Frozen Cynicism: Electric Roulette Council of Texas

72 thoughts on “Frozen Cynicism: Electric Roulette Council of Texas”

1. It never ceases to amaze me how people who hate .gov always come for help from .gov when the chips are down. You like privatization and think the free market solves all ills then don’t come looking for help when it blows up in your face again…like it always does.

   The practical lesson is don’t put people who hate government in charge of running government or the output will suck. We see the difference between team trump’s response to the pandemic and biden’s response after being in office for less than a month.

   • You obviously have not followed long. In short:

     1. Government has an honest role in regulation of utilities and thier operaqtion. Fire, police, health, energy (anbd soon…wait for it…search and social) are vital roles.

     Read https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Analysis-The-murky-and-confusing-Texas-14707148.php and learn how this giving the “fx night duty at the hen” house has cost Texans 9% more than other approaches and how it skins common folk for corporate greedsters.

     I own solar panels because I already see it’s a rigged/crooked game.
     Private industry f*cks up even-handed every time a dollar walk in.

     • Your a prepper in the outback with a tank full of propane and no generac?

   • I assume you mean those well run democratic strong holds like Portland, Chicago, Baltimore, New York. People solve problems and privatization allows people to choose the solution that works best for them. I feel for the folks that are suffering through the brownouts and freezing temperatures. This is completely expected in our migrations to renewables. The question always comes up, what happens when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. The government’s answer is tough sh_t, you cannot create carbon. I am certainly happy that I have both, electricity and natural gas feeds to the household. Having two sources of heat is sure important for situations such as these, though in California I don’t think you can get new construction that includes a natural gas feed.

   • OG, “government” regulates the utilities. A utility has to do what it does, without running afoul of the myriad of government regulations that’re heaped upon it. However, “utilities” are not “government,” except within socialist governing structures.

     We haven’t had a free market since before FDR’s first term. We have “capitalism,” a construct of Karl Marx, which is a “controlled” market.

     The difference between Trump’s and Biden’s response is: Were Mr. Biden da Prez in 2020, it would be 2027 before a vaccination first appeared (and that would be rushing the process, which ALWAYS took between 8-12 years, before “warp speed.”) “Biden’s response” is implementing the process and the tech the Trump Administration left in-place.

     • If we had Donald J. Trump as President right now, the massive regulatory government would come sharply into focus. Biden makes me sick by denying President Trump the accolades he deserves for the vaccine getting developed before he left office. Thank you Ray for recognizing the importance of President Trump’s contribution in streamlining Government and making it work better for people.

     • Karla, I’m not “recognizing Trump” per se. What I’m recognizing is an accomplished fact [which was] done in spite of the draconian, anti-competitive FDA rules and regulations, and having enough personal integrity to place the credit where it’s due.

       If a pharmco finds a new use for an existing, or even long-standing generic drug, they will invest over $400mln and eight years to first “re-prove” it is “safe” for the new, projected use, then prove it is capable of treating the malady for which the pharmco is petitioning the FDA for the drug’s use in a new treatment regimen.

       I’m merely honest enough to acknowledge that it was the Trump Administration which blew through the government roadblocks and red tape to have various pharmcos develop solutions to CV-19, and I’m expressing my personal belief that (based on purely historical data) the Biden Administration would have taken the same tack as did the Obama Administration, when it was presented [with] a similar bio-issue…

     • To Karla J Thrush:
       We’re in 8th place of per capita covid deaths, (146 other countries had better prevention measures, obviously)
       https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

       Your darling Donny dragged his feet in the initial response (and then caught it himself)
       https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/04/16/most-americans-say-trump-was-too-slow-in-initial-response-to-coronavirus-threat/

       And of course, a cover-up on just how sick darling Donny was from covid:
       https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html

2. I’m surprised you don’t have a woodstove and a propane kitchen stove, George! those two things would go a long way to help deal with a the power being out.

   • Lessons from the PacNW:

     A tree will take out your power during an ice storm.
     There are lots of trees.
     There is only so much government to go around.
     Own a wood stove.

     I really hate to say it, but a guy on a tree farm without a wood stove is like a drunk in a beer factory without a glass to pour it in.

     The other thing needs correcting: We “love” our government here in Portland? You gotta be kidding. No real Oregonians wait around for government… anything. Take care of yourself and each other. This is why I live here*. So stop all the red state blue state crap, take care of yourself and yours. If someone is in your ear about blue this or that, they are pulling your puppet strings and distracting you from the sh*t sandwich you have been handed.

