The Energy Thread

[Uncle Ted]

If you can look at what happened and not realize that the whole system is FUBAR, I don't know what to say to help you see it. Some truths are just self-evident.

There was a nice article about this in IEEE Spectrum... https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise...re-of-the-grid

I still like having the "freedom to chose" when it comes to power providers... I am currently with a power provider who gets its energy all from green sources. Each month they tell me how many "virtual trees" that I have planted and that gives me lots of "warm fuzzies". However, there needs to be a choice for the people that are too dumb to chose. Maybe the government could be one of the power providers and we could call it the "public option".

[wuapinmon]

We have our own grid for a reason. If our power goes over state lines (in a significant way) then the federal government can regulate it. F that. So we had the power go out for a day or two (mostly due to rolling blackouts). That happens in California all the time, it seems.

Maybe the Harris Administration should just kill Texas out of the union by executive order.

If you can look at what happened and not realize that the whole system is FUBAR, I don't know what to say to help you see it. Some truths are just self-evident.

[Non Sequitur]

We have our own grid for a reason. If our power goes over state lines (in a significant way) then the federal government can regulate it. F that. So we had the power go out for a day or two (mostly due to rolling blackouts). That happens in California all the time, it seems.

Maybe the Harris Administration should just kill Texas out of the union by executive order.

But you're going to happily take the Federal handouts, right? Even after you regulated things yourselves and screwed things up because your regulations sucked? How about you bail yourselves out?

[Uncle Ted]

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/...k-in-politics/

What kills me is that the Texas GOP didn't want to bow to Federal regulations, so it divorced itself from the Federal grid, and now when things go sideways the Texas GOP is lining up to accept Federal disaster relief. What's happening in Texas is horrific, and I have no problem with the Federal government helping in any way it can. Hopefully Texas voters are aware enough to realize how been badly they have been served by GOP policies.

We have our own grid for a reason. If our power goes over state lines (in a significant way) then the federal government can regulate it. F that. So we had the power go out for a day or two (mostly due to rolling blackouts). That happens in California all the time, it seems.

Maybe the Harris Administration should just kill Texas out of the union by executive order.

[Uncle Ted]

After reading that WSJ journal, it doesn't seem like the problem is wind power (although the article ... or was it an editorial? ... makes it out to be the bogeyman). The problem was not having a reliable backup. Everyone knows (or should know) that, without a breakthrough in battery technology, wind is not a reliable permanent power source. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use it (and other green sources) when it does work. But unless we are willing to tolerate blackouts (and its clear that we won't) when wind fails, as it inevitably will from time to time, there has to be a sufficient, reliable backup source. And Texas seemingly failed to provide that at the worst possible time.

I'm certainly not an expert (or even very knowledgeable) in this area, but that was my takeaway from the article/editorial. Turning this into a "green new deal" issue is stupid.

All forms of power generation failed in one way or another its seems. I don't see battery technology ever filling the gap (unless the government releases the captured UFO technology they have). We need nuclear.

[Non Sequitur]

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/02/21/gop-rep-michael-mccaul-texas-winter-storm-response-bash-sotu-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/

What kills me is that the Texas GOP didn't want to bow to Federal regulations, so it divorced itself from the Federal grid, and now when things go sideways the Texas GOP is lining up to accept Federal disaster relief. What's happening in Texas is horrific, and I have no problem with the Federal government helping in any way it can. Hopefully Texas voters are aware enough to realize how been badly they have been served by GOP policies.

[UVACoug]

After reading that WSJ journal, it doesn't seem like the problem is wind power (although the article ... or was it an editorial? ... makes it out to be the bogeyman). The problem was not having a reliable backup. Everyone knows (or should know) that, without a breakthrough in battery technology, wind is not a reliable permanent power source. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use it (and other green sources) when it does work. But unless we are willing to tolerate blackouts (and its clear that we won't) when wind fails, as it inevitably will from time to time, there has to be a sufficient, reliable backup source. And Texas seemingly failed to provide that at the worst possible time.

I'm certainly not an expert (or even very knowledgeable) in this area, but that was my takeaway from the article/editorial. Turning this into a "green new deal" issue is stupid.

