca Trumpismo (@NeverTrumpTexan) June 14, 2021
“I don’t have any potential reasons [for the plant outages] that I can share at this time,” said Warren Lasher, ERCOT senior director of systems planning, during a Monday call with media. “It is not consistent with fleet performance that we have seen over the last few summers.”The number of plants that were forced offline today is “very concerning” Lasher said.
I feel so much better.
*I don’t care what the calendar says, summer in Texas arrives as early as Memorial Day. And when it does Spring, which is seldom more than a slightly milder version of winter in Texas, is just a memory. It’s hot and then it gets hotter, and it doesn’t cool down until December, if then. A lot of power plants are off-line because ERCOT said: “Sure, go off-line, what could go wrong?”
And the best part is, the law Abbott signed will replace many board members on ERCOT, who were ostensibly experts, with political appointees approved by the Governor, Lite Guv., and Speaker. There’s a reason we elect judges in Texas: we don’t want clowns like that doing it instead. It ain’t perfect, but it could be so much worse. And now ERCOT is going to be: so much worse.
Hostility toward the federal government comes with a high cost. I used to wonder if it's a hold-over from the Civil War period or just the Civil Rights period. Though there's plenty of it in the north, too. New Hampshire used to be absolutely full of it, especially back when they elected people like Mel Thomson to run the place. Maine under LePage was like that though Republican-fascists here couldn't afford to try anything as ambitious as they did in Texas. What a frickin' mess. I hope it at least leads people to learn something, it doesn't generally. I don't know if LePage is still talking about running again.
ReplyDelete