     *just a few months ago 500k of my neighbors were evacuated, or on notice, for fires. Tens of thousands burned out of their homes. That’s a real emergency. I’m starting to think Texans couldn’t handle stuff like that. Get a damn wood stove.

     • Agreed. We have all (many of us), from other parts of the world experienced weather and other natural disasters. Get over it already. George and others who have thought about these things in advance are in a better position. But most of the huddled masses there are soft, lazy, and if you cannot survive a little cold (or a lot), and cannot solve that issue, (how many have cold weather gear, real wool clothes, a good sleeping bag, (a life essential ) then you have likely failed at most things.

     • “But most of the huddled masses there are soft, lazy”

       The problem someone is the transition.. where we are the transition period is a couple of months..
       In the south where theres an event like this let’s say every hundred years.. they aren’t geared for it. Hell it would take quite a prepper just to have a snow shovel.. so I’m sure theres sand shovels and grain scoops being used.i am pretty sure if you did own a snow scoop people were razzing you as bad as I got razzed… no snow plows why would you need it.
       Then an instant sixty degree drop..
       I can’t even imagine the hell everyone has been experiencing.
       That’s a mighty big transition all at one time.
       My bet is just like toilet paper.. there will be some changes for more unexpected events..
       JMHO

3. play with your gold george that will fix it . or ring old don corelone bob moriarty .. he will do some tough talk and presto powers back on .. or ring dalio electrical , free weed with every callout

4. Jesus Christ George calm down . Enjoy USSA. Sounding like a depraved texan. wheres yah
   chutzpah

   • :)

5. So, they used to run the NatGas pipeline pressure pumps (to move the gas faster) on NatGas (which doesn’t freeze) that was tapped off of what was running by/through the pipeline, using a NatGas powered piston ICE, but those added to the NatGas CO2 total, so they changed to electric pumps. But the peak electrical generation surge capacity is a lot NatGas. But the NatGas pumps for the pipelines that feed the generators can’t run because there’s no power. Brainhurts.

   • “But the NatGas pumps for the pipelines that feed the generators can’t run because there’s no power.”

     Yup David.. gas pumps shut down.. pumps to push the fuel.. LOL.. the loop gets broken and wham.. the big thing is its all designed about control.. no one made the changes they needed to because they are afraid they would loose control.. and it is just a business.. and control is the biggest part.. promote solar.. and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.. which is just what they did.. keep the eggs there where they can keep control over them..

6. Come on George, I sympathize with your situation, especially with Elaine in post op/ PT and in pain…but blame Texas for privatizing everything and not hooking up to the National grid. And for what purpose did you have to do that? So your private companies could make a few extra bucks? Had you stayed on the National grid, you would have had the shared power from neighboring states to keep the lights on. And your idiot Governor blames the Green New Deal….A proposed pie in the sky nothing burger that hasn’t even hit the House or Senate Floor yet.

   Here’s the deal… 80% of the grid’s capacity, or 67 gigawatts, is there generated by natural gas, coal and some nuclear power. Only 7% of ERCOT’s forecasted winter capacity, or six gigawatts, was expected to come from various wind power sources across the state. Yet… It appears that a lot of the generation that has gone offline today has been primarily due to issues on the natural gas system.

   What has sent Texas reeling is not an engineering problem, nor is it the frozen wind turbines blamed by prominent Republicans. It is a financial structure for power generation that offers no incentives to power plant operators to prepare for winter. In the name of deregulation and free markets, critics say, Texas has created an electric grid that puts an emphasis on cheap prices over reliable service.

   The governor’s attempt to blame clean energy sources also does not account for the fact that a largely privatized system isolated from other states’ grids has been neglected for years.

   It’s a “Wild West market design based only on short-run prices,” said a portfolio manager, Matt Breidert, at an analytical firm called EcoFin/Tortoise.

   And yet the temporary train wreck of that market Monday and Tuesday has seen the wholesale price of electricity in Houston go from $22 a megawatt-hour to about $9,000.

   Talk about deflection. Is Governkr Blabbot taking lessons from the Orange one?

   • 1. Electric cars don’t work under these condx.
     2. We will cross ref ERCT board to OpenSecrets,org…anyne want to help?

