Forum Post: ERCOT and deregulated Texas

Texas had been warned to winterize fossil fuel electric plants before the failure 10 years ago. That didn't change the profit preserving deregulated TX power companies from allowing unprotected plants to kill at least 40 people last week, including an 11 year old who died from hypothermia. Fools like Tucker Carlson and Greg Abbot blame it on wind power. And conservative morons believe them.

Dallas Channel 8 WFAA [ABC] -State officials have failed to ensure that power plants across Texas can operate in extreme winter conditions despite three decades of warnings and multiple examples of the same facilities failing storm after storm, according to regulatory documents uncovered by WFAA. -Twenty six power generators that failed during a 2011 winter storm also failed during a similar 1989 storm, according to a review of the 2011 event written by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

• https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/30-years-of-warnings-to-winterize-texas-power-plants-yet-they-still-froze-will-austin-finally-require-it/287-20540908-dbce-4e17-90a3-19aa4f4f4690

an article at NPR included a tweet: @katandtonyT -Updated Griddy bill! 1300 sq ft. Heat set at 60, no laundry, no running dishwasher, no stove/oven cooking, only used air fryer , lights off during the day candles at night most of the time , Tv on some. Some how they say I used 1772 khw. $5,000 @wfaa @FOX4 -The average price for electricity in Texas in the winter is about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Texas utility regulators allowed that price to rise to $9 per kilowatt-hour. -Officials for ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas were not immediately available for comment.

• https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-winter-storms-2021/2021/02/21/969912613/after-days-of-mass-outages-some-texas-residents-now-face-huge-electric-bills

Houston Chronicle: -ERCOT is immune from lawsuits. This case could change that. Upset with the Texas grid manager after last week's outages and wanting to take the operator to court? -https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-Supreme-Court-to-decide-whether-ERCOT-is-15968323.php

Video link https://youtu.be/R4uxW8PgBnA