Don't know if Abbott's press conference was posted already, but here's an excerpt.
Greg Abbott: (16:56) Very good. We’ll take a few questions.
Speaker 4: (16:59) Governor, yesterday you spent a lot of time criticizing [inaudible 00:17:02] yet we have now found out that you actually appointed two [inaudible 00:17:07] one of which is also the chairwoman of the [inaudible 00:17:09] since 2017, 2018. What do you say now about your criticism when you yourself actually appointed some of the people who are running that very-
Greg Abbott: (17:24) Sure. So, the way ERCOT works, obviously it’s a complex entity that is a private entity that’s in charge of managing power across the state. And we have to rely upon these experts to advise us what must be done. And I want to let you know what these experts told us. They said five days before the winter storm hit, ERCOT assured that, “We are ready for the cold temperatures coming our way.” They also said that ERCOT had issued a notice to power plants to ensure that they were winterized properly and ERCOT’s annual winter assessment, which was designed to ensure the state is prepared, that assessment assured the public of Texas that there would be enough power to meet peak demand this winter. Now, what happened is ERCOT fell short on all three of these promises they made, which is exactly why I have ordered the state legislature to investigate exactly why ERCOT fell short here and to make sure this never happens again. Listen, we know that you folks at home have faced struggles by going without power. We want to make sure that whatever happened in ERCOT falling short never happens again, even if it means the state stepping up, providing funds to ensure that all of the machinery that froze up and was unable to generate the power you need, that may require funding. The state of Texas should step up and provide that funding. https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/tex...r-storm-updates
He did not answer the quesiton. This Abbott fellow is doing a Cuomo on us - shifting the blame to others.
We need him out of here.
"If the Union is dissolved, I shall return to my native State, and share the miseries of the people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none" Robert E. Lee, February 1861 following hearing of Texas secession.
From @Sanguine excellent post on the previous page:
Quote The federal government subsidies for wind amount to 2.3 cents per kWh, putting it well below the cost of coal and natural gas. A free market does not exist between these sources of electricity.
And my comment is that anyone who thinks this is accidental is delusional!
Abbott called the Ercot people 'experts'. Even though some of the board members are so in-tune that they choose to not even live in Texas.
And 'expert' like the ones he placed over them at the PUC, consisting of lawyers and Anthropology majors.
"If the Union is dissolved, I shall return to my native State, and share the miseries of the people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none" Robert E. Lee, February 1861 following hearing of Texas secession.
Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #108Abbott called the Ercot people 'experts'. Even though some of the board members are so in-tune that they choose to not even live in Texas.
And 'expert' like the ones he placed over them at the PUC, consisting of lawyers and Anthropology majors.
Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #108Abbott called the Ercot people 'experts'. Even though some of the board members are so in-tune that they choose to not even live in Texas.
And 'expert' like the ones he placed over them at the PUC, consisting of lawyers and Anthropology majors.
@Isailedaway please see @Sanguine s excellent post on the previous page.
Thx, I skipped over that one.
It blows holes in thackney's analysis doesn't it?
Couple of things:
He is correct we are heavily dependent upon natural gas that is a byproduct of oil well production. This dependency is new, and can only be dealt with as he suggested - get some LNG stored nearby the natural gas plants to tap when needed. Gas plants' weak link compared to coal or nuclear is the fuel is invariably coming from real time delivery. Not reliable power if something happened to fuel supply. So make it close by.
Wind energy is a disincentive to keeping our electric grid reliable as it keeps natural gas plants from being built. If I were a foreign hostile power trying to cripple us, I would produce wind turbines cheaply so we could use lots of them.
And we need those coal plants. They are the bread and butter of power generation, in the same vein as is nuclear.
I had contacted my state Senator Bryan Hughes earlier in the week about the situation, and his office just responded earlier today about the need to better serve us Texans. They wanted me to call back to discuss and I intend to on Monday, and give him some of my perspectives of a career in the oil industry dealing with natural gas and oil, but also LNG, coal, geothermal and even uranium mining in South Texas, both as a petroleum engineer and an economist at a corporate level of a major.
I have always found Bryan a reasonable fellow.
"If the Union is dissolved, I shall return to my native State, and share the miseries of the people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none" Robert E. Lee, February 1861 following hearing of Texas secession.
Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #108Abbott called the Ercot people 'experts'. Even though some of the board members are so in-tune that they choose to not even live in Texas.
And 'expert' like the ones he placed over them at the PUC, consisting of lawyers and Anthropology majors.
@Isailedaway please see @Sanguine s excellent post on the previous page.
Thx, I skipped over that one.
It blows holes in thackney's analysis doesn't it?
Couple of things:
He is correct we are heavily dependent upon natural gas that is a byproduct of oil well production. This dependency is new, and can only be dealt with as he suggested - get some LNG stored nearby the natural gas plants to tap when needed. Gas plants' weak link compared to coal or nuclear is the fuel is invariably coming from real time delivery. Not reliable power if something happened to fuel supply. So make it close by.
Wind energy is a disincentive to keeping our electric grid reliable as it keeps natural gas plants from being built.
And we need those coal plants. They are the bread and butter of power generation, in the same vein as is nuclear.
I had contacted my state Senator Bryan Hughes earlier in the week about the situation, and his office just responded earlier today about the need to better serve us Texans. They wanted me to call back to discuss and I intend to on Monday, and give him some of my perspectives of a career in the oil industry dealing with natural gas and oil, but also LNG, coal, geothermal and even uranium mining in South Texas, both as a petroleum engineer and an economist at a corporate level of a major.
