Why Texans are freezing their asses off

This is from a buddy in Houston who's high up with a gas pipeline company. Oncor (power company) and ERCOT (outfit that controls the electric grid in Texas) in their infinite wisdom decided that compressors on gas pipelines and compressors at the inlets to gas plants were not essential, so blacked them out. They also shut off electricity to wells in the Permian Basin. The effect of all this was to shut off production wells and salt water disposal wells.

So basically a lot of the gas production infrastructure went off line. And it's not so easy to get things going again as when the wells and the compressors and the gas plants stop operating, things freeze up.

So anyway as a result the gas fired power plants were deprived of fuel, so they had to shut down. And just like the gas plants and the compressors and the wells, getting them going again in freezing conditions can be problematic.

In summary, according to my friend, shutting off the power to the oilfield and gas plants generated a chain reaction that resulted in the gas fired power plants going down. He said he and colleagues begged Oncor and ERCOT not to shut off the electricity, because they knew what was going to happen. Undoubtedly people working for other midstream companies were doing the same.

These people just had no common sense. Yes, we need to maintain power to hospitals, etc. But when they cut off the fuel source for the power plants, they put us in a position where that may happen anyway.

Not the 1st time ERCOT has jacked it up cause the don't understand the industry they regulate.
I'm thinking the 2011 problems.
Lets all applaud the political appointees.

This is from a buddy in Houston who's high up with a gas pipeline company. Oncor (power company) and ERCOT (outfit that controls the electric grid in Texas) in their infinite wisdom decided that compressors on gas pipelines and compressors at the inlets to gas plants were not essential, so blacked them out. They also shut off electricity to wells in the Permian Basin. The effect of all this was to shut off production wells and salt water disposal wells.

So basically a lot of the gas production infrastructure went off line. And it's not so easy to get things going again as when the wells and the compressors and the gas plants stop operating, things freeze up.

So anyway as a result the gas fired power plants were deprived of fuel, so they had to shut down. And just like the gas plants and the compressors and the wells, getting them going again in freezing conditions can be problematic.

In summary, according to my friend, shutting off the power to the oilfield and gas plants generated a chain reaction that resulted in the gas fired power plants going down. He said he and colleagues begged Oncor and ERCOT not to shut off the electricity, because they knew what was going to happen. Undoubtedly people working for other midstream companies were doing the same.

These people just had no common sense. Yes, we need to maintain power to hospitals, etc. But when they cut off the fuel source for the power plants, they put us in a position where that may happen anyway. Originally Posted by Tiny

And it can all be laid at the feet of those politicians putting on pressure to "go green" before they could go green.


I listened to a New Yorker involved in maintaining the power grid up there and he shuttered to think what will happen to New York State should they adopt the same folly of trying to go "to green", "to fast", meaning taking off line oil and gas because you think wind and solar will cover you.


And if your wrong, people die.

I'm betting there's a thread on this...

But 2-3 years ago, MIN had a similar problem. There was a massive snowstorm and the only thing that saved them were gas fired and nuclear power plants. Wind mills and solar panels were inoperative..

Some people need to lose their jobs.

And it can all be laid at the feet of those politicians putting on pressure to "go green" before they could go green.

Originally Posted by HedonistForever

I'm pretty sure that is not wtf the OP stated.

Thank U - wtf - "It is . of course, All Trump's Fault"!!!!!!!

Thank U - wtf - "It is . of course, All Trump's Fault"!!!!!!! Originally Posted by oeb11

Do you just have preplanned post that generally have nothing to do with the subject matter?

Did you even read the OP?

And it can all be laid at the feet of those politicians putting on pressure to "go green" before they could go green.


I listened to a New Yorker involved in maintaining the power grid up there and he shuttered to think what will happen to New York State should they adopt the same folly of trying to go "to green", "to fast", meaning taking off line oil and gas because you think wind and solar will cover you.


And if your wrong, people die.

Originally Posted by HedonistForever

Perhaps you should do some research. 90% of Texas's energy comes from fossil fuel, coal, and nuclear. THAT is what is failing. There are cold weather locations that do rely heavily on renewable energy and guess what their shit works. Why? Because their infrastructure is weathered unlike ours. Texas is the only state that is completely self reliant and we are seeing just how well that works when you have a bunch of incompetent conservatives running the state.

"Green" policies have not even been implemented yet and you are already trying to blame them. Nice try, not gonna work.