     • Sir Marky mis-spoke, there are 3 energy grids in the USD east, west and Texas. They are inter connected by AC-DC-AC transformers. the 3 grids grew independent of each other and are not synched to each other thus the dc to connect them
       Nebr. is the only 100% public power and should be a model for all the states to follow. Power companies form area power pools and have written agreements. We in Nebr have had some rolling black out because the agreements force us to, and send power to others in the pool. Over all the nebr public power is a God send. If the states had moral legislatures(not-owned by deep state) they could condemn the power companies and take them over the same way power companies condemn private property to steal the property. After all the US did it to the mail service. We the people should own our power source and not some greedy capitalist
       https://www.nepower.org/public-power/history.html
       actually I long for the future where each home has a Nikola Tesla energy collector for its energy needs and the grids are no longer needed. Free power just need to buy the unit. They also would power battery free elec cars. There are stories about his Pierce Arrow
       Sir Marky also left out Hydro Power in his energy mix.

     • George…There is another pandemic going around…It’s the post [redacted, off topic political] ..Case in point…your liar,liar pants on fire statement that electrics don’t work under these conditions. Funny I don’t recall you having a Tesla….I do and I have driven it to Tahoe regularly during ski weekends and have had zero problems in temps as low as the single digits…so…Electrics do operate under these cold conditions. That is 100% false statement.. You have lost it George. What doesn’t work are gas powered cars because their 80 year old starter batteries definitely do not work under these conditions and have to be jumped. Tesla warms its own batteries through their software.

       [George replies: I instrumented electrics and hybrids 20-years ago. The flaw of electrics under marginal conditions, they steal power from other – sometimes critical users – in order to recharge. Yes, they are godawful fast. In Texas right now in many areas there is no power. See my note on 13.5 kwhr Pwer Walls, ‘Run the math. If you were here – 12 inches of snow and ice, power cycling off and on, electrics would look plain stupid = except the hybrids like Prius and Fusions. Don’t get T-fensive, Read what write, not what the voice is screamng. I have not raised the issue of Trump at all, so that part ended on the cutting room floor.]

       Here is a statement from a owner in Norway… “I live nearly as far north in Europe as is possible, in the small town of Kirkenes on Norway’s coast by the Barents Sea. The Barents Observer covers stories from around the region, which means long distances in varied weather conditions. For about a year now, I have been driving my Tesla Model 3 around in the north, and have had very positive experiences by driving electric.
       Last winter and this one have proven that electric is by no means a disadvantage in the Arctic. The car heats faster and better than my previous diesel Volvo, and even in very remote places, when parked without access to a plug, I don’t have to be afraid of the car not starting the next morning if it has been extremely cold at night.
       One example: Last week I parked for four days at the airport in Kirkenes without a plug. Temperatures dropped to down to -32C. When I came back I turned on the heat via the Tesla app while waiting for luggage, and when I came to the car some 10-12 minutes later, all windows were without ice, the door was no problem to open, and I simply just jumped in.”

       [G comments: The discussion is about cars that run – even with grid down. That’s a hydro rich region used to big grid use. Not so in the Midwest.]

       A Tesla Model 3 owner from Saskatoon, Canada tested his car for overnight range loss in temperatures as low as -17 ? (1.4 ?). After almost 15 hours of being parked in extreme cold and snow while unplugged, the Tesla Model 3 lost only 44 km (9%) of range including the cold blue inactive portion of the battery, this range loss is calculated before the battery gets heated while being driven. Excluding Sentry Mode usage, the estimated loss of range is only 5% according to the owner’s estimate.
       This Model 3 owner also intelligently used the Pre-Heat Cabin function from his Tesla Mobile App to heat up the interior of his car and melt any ice on the windshield. The pre-heating used around ~8 km (1.5%) of range — not bad considering the extra comfort of doing this on your phone instead of inside a frigid car.

       The lying, conniving [redacted, off point political linkage unwarranted] era is over George. No more BS.

       [George: Do the math. the gri is wobbly now – and people want to add more load. Rehab anyone? Hybrids are the answer – flexfuels. I own 30 solar panels and this site has been olar driven since 2008. When there were how many Tesla’s?] ]

       • As far as Ure concerned, the all elecctric people should be paying a per kwhr tax on top of local electric rates. In order to pay their fair share of the federal high funds from gas and diesel.
         Electrics don’t pay these – and thus are “free riders on everyone else” who doesn’t have an electric. Electrics should pay annual taxes based on mileage for both state and federal gas taxes because they do use the same public roads… A tax dodge of 82.2 cents a gallon…

         “Because electric vehicles do not require gasoline to operate, they do not contribute to the upkeep of highways through a gas tax. Many states face declining gas tax revenue—not only because of electric vehicles—forcing state policymakers to consider other ways to pay for the nation’s transportation infrastructure”

         Freeloaders in most states.

