Tag Archives: Texas electricity

environmental news, local news

What gives with ERCOT?

Here we go one more time and it ain’t likely to be the final time.

The Texas temperatures are rocketing into the triple digits and we’re starting to hear concern expressed on local media over whether the state’s electrical grid will be able to withstand the demand that we are going to place on it.

It’s the Winter Freeze of 2021 in reverse!

Back in February 2021, when Texans were freezing to death in the grip of that killer freeze, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas came under intense criticism for mishandling the power load placed on it. The power shut off, as did the water. We lucked out a bit in Princeton, in that our power was out only for a few hours; the water came back not long after it went down.

The state vowed to fix the power grid. To modernize it. To make it less vulnerable to the elements.

Most of the ERCOT board quit, as did the Public Utility Commission of Texas. New leadership meant changes, right?

Hah! Stop me from laughing out loud.

Summer has arrived! The temps are climbing. We’re getting advisories to conserve energy. Why? Because ERCOT — the seemingly misnamed electricity provider — needs help to keep the AC units running in this heat.

I am baffled as to why Texas — with its enormous supply of energy resources — cannot issue guarantees that its electrical grid will withstand the demands placed on it. It just remains a puzzle to me that a state such as Texas, which boasts constantly of its self-sufficiency, just gnaws on its proverbial fingernails when the temperature rises in the summer.

I mean, it’s not as though it’s a surprise! It gets damn hot around here every year at this time!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Ask others, Texas

(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This bit of wisdom comes from a social media acquaintance of mine.

He writes: How ’bout asking people from colder climates how they supply themselves with renewable energy and take a step toward a future that is in their past? If Texas can’t lead, can it at least follow?

Texas politicians, utility regulators, energy suppliers and most certainly customers are trying to blunder their way out of the mess we’ve just endured in this state. Our power went out. Utility executives seemingly made bone-headed decisions on the power grid. Our infrastructure froze and failed. Many of us remain without adequate potable water supplies.

Granted, we aren’t used to these kinds of plummeting temperatures in Texas. We need to prepare better for the next time it happens.

So, as my acquaintance has suggested, Texas pols ought to get on the horn with their colleagues in, say, all the northern tier of states where this kind of winter event is commonplace.

No politician — especially, I have discovered, those in Texas — wants to depend on others for such advice. They want to stand on their own feet. They want to deal head-on with even the most complicated and thorny issues.

It’s like the male driver who refuses to ask directions when he’s hopelessly lost. Take it from me, that kind of “independence” is vastly overrated; I say that as someone who is not bashful about asking for directions.

So, if we cannot come up with solutions here about how to protect our energy infrastructure from future calamity, ask those who know how to do it and ask them how they have managed to produce renewable energy at a level that powers their communities — and keeps their customers warm at night.