[Uncle Ted]

The article below was updated this month and discusses the status of small nuclear power reactors. I haven't made it all the way through the article yet, but thought at least some of you might find it interesting:

https://www.world-nuclear.org/inform...-reactors.aspx

I need one of these in my backyard.


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[Pelado]

The article below was updated this month and discusses the status of small nuclear power reactors. I haven't made it all the way through the article yet, but thought at least some of you might find it interesting:

https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

[Jeff Lebowski]

I imagine that the Dude could tell us the difference between groundwater drainage from West Texas vs Yucca Mountain, and why West Texas's wasteland wouldn't be a good home for it. West Texas drains to the Rio Grande Valley and then to the ocean, irrigating untold acres of cropland in two countries. Central Nevada drains to central Nevada, and the only thing that grows in Nevada is its human population.

I don't think Yucca Mtn ever gets built. Probably more risk in transporting the spent rods to Yucca mtn vs leaving them where they are.

[Moliere]

LOL, what a dummy...

https://www.newsweek.com/one-texas-resident-still-has-power-his-bill-now-over-8000-1570343

I think there’s a case to be made that individual consumers shouldn’t be making decisions in the commodity markets unless there is some sort of regulatory protection. This is a good example.

[BigFatMeanie]

I imagine that the Dude could tell us the difference between groundwater drainage from West Texas vs Yucca Mountain, and why West Texas's wasteland wouldn't be a good home for it. West Texas drains to the Rio Grande Valley and then to the ocean, irrigating untold acres of cropland in two countries. Central Nevada drains to central Nevada, and the only thing that grows in Nevada is its human population.

Good thing the growth of the human population in Central Nevada is already severely stunted. A little nuclear waste won't hurt them a bit.

[Uncle Ted]

LOL, what a dummy...

One Texas Resident Still Has Power, but His Bill Is Now Over $8,000

A Texas resident's power bill increased over $7,700 this month as the outages and severe weather in the area rose the cost of electricity.

Royce Pierce, a 38-year-old contractor and Texas resident owes power company, Griddy, $8,162.73 for his electricity use in February. The total was a steep increase compared with his bill for his two-story home last month, which was $387.79.

"It's mind-blowing. I honestly didn't believe the price at first," Pierce told the Daily Beast. "It's not a great feeling knowing that there is a looming bill that we just can't afford."
[...]
Griddy told all of its customers earlier this week that they should switch to another power supplier as electricity prices soared as high as $9,000 a megawatt-hour on Monday.

"We made the unprecedented decision to tell our customers—whom we worked really hard to get—that they are better off in the near term with another provider," Michael Fallquist, chief executive officer of Griddy, said in a statement.

"We want what's right by our consumers, so we are encouraging them to leave," Fallquist continued. "We believe that transparency and that honesty will bring them back."

Griddy's customers are exposed to the real-time fluctuations in wholesale power markets as members pay a $9.99 monthly fee and then pay the direct cost of the electricity on Texas's power grid based on the time of day they used it.

Griddy's business model often saves its customers money but it has done the opposite in recent days as the cost of power on Texas's grid rose exponentially amid the outages caused by severe weather conditions.
[...]

https://www.newsweek.com/one-texas-resident-still-has-power-his-bill-now-over-8000-1570343

[Uncle Ted]

I imagine that the Dude could tell us the difference between groundwater drainage from West Texas vs Yucca Mountain, and why West Texas's wasteland wouldn't be a good home for it. West Texas drains to the Rio Grande Valley and then to the ocean, irrigating untold acres of cropland in two countries. Central Nevada drains to central Nevada, and the only thing that grows in Nevada is its human population.

Hey, if the west texas ground water drains in the rio grande then maybe we won't have to finish the wall... two for one deal.

[wuapinmon]

West Texas is as big an open wasteland as Nevada is. Probably bigger. Let’s just dump it out there.

I imagine that the Dude could tell us the difference between groundwater drainage from West Texas vs Yucca Mountain, and why West Texas's wasteland wouldn't be a good home for it. West Texas drains to the Rio Grande Valley and then to the ocean, irrigating untold acres of cropland in two countries. Central Nevada drains to central Nevada, and the only thing that grows in Nevada is its human population.