     • George, before you go ‘Donald’ and spout every lie you can think of, check it out, electric vehicles work better in low temps than gas engines!…
       https://www.virta.global/blog/ev-driving-in-sub-zero-temperatures

       • I defy you to name a “lie” as claimed.

         So let’s see: You recommend we look at a battery charging company website for unbiased information when a chemistry book it’s all electro chemistry, don’tcha know) would be a little better? You don’t know who solved the National Guard armory low temp battery storage problem on the Abrams, do you? 6-TL and 6-MF batteries with temp compensated charging instead of the fixed setpoints on the Detroits. (for starting. U know who and some smart guys at RDEC. – common point? We understand temps and batteries pretty well)

   • “Talk about deflection. Is Governkr Blabbot taking lessons from the Orange one?”

     Turn on the Networks.. Just pick a station.. listen to the news… Count them.. FIVE YEARS .. of nonstop trump hate rhetoric.. and it doesn’t look like it is going to let up soon… If I could convince the rest of the family to let me.. I would drop cable in a heart beat.. why should I be spending that much money for something that totally disgusts me it isn’t news that they hate him.. Hes not the president anymore put it behind you and move on down the road..

     • Looking…Deal with it. He will be in the history books as the worst leader in the thousands and thousands of years of world politics. Bet on it. This is a lesson and sad moment in our history the world should never, ever repeat again.

     • “he reckons in a market crash gold is going to go up . ”

       Only if people are still collecting it len.
       I personally would cherish the simple creature comforts.

       https://youtu.be/YHjYt6Jm5j8

     • “Looking…Deal with it. He will be in the history books as the worst leader in the thousands and thousands of years of world politics.”

       That’s how the books will read.. just look who they gave a book deal with.
       Hes now a past president.. every other sentence doesn’t have to repeat the same old hate rhetoric that th they’ve been spewing since before his inauguration .
       Television shows are being scripted around the same message..pretty soon cartoons targeting children.
       He is gone …in my mind there isnt any reason yo continue the hate conversation anymore..

       • Sure there is! MONEY!!!

   • I have to admit.. Mark you are probably one of the smartest around here of us.. you thought ahead and put in tesla power walls..
     I definately want a couple of them.. that would run our place for a week easily.. but just can’t afford them.. I have looked at other alternatives even there those would cost ten grand with shipping.. and that is a streatch…. I did have reserve power but those batteries needed to be replaced last summer and I just don’t have twenty grand laying around to replace them…. But if we had taken your cue and bought them no one would be wanting power right now.. it would be a non event..

     • It would still be a horrible event.

       The size of a battery setup to run 22 kw of heating 24-hours is beyond comprehension.
       A standard power wall is? 13.5 kWh
       That gives heating and cooling here for 45 minues!

       Look, we have 5 + of solar – a power wall worth every 2.5 hours in full sun.

       People who talk solar have generally no experience. Talk to some installers, I know a bunch.

       Remember Ure’s a co-holder on 4 patents for battery state of charge.

       pwer wall will run a 1,000 w heater (most are 1,500 on high) for 13 hours.

       Then with ERCOT, what?

       Employees there gave 2-1 more to Dems than Rs by the way. Not a die t Trump and in the current cycle went to Biden.

       Do calcs, follow trails

     • I hear ya george.. I had tesla figure out what we would need. We have 9 kw of solar and produce even now with some of the panels covered in snow.. approximately 20 is. In full sun we average 32-37 kw. Per day.
       Right now solar is powering everything in the house. Where we fall shortish evening and night use.
       I have one panel on a two wheel cart with a power hub 1800 just for emergency power that can wheel around for the multi fuel stove. If all you use is battery then the amount you’d need is exponentially larger. I’m dependent on the sun still shining. In the event of total cloud cover I have a backup generator that can utilize multiple fuels.
       I tried to contemplate the different scenarios that can develop..

     • Sir Mark.
       Given the disintegration (of the US, which will get very much worse), it is just as likely that some persons will turn up tp remove those power-walls, from your soft warm hands at some point. Enjoy.

   • “Blabbot?” “Orange One?”

     1) Disparage, and dismiss. Display cleverness.
     (Gratuitously insult as a drive-by, if possible.)
     2) Blame all Bad Things on conservative thought (evil).
     (Insult ad hominum, f possible.)

     Rinse & Repeat.
     (Backup system: Dazzle with tons of selected detail
     where #1 and #2 prove insufficient.)

     Reward:
     Feel like The Scathingly Brilliant Certified Authority.
     Strut your Smug. Add nothing useful or actionable.
     Tower over the Small Minds of anyone who disagrees.