I have always found Bryan a reasonable fellow.
Bryan is one of (the few) good ones we have!
The following is the most relevant quote from the post I directed you to IMHO and it's not happing by accident.
Quote The federal government subsidies for wind amount to 2.3 cents per kWh, putting it well below the cost of coal and natural gas. A free market does not exist between these sources of electricity.
THAT is the root of the problem if you ask me. @Isailedaway
EXCLUSIVE: Biden’s Insane Executive Order on Climate Change Gave China Access to the US Grid – Suddenly There’s an Energy Crisis In Texas – Any Relationship? February 19, 2021 American Conservatives http://americanconservatives.today/exclu...y-relationship/
(The following information was provided by a TGP reader.) On Joe Biden’s first day in office, he signed an Executive Order (EO) that led to Texans literally freezing to death this past week. Biden claimed his actions were to protect the climate but they helped China and made America less secure.
On his first day in office, Joe Biden signed a number of EOs. This was made possible by the Barr DOJ. Bill Barr was fast-tracking Biden’s EOs while he was slow-walking President Trump’s.
Barr enabled Biden to be able to sign his EO on climate his first day in office.
Biden’s EO on the Environment helped China
The Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis said in its first paragraph of Section 1 (emphasis added) :
Where the Federal Government has failed to meet that commitment in the past, it must advance environmental justice. In carrying out this charge, the Federal Government must be guided by the best science and be protected by processes that ensure the integrity of Federal decision-making. It is, therefore, the policy of my Administration to listen to the science; to improve public health and protect our environment; to ensure access to clean air and water; to limit exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides; to hold polluters accountable, including those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; to restore and expand our national treasures and monuments; and to prioritize both environmental justice and the creation of the well-paying union jobs necessary to deliver on these goals.
[...]
Hidden towards the bottom of the EO, is a clause about China. It turns out that the same day Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, he also lifted the security on our power grid for 90 days (Trump’s EO the year prior secured our power grid by giving China no access.)-- excerpt, rest at link above --
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Free markets can not work if someone is continually thumbing the scales as the FEDGOV is currently doing in the Texas electricity generation arena! @Sanguine
Many hospital staffers have stayed in the medical facilities all week—knowing there was no heat or water at home. At least hospitals have generators for basic electricity. Some had water hauled in to fill tanks or hired water tankers. Others had running, but not potable water.
“We’re overwhelmed, way more than we’ve been with COVID,” said Kathuria, who works in several Austin-area emergency rooms. “This system failure has completely rocked us in our ERs—and in our own homes.”
This is what my daughter said. Can't do operations without running water.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
A timely metaphor: our Texas flag has finally thawed out and shed its coat of ice and is flying in the breeze again.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Free markets can not work if someone is continually thumbing the scales as the FEDGOV is currently doing in the Texas electricity generation arena! @Sanguine
The brutal cold snap that brought days of blackouts and water shortages has exposed the shortcomings of Texas’s electricity system, but one expert says that the fix is better winterization measures and improved management—not more federal integration and control of the Lone Star state’s independent power grid.
Jason Isaac, a former state representative and current director of Life: Powered, a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders” that the power crisis—essentially a story of extreme cold causing both a surge in energy demand and reduction in energy production—has laid bare the need for reform.
“There is some winterization that’s needed. And that’ll certainly take place, that will happen,” he said. “Absolutely, when these power plants were tripped offline, and not being utilized, you have parts that aren’t moving, and those parts will freeze up.”
The severe cold snap paralyzed almost every energy source in Texas, from power plants to wind turbines. On Wednesday, around 46,000 megawatts of power were offline across the state—with a 28,000 megawatt shortfall from natural gas, coal, and nuclear, and 18,000 megawatts from wind and solar.-- excerpt, rest at link above --
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #41Good grief, @Isailedaway . That's horrible.
I sent my State Senator and Abbott a strong message on the bad handling of the way we generate power in this state.
We have absolutely no reason to beg to keep our people warm.
I had a phone call from an aide to my state Senator, Bryan Hughes in response to my phone message to them.
I provided my own insights as to the bad policy toward prioritizing renewables into our grid as they are less reliable than coal, nuclear and gas and the administration had no appreciation of that fact in advance of promoting their usage.
We talked 20 minutes and the aide said that the senator was in agreement that change was needed, although it was obvious it was unclear to him what that might be.
With my experience in the energy sector, I suggested three items to take back to his boss:
1. Oversight on PUC that included as least one member having a background of working in the energy sector and complex operational-related issues, and to prioritize a reliability assessment into its approval of grid parameters such as new additions to the power grid.
2.Permanant Texas residency of the PUC members and members of Ercot is mandatory.
3. Do NOT permit a relaxation of the independence of the Texas grid by some solution involving tying into other state grids to use as emergency backup for us. That is a bandaid, and a poor one at that, as it would make our grid susceptible to added intrusion by the federal government due to interstate transmission of power. Texas needs to fix its own power problems and the Texas leaders are the accountable party if we have future failures so we won't be trying to blame some DC bureaucrat who is unaccountable to us we cannot fire.
Surprisingly, I was asked to possibly be a future resource to the senator at some time, an offer I gladly accepted.
"If the Union is dissolved, I shall return to my native State, and share the miseries of the people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none" Robert E. Lee, February 1861 following hearing of Texas secession.
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Bryan is one of (the few) good ones we have!