ERCOT = Electric Reliability Council of Texas


thats quite a mouthful of a name.

Good post Tiny. Besides ERCOT, Texas can't get help from other states when they have energy issues. Thus, the long blackouts when the system is overwhelmed.

Gov Abbott got the message - loud and clear

Hopefully his 'bi-partisan" investigation will formulate some real changes and constructive advances in Texas Power grid.

wtf , LM and 'a' - would you support a 'republican governor' in that effort????

And it can all be laid at the feet of those politicians putting on pressure to "go green" before they could go green.


I listened to a New Yorker involved in maintaining the power grid up there and he shuttered to think what will happen to New York State should they adopt the same folly of trying to go "to green", "to fast", meaning taking off line oil and gas because you think wind and solar will cover you.


And if your wrong, people die.

Originally Posted by HedonistForever

I'm betting there's a thread on this...

But 2-3 years ago, MIN had a similar problem. There was a massive snowstorm and the only thing that saved them were gas fired and nuclear power plants. Wind mills and solar panels were inoperative..

Some people need to lose their jobs. Originally Posted by gnadfly

Being a chauvinistic Texan, I wouldn't put the blame in our state (gnadfly's and my state) on renewables, but rather on the failure of our baseload sources, in particular the gas fired power plants. And being a hypocrite I'd blame California's woes on renewables.

Here in Texas, wind supplies something like 25% of our annual energy. Renewables in total supply 38%, with solar making up most of the rest. I drove through the "Windmill Corridor" from Abilene to Lubbock on Monday and I'd guess only about 10% of the windmills were turning. Were they frozen or was it because the wind wasn't blowing? Maybe both. In any event, as long as we don't have an economic way to store electricity, wind and solar aren't reliable, year-round sources of energy. They are however great when the weather cooperates. They're not expensive any more. I guess we could debate whether the government subsidies and tax credits to wind and solar were worth it, but at this point the wind and solar industries could stand on their own without government help.

The fixes to our system in Texas aren't expensive. Based on my buddy's inside view (see above) the simplest step is not shutting off electricity to the pipelines, gas plants, and oil field. Maybe more natural gas storage capacity, and make damn sure the equipment, compressors and the like, to get the gas from the storage fields and the power plants will work in cold weather. Winterize compressors. Convert gas fired plants so they can run off fuel oil. Incentivize more antiquated gas fired plants to stay idling and be ready to go on stream when electricity demand goes up. (ERCOT already does this with much higher prices when demand is high, but maybe we should be paying a small amount every month to the plants that are idling, so they'll be available when we have extreme weather events.)

In any event, this is not a huge deal. Texans pay around $.086 per kilowatt hour for electricity. Californians pay almost twice that much. And Texans rely more on natural gas for heating and cooking, which is even cheaper than electricity. So, pulling a number out of the air, say you save $200 a month on your electric bill, by living in Texas, and every 20 years you have an extreme weather event that shuts down your power for a few hours, or a few days, or, like my house, not at all. Is it worth the extra $48,000 you'll pay for electricity over those 20 years? Hell no.

This is a ridiculous argument though, because California's system doesn't have cheap, obvious fixes like Texas' system. It isn't fuckups by people regulating the power grid or industry or whatever. California has a structural problem because they are in the process of eliminating natural gas, nuclear and coal fired plants. They're getting rid of their year-round power plants. I guess with massive expenditures and sky high electric bills they can do this with lots of battery storage. But that's not going to be good for their economy.

Good post Tiny. Besides ERCOT, Texas can't get help from other states when they have energy issues. Thus, the long blackouts when the system is overwhelmed. Originally Posted by adav8s28

You're right adav8s28. We have interconnection points but I don't think they're enough to alleviate the problem even when other states aren't suffering from severe weather too.

ERCOT = Electric Reliability Council of Texas
thats quite a mouthful of a name. Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm

Well, I guess this experience is an argument for your favorite energy source, nuclear, which is a reliable, year around source. The cost is what bothers me, for new plants.

Tiny - thank you for your thoughts.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/po...5-ed4ed1a44f95

slight different note - I read that the Texas supplies of natural gas are critically short in Texas - and the supplier - Atmos - warns people that shutoffs may occur.

A technician would have to visit every home/business affected by a shutoff of gas - meaning weeks without service - and frozen solid houses - unless we can stretch supplies to the weekend when the Temperatures rise above freezing. and hopefully demand will drop allowing distribution to all folks needing gas and heat in Texas.