     …which is why I almost always just fast-forward past
     your bloviating, steaming, inflammatory piles of shit
     without reading. I used to read it: but no more.

     • Thank you. Beautifully said, right there with you.

     • Everyone is entitled to their own opinion…I just think yours are wacky, negative, un-American and so off base that it makes me worry about the future of this country.

     • Great post! I totally agree but you’re wasting your time on this one. Blessings

     • Wonderfully put. Symptomatic of every liberal non-thinking bloviator since time began. Waste of time.

   • Come on George…you said… “I instrumented electrics and hybrids 20-years ago. ‘ Ha hahahah, I used to run 5.5 minute miles and sub 35 minute 10K’s 20 years ago. Doesn’t apply today unfortunately…In a Moore’s Law world…20 years might as well be 100 years ago. That gives you no cred. You have no idea how incredible the Tesla technology is. I live it, breathe it and see it everyday. Doesn’t matter if it’s 115 or -10 degrees…it’s solid technology that works

     • 1. 13.5Kwhr is pathetic small. Runs a small 5,200 btu air conditioner for how long? ((~10 hours depending on SEER))
       2. So tell us how you pay for your portion of highway ops and maint since EV owners skate on highway taxes?

     • Oh, and watt-hours never go out of style. Same tech, much improved hype. the HEV Challenge vehicles, depending on team and design objectives beat Tesla in many things (admittedly not Zero-60, though since this was real green research.

     • People change… physics doesn’t.

7. And here is another lesson to learn George. Free Markets are never “Free”. $9,000 a megawatt hour in Houston? Holy Moly. This past Labor Day weekend when California obliterated its temperature records. It was 115 degrees in San Mateo county…and it taxed our grid system. Genius Senator John Cornyn tweeted: “California’s energy nightmare shows us why Texas must trust the free market”

   How’s that free market going there Senator Cornhole?

8. Deep breaths, George, deep breaths…

   From whom does ERCOT get its walking orders?

   Never mind. It gets them from SERC, which gets them from NERC, which gets them from FERC (not kidding!)

   Tracing out the convoluted alphabet web, what I come up with is: Not all energy produced by ERCOT can be used by ERCOT. I’m guessing NERC has established a static number quota which ERCOT MUST supply to the national grid, regardless of demand within ERCOT’s territory. Texas has rolling blackouts because other States’ PowerCos are sucking its grid dry.

   What this tells me is we (CONUS, SE Canada, and Baja) are really, really close to sucking up every joule of happy juice produced within CONUS, SE Canada, and Baja, combined, and beginning late this spring, are likely to see rolling blackouts nationwide.

   Please Mr. Biden, go ahead and sign that EO that’ll shut off 94% of our electricity production… Just don’t do it until Memorial Day. Cold kills people, hot only makes them uncomfortable…

   • As usual Ray, you try blaming Democrats for anything & everything

     That stubborn isolationist stance is what’s freezing your butt off, TX could be receiving power from the Eastern and Western grid, but no, in TX ya gotta snub the rest of the world to your own detriment…
     https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/02/17/texas-power-winter-storm/

     • Why hello, Mr. Troll.

       Please take a reading comprehension course.

       Your sophomoric responses to the straw-men you construct are entertaining, but without value.

       I’m sorry you hate Democrats so much…

9. 2 days exactly without electricity. 2:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. 48 hours later. No rolling blackouts, just pure blackout. We finally got our 9000 watt dual fuel generator up and running hooked up fridge, freezer, 1 light and TV. Had hot meal, but was settling into another 39 degree in the house, night. Asked hub to turn off noisy generator and magically our lights came on. We are trying to get some heat in here in case they take us out again. We share your frustration, anger, and upset, George. You would not believe the burst pipes all over Austin in homes and apartments
   Condos, etc., and the conditions here. And next 2 days, 2 storms coming in. This is a disaster area. Water needing to be boiled, etc., So no strategic natural gas reserves in Texas? No reserves at all, just the business model of buying the gas when you need it at the price offered? We are so screwed. This is not a model of ‘sustainability’, before the liberals highjacked the word! And, just in case readers do not know February is normally our coldest month, this should not have surprised anyone. Everybody got at least a weeks warning and did not take precautions, I am talking about energy providers with wellhead, windmills, etc. George, I have coming here since 2008, ’09, and this has been an extraordinary prepping experience. Thanks to you, we had a lot of what we needed, but we both got the stomach flu last week and couldn’t do the things we knew to do to get ready for the storm because we were sick. I feel sorry for the covid, flu, and other medical issues sick people also going through this stress. Hang in there, George and Elaine; ya’ll have helped a lot of people by your example.

