Winter Storms, Summer Heat, and our 3rd World Electric System

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by Chop, Nov 24, 2021.

  1. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    So is he putting the wind blades off Mass coast too?
     
  2. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    All the wind and hot air in Massachusetts is on land.
     
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  3. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Got it Sabre but they have protested them off their precious Martha’s place etc, forever.
     
  4. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    They put an offshore wind farm off of Block Island, RI. A silver lining is that they create what amounts to an artificial reef—with good fishing. Like the oil platforms in the Gulf.
     
  5. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    • Agree Agree x 1
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022
  6. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    Tracking the Tropics: Saharan dust limiting tropical development | WFLA

    Now, I don't want hurricanes or even tropical storms. I don't want flooding of any kind. But a little bit of tropical wave/disturbance bringing some rain wouldn't hurt the State as a whole. Sounds like African dust is interfering with the tropical rain-making...?

    Dern Abbott, causing those Sahara dust storms...

    Interesting tidbit I just learned---the Sahara desert is the home of the most American girls in the World... (see first photo below) :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

    [​IMG]

    :arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up:
    Doesn't look so bad, for a 3rd World desert.
     
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    Last edited: Aug 1, 2022
  7. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    The grid held up like a champ through a very hot Summer.

    Hopefully there’s been some winterizing of facilities, etc, in case there’s ever another massive winter storm (at some point there probably will be).
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Likely not. It was a one in 100 year storm.
     
  9. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    I just remember the three 500 year floods Greater Houston has had over the past 15 years.
     
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  10. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    On deck: Beto congratulates Abbott for a job well done this Summer.
     
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  11. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    More like Beto's father-in-law thanks Abbott for keeping Beto too busy to want a job in the family business.
     
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  12. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

     
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  13. huisache

    huisache 2,500+ Posts

    I worked on an offshore oil rig in '68-69 and the fishing off the legs was great---the fish loved swarming around the rig legs. I was a galley hand and dumped a lot of scraps after meals. The fish could see the chum coming before it hit the water and it was like iron filings to a magnet.

    when I fished off the bottom I caught some large ones and the sharks would snap them off within 15 feet of the surface.

    When they build the big one off our coast you are going to see traffic jams of fishermen out there.
     
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  14. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    There’s often some good snapper fishing (red and grey), Amberjack, and Ling sometimes, under those offshore rigs. Grouper if you’re lucky. Aside from oil spills, those offshore oil and gas rigs are actually good for the marine environment. They’re sure good for sport fishermen!
     
  15. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    But just barely. The ones in 1989 and 2011 were comparable and brought us very near disaster; arguably we got lucky both times. And since we were hours away from a total collapse that could have taken nearly the whole state down for months, I'd say it's a problem worth fixing even if takes another 50+ years for it to happen again.

    It did ok, but I wouldn't go that far.
     
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  16. Horn6721

    Horn6721 10,000+ Posts

    Stat
    What would have been better than no rolling or complete black outs?
    He is talking about the grid performing and not failing. Not about the prices
     
  17. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    The FIX is to bring the coal-burners back online and let them do their thing...especially since we have a SCOTUS Opinion that would back such a decision.
     
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  18. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    227,

    No one seems to be pointing fingers at the delivery service. It was either Ike or Rita that I lost service for 13 days. I talked to helpers sent from NC, Alabama, and a couple of other states. All said the same thing - Centerpoint has teh worst infrastructure they have ever seen. They would rather pay dividends than make updates. Crews from NC & Alabama said they needed "billions" in repairs.

    Is that the Governor's fault?
     
  19. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    In theory the state government can pass compliance laws that would force them to spend the money on upgrades. Thousands of miles of cast iron pipe has been removed over the past several years with regulatory muscle and incentive. I believe a motivated legislature could make it happen. But will they? I doubt it. Lobby $$$...

    Of course, the public must accept that any money put into the upgrades/winterization will show up on their bills. But should it? Again, in theory the dividends are on the bill because where do they get the money to pay to the shareholders? Debt to pay a dividend? No... it's the weighted average cost of capital imbedded in the rates. That's the problem. How does a large company acquire capital? Debt and equity. Money requires a return and a dividend (in part along with interest and the assumed uplift of the stock price itself) is that rate of return. So winterization is new spend and hopefully it would be capitalizable (the legislature could classify these types of expenditures as regulatory assets with special depreciation recovery rates) so the rate payers would only pay the rate of return (plus the depreciation and tax effects of this incremental spend) on their bills.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 20, 2022
  20. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    I'm a big natural gas proponent, and nuclear (although the economics is usually only there for nuke plants when gas and coal are real high). Still, we've got a lot of lignite in E. Texas. Make them put really good scrubbers on new coal plants and fire them up.
     
  21. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    Elephant in the room that nobody dares mention...

    [​IMG]

    Was the de-regulation of Texas electricity markets really a good thing, or was it a negative?

    :idk:
     
  22. Monahorns

    Monahorns 5,000+ Posts

    The event you mention did not help or hurt all that much. The big problem is calling it "de-regulation". The de-regulation actually resulted in more regulations put on the energy system. It was a government lie like so many others, example The Inflation Reduction Act.
     
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  23. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    Uh oh….

    Low single digits coming.

    Are we about to have these electric grid problems again???

    I hope not. The last go round was a near “perfect storm” of everything going wrong at the same time.
     
  24. Chop

    Chop 10,000+ Posts

    Of course, if Beto was in charge, everyone could rest at ease.
     
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  25. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    If Beto was in charge we wouldn’t have the single digits even coming.
     
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  26. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    No. For one thing, it will be sunny and dry instead of snow and cloudy. Radiative heating will keep attics warm. Same for pipes, etc exposed to the elements.
     
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  27. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Also, the highs are above freezing every day except Friday. It takes 48 hours of sub-freezing temps to freeze pipes.
     
  28. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    About 40 hours subfeezing temps north of Houston. How will we survive!!!!!
     
  29. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Note last time, it was subfreezing from Sunday afternoon till Saturday noon.
     
  30. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    High on Friday in Matagorda (location of Texas largest nuclear plant) is 36 F. Only subfreezing temps for 12 hours before reaching 36 F on Friday afternoon.
     

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