   • Ugh, stomach flu sux.

     I don’t know anything about Austin’s local utilities grid. Many towns have electric valves on both water and sanitary sewers. If you guys do, or if’fn you don’t know, then…

     Suggestion: If there is any possibility whatsoever that your water will go away, keep a bathtub full of water, so you can flush.

10. Sounds like a propane standby generator is in order. We have one in Maine, in less than 10 seconds the house is powered. Solar is great when the weather cooperates.

    • I setup a circuit to trick the grid tie inverters to turn on. The thing is I have to be sure to shut off the grid so theres no back feed. That could be dangerous to someone who is working on the line.
      In the event that all the dominos drop I have the manual fed heating systems as a backup.

11. go and read alfred e neuman on 321 sewer . little punk that old salty adopted after a big night out . he reckons in a market crash gold is going to go up . he sits at his desk looking like a little freak trying to answer questions in class in the front row . put 321 and sheetco together and you have a snake oil salesman carnival .. must be at least 200 canditates for nobel prize in economics this year

    • “he reckons in a market crash gold is going to go up . ”

      Only if people are still collecting it len.
      I personally would cherish the simple creature comforts.

      https://youtu.be/YHjYt6Jm5j8

12. This has been a record setting storm. We have even had rolling Blackouts in Kansas City. I think this would be a good time to evaluate your preparedness for the future.
    Just like the Pandemic greatly effected the future.
    Just Like Biden will greatly effect the future.
    I personally am not very optimistic about the future. Prepare accordingly. Biden is setting a record pace with EO. He is determined to change the direction of the last four years. I liked the last four years. The new direction of cancel culture will dramatically effect our future. I do not think that even the liberals are going to like the new direction. The pace at which the Drunken Sailors in DC are spending money is incredible. Remember actions have consequences! I wonder where we are going to end up. It sure will not be here.

    • Exactly Marjain learn from this.. then prep for it to be three times worse… Lets just for arguments sake say.. this goes on for a year.. same rolling blackouts if its a really hot summer as well.. then another cold winter storms etc..
      I remember 2012 I planted half of my garden the first week of March.. everyone thought I was nuts.. but the summer was so hot.. that it was the only stuff I got out of my garden that year..
      a gent I know that was a contestant on naked and afraid.. he lives in Nev.. went and built a earth sheltered green house.. using sand bags.. because of it..

13. Dude G,

    Tape up a picture of she who should not be named – print in big block letters – I am going to shut down all coal fired power plants – place picture and print where U can see it all day long – this alone should generate several extra BTU’s from Ure smoldering heart.

    In case emergency – U could always put together a makeshift log wood fired heater with Ure rocket stove w/piece of bent pipe run thru stove from bottom opening – clean air – and run that pipe into house – similar to a bush craft “Log Heater” – of course U will have to keep feeding the stove – unless of course U got a couple of big ass, dry logs laying around – Survival baby (bushcraft keeps burning inside out all night long).
    – got moar ICE coming chief – that scheisse is no joke-Ice kills..

    Got friends that just pulled some “weight” and got their grandpop and fam a hotel room/suite using NE press creds.
    Maybe “Going Mobile” -https://youtu.be/SKX6GOmTGBA is an option..

14. Hi George, right now Ure definitely in some deep doo! First priority take care of the Mrs.. You might wish to consider starting a flow chart of the past few days from memory and then add to it as current events happen. You gotta go with the FLOW pun intended right now but the take-a-way will be what you learn from this less than stellar experience and where the weak links need to be bolstered. This will all pass in the fullness of time! Promise!

15. George,

    I’ve got three employees that live in FTW and stepdaughter in Austin. The FTW people been without power since the beginning of this thing and Austin has intermittent power. It’s a complete nightmare down there. As you know, I’m in a neighbor state to the N.E. and we’ve had the same amount of bad weather as you and then some and we also have a private electrical utilities. We’re not having the same issues here. I know Mark was touting ‘government management’ like any good commie would, but that’s even worse. Can you imagine a worse idea?

    What Texas’ problem is that it has been drinking its own Kool-Aid (or is it flavor aid?) for far too long. Hopefully, this will be a wake up call.

    Also, as I’ve been saying, if you want to know what a climate crisis would look like this is it. Remember kids, warm is GOOD and cold is BAD.

    Stay safe and try to stay warm. This will be over in a few days.

16. “I’m calling for BOTH federala nd State grand juries to tear into this nd find out how this clusterwhoozie happened. Darkdemonium!
    Power is a UTILITY and should be operated without preference”

    They.. just like myself… Take the things we are accustomed to having on a regular basis for granted…..

    Unfortunately.. it is about Control and the loss of control.. where they should have been implimenting solar towers.. OH MY WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT BEFORE….. starting at the furthest spot from the power plant.. ( we still need the roots of a tree ) and working back to the tree roots or power plant.. when we had a vicious ice storm there was one whole section of the state that had no power for a year… hmm.. so what is the solution they come up with.. when told they have to impliment solar.. decide to build big.. as far away from the furthest point they can get.. where if at every boost or transmission sub station..they put a smaller solar tower starting at the furthest point and working back.. ok so build one a year no huge investment.. like a building.. one board at a time.. eventually you have a wall.. but then who am I.. just some home joker that has an idea to make the grid rock solid without a lot of huge infrastructure expense.. at least Brazil is starting to do it.. hmm how many years before our country gets smart.. but then it is just their business model..

17. George,

    I can understand your frustration with the powers that be, especially when you are already stressed and concerned about Elaine’s recovery. As the saying goes, “Do what you will with me, but don’t lay a hand on my loved one”. Don’t piss off us old men, we get even.

    So far, TVA has done a really good job of keeping up with demand in the Tennessee valley. Since we are tied to the Eastern Grid, I am certain some of our excess generation capacity is going elsewhere.

    My frustration is usually on a more local basis. Our local electrical co-operative is probably the most unreliable and least forward thinking of all the rural co-ops surrounding us. Normally, a heavy dew causes power outages. Not the case in neighboring counties. Unfortunately, our local co-op is infested with holdover members from the past control by the Democrat mafia in our county seat. All are political ass-wipes, and have absolutely no business being on the board of an electric co-op. Little business sense and no technical knowledge.

    Haven’t trusted the grid for years, which is why I have two generators and ample fuel. Next purchase will be a natural gas powered generator, instead of gasoline. Local natural gas is a private entity, run for profit. They do a great job at a price you can afford.

    I am also going to install an exterior wood/pellet burning furnace for heating. It requires some electrical power, but a very small generator/battery pack would handle its’ requirements. Still have to have a generator, because the well is our only source of water.

    Hope the power comes back up soon, for Elaine’s comfort and your sanity. If you are like me, I can’t stand situations over which I have no control. I prefer to prosper or fail due to my own actions, not those of some unqualified politician. Willing to play by the rules, as long as the rule makers have to abide by same and have at least a resemblance of intelligence.

    My prayers and thought are with you.

18. I normally enjoy the comments but not today. I stopped after the first. AYFKM.

19. Everybody do this:
    Take notes — now — on how you feel, and what things annoy, discomfort, endanger, or inconvenience you the most.

    Do it now — while it’s still happening and fresh in your mind. You will tend to repress the bad memories later when the sky clears, and you’re all warm and comfy and secure again.

    I used to command emergency drills. I hated it when things went well. I loved it when things went badly, or things we never had considered bit us on the ass in surprise.

    When things go well, you get Confirmation.
    When things go badly, you get New Information you can learn and refine your responses and plans to better handle.

    One does not grow and improve with Confirmation.

    Learn, today, from your own current discomfort and inconvenience that you may better address tomorrow’s adversities.

    • “You will tend to repress the bad memories later when the sky clears, and you’re all warm and comfy and secure again.”

      Exactly.. you forget how miserable miserable can be and revert back to where we were before and get accustomed to the things we take for granted all over again…. People never think about what it would be to loose.. like toilet paper.. why put a few rolls on the shelf.. but then when the supply lines are cut.. and we outsourced all our industry.. so consider that for just a moment.. no industry an estimated five to ten year retool.. Just HOW bad could it be…

    • Bad memories stick harder, that’s why the Capitol siege won’t be swept under the rug….
      https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20070829/bad-memories-easier-to-remember#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20suggests%20that,the%20brain%20linked%20to%20memories.

      • Yeah, and 80 plus millions of Americans will not forget the demoncrat, george soros, other ngo’s, and traitors funding of the antifa/BLM riots nor the demoncrats and leftist criminal media calling them peaceful protests as they assaulted, bombed, burned, destroyed, looted, raped, and murdered their way across America. We will never sweep it under the rug like you are trying to do.

        Long Live The Republic.

      • I watched a video.. last week.. ( they took it down right away LOL which I wondered just how long that one would stay up LOL LOL LOL ) that was so informational on the whole thing.. that it would have exonerated DJT right out of the box..
        unfortunately those that set this thing up and scripted the whole thing got real people involved in what they were doing..

20. Amazing that at least two people seemed to have recently subscribed mainly to spew vitriol.

    I have subbed here for years, and people rarely if ever disagree to this type of toxicity.

    This too shall pass.

    Peace to all. Eyes on the prize, folks, not where distractors point you….

21. Hmm. Remember the ballyhoo last year in the msm when a billionaire co-founder of eBay had helped bankroll a Texas startup then rolling out its new fangled solar-powered, water-cooled bitcoin miners near Midland? They wanted to take away the bitcoin mining share edge held by China.

    The other intent was that these mining rig batteries were supposed to direct power away from mining to feed the Texas power grid, with…appropriate compensation, at times of peak demand. However the business design was for heat, not cold.

    • Food for thought:

      If bitcoin miners haven’t voluntarily unplugged in Texas for the public good, the “industry” there might be drawing something like 50 megawatts of power?

22. I certainly feel for the people of Texas but did note that this morning when Texas still had 2,300,000 customers (about 7 million people out of 30) without power Oklahoma just to the north had TWELVE (12) customers statewide without power.

    Difference? Oklahoma is part of the US East Coast grid, which comes with strict FEDERAL requirements for power plants, and transmission lines … whereas Texas is in it’s own world and has thumbed it’s nose at the FEDERAL requirements for power plants and transmission lines and does NOT require them for Texas utilities

    Here if you live rural you better be set for a minimum of 10 days of no electric … and that can happen in the summer as well as the winter.

    Prepping is all about prepping, which includes providing for one’s heat under the worst imaginable conditions for that location for extended periods of time since losing power CAN happen any time of the year and it most likely is going to occur when that Sigma 7 Event happens.

    Shoot … I lost power during the summer for 7 days when Hurricane Ike went through and I lived in a big city at the time. So far the worst for me in the winter has been 3 days before they could get the electricity back on, NOT A SINGLE WATT of electricity during that time either, none of this being on “part” of the time stuff, that would have been WONDERFUL and much better than 3 days of NOTHING. Again in that instance I lived in the city – well inside the beltway of a major city – when that happened.

    People who have livestock and can NOT provide for them without electricity … what in the heck are they thinking? Sorry they are NOT treating their operation as a business … but as a hobby, a hobby they probably should NOT be in.

    Both the mega livestock operations and the small farmers with livestock around here have back up generators to provide for their basic needs if the power goes down. It WILL happen given enough time. Just the way the world turns. If a livestock owner can’t provide for that then they shouldn’t have ANY livestock.

    Stay warm … I see it is to be back in the 60’s by early next week. Just remember as pipes go from frozen to unfrozen they leak really badly if they have been damaged by the freezing – and that is when most property damage occurs, AFTER the pipes are no longer frozen.

    • Yup. I am working jobs south of Houston. Pipes thawing and buildings flooding out… And the lack of power. Many areas that are not allowed natural gas. No real option for backup generation.
      FYI, upcoming NEC (national electric Code) cycle is going to BAN fossil fuels (Nat. Gas plus) from new home builds! Get a yelling to make sure this insanity stops! I would rather help prevent the losses I am working than watch homes and businesses suffer… The insurance carriers are going to be a nightmare and thousands are going to learn they do not have coverage they thought they bought.
      Pray for relief and miracles.

23. George,

    Just a bit of information for “looking out of the box”. The pumps that move natural gas are in fact enormous “diesel cycle” engines that run on natural gas. Happen to know this for a fact, because 3- 36″ diameter gas pipelines run across my farm. Total of about a mile from corner to corner. Natural gas compressor station is about 10 miles from my home. These lines carry natural gas at 850psi. From these transport lines it is fed to local utilities that reduce the pressure and add the “skunk juice” scent to the natural gas that we all recognize.

    Compressor stations are located about 90 to 100 miles apart to make sure pressure is maintained and to provide for local utility access to the “big” lines.
    The TVA peaking power plant near my home town draws gas from these big lines.

    Unless there is a rupture in the pipe, natural gas doesn’t suffer from electrical outages. Only exception might be electrically or computer controlled valves, but most distribution stations locally have a Natural gas generator onsite.

    Needless to say, I am extremely careful to not disturb the soil anywhere near these lines on my farm. I have no desire to be blown into the next universe.

    • I always was curious about that Lloyd.. I knew it had to be big .. but I never ever thought it was that big..
      Thanks I appreciate the information..

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