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How are you so sure that regulators would have required protection against a once in a hundred year storm? What doesnt the Democratic republic of the Congo regu

by ryan93 5y ago

How are you so sure that regulators would have required protection against a once in a hundred year storm? What doesnt the Democratic republic of the Congo regulate the poverty out of existence? Hindsight is 20/20

simfree 5y ago
Rolling blackouts occured during the Groundhog Day Blizzard in 2011 as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis#Background https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis#Back... Competent regulators can see the past and prepare for things that happened a decade ago to reoccur.
xxpor 5y ago
ERCOT/TX explicitly creating their own grid so they're not regulated by FERC (which covers literally the entire rest of the country) suggests that perhaps they don't have ratepayer's best interests at heart. I'd love to know if anyone's written anything about say, FERC vs ERCOT's gas pipeline winterization requirements.
- salawat 5y ago
  I'd advise looking into some Texas history first. Part of the isolated grid was in response to the unreliability of other actors on the National grid. Yeah. When you go independent it sucks when you set yourself up to not be helped by anyone else; but in general you at least know squarely where to place blame when it blows up in your face.
  - thephyber 5y ago
    As someone who grew up in Texas, Texas history (not just of their electric grid) is crazy. The Alamo was about illegal immigrants from the USA fighting for the right to keep cotton-picking slaves in Mexican territory, then revolting when the Mexican military came to enforce the law. And it was a tactical loss for the revolution. It’s crazy that it managed to become a rallying cry.
    - vorpalhex 5y ago
      You have over-simplified to the point of being incorrect. The Alamo is one of many battles during the Texas revolution which primarily occurred due to the move of Mexico to a centralized power instead of a federalized one. Texas had already endured a constitutional change, increased taxes, immigration being made illegal and changes in the legality of slavery. While Santa Anna blamed "illegal immigrants" heavily, he also was basically conscripting anyone and everyone to form his army which likely tied into his continual set of losses. The Alamo is the first to fall when the Mexican army, coming from the heart of Mexico, re-enters Texas. During the fighting, Texas formally declared independence from Mexico. The Alamo falls. A few days later the Texan army catches up with the Mexican army and crushes them, with claims the men are shouting "Remember the Alamo".
      - thephyber 5y ago
        And yet this revolution was still started by American settlers and other Americans that the settlers convinced to cross into Mexico. I agree that Santa Ana was authoritarian, but the Alamo was not a symbol of freedom from authoritarianism. It was a rebellion which was only a relevant point because American settlers chose to live in Mexico and failed to uphold the contract with their new government: to limit slavery to their own properties and not to spread their Protestantism. Your interpretation of the situation was missing more relevant info than mine was.
        vorpalhex 5y ago
        Well really the revolution was due to Mexico betraying Spain and failing as a centralized government as Spain said they would. I think you are missing that Texas had always been distinct - not just part of Mexico/Spain - and that those immigrants didn't suddenly pop there right before to pick up Texas but had been living there since it was Spanish territory. Even France wanted to buy Texas as a distinct entity at one point.
JaimeThompson 5y ago
The Texas grid had similar issues in 1989 and very little was done to fix the issues. If the rumors I have heard are true then Texas lost the new Intel fab in large part because of the unreliable power grid.
trinovantes 5y ago
You mean the "hundred year storms" that happened in 1989, 2011, and 2021?
- thephyber 5y ago
  I think this should be discussed more. The frequency of outlier storms is higher than the actuarial tables were designed for. The line that delineates “hundred year storm” seems to be mislocated in the actuarial tables. This seems to happen with hurricanes, floods, fires, and these polar vortex storms bringing extreme cold down into the lower continental US.

by ryan93 5y ago

simfree 5y ago

Rolling blackouts occured during the Groundhog Day Blizzard in 2011 as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis#Background https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis#Back... Competent regulators can see the past and prepare for things that happened a decade ago to reoccur.

xxpor 5y ago

ERCOT/TX explicitly creating their own grid so they're not regulated by FERC (which covers literally the entire rest of the country) suggests that perhaps they don't have ratepayer's best interests at heart. I'd love to know if anyone's written anything about say, FERC vs ERCOT's gas pipeline winterization requirements.

salawat 5y ago
I'd advise looking into some Texas history first. Part of the isolated grid was in response to the unreliability of other actors on the National grid. Yeah. When you go independent it sucks when you set yourself up to not be helped by anyone else; but in general you at least know squarely where to place blame when it blows up in your face.
- thephyber 5y ago
  As someone who grew up in Texas, Texas history (not just of their electric grid) is crazy. The Alamo was about illegal immigrants from the USA fighting for the right to keep cotton-picking slaves in Mexican territory, then revolting when the Mexican military came to enforce the law. And it was a tactical loss for the revolution. It’s crazy that it managed to become a rallying cry.
  - vorpalhex 5y ago
    You have over-simplified to the point of being incorrect. The Alamo is one of many battles during the Texas revolution which primarily occurred due to the move of Mexico to a centralized power instead of a federalized one. Texas had already endured a constitutional change, increased taxes, immigration being made illegal and changes in the legality of slavery. While Santa Anna blamed "illegal immigrants" heavily, he also was basically conscripting anyone and everyone to form his army which likely tied into his continual set of losses. The Alamo is the first to fall when the Mexican army, coming from the heart of Mexico, re-enters Texas. During the fighting, Texas formally declared independence from Mexico. The Alamo falls. A few days later the Texan army catches up with the Mexican army and crushes them, with claims the men are shouting "Remember the Alamo".
    - thephyber 5y ago
      And yet this revolution was still started by American settlers and other Americans that the settlers convinced to cross into Mexico. I agree that Santa Ana was authoritarian, but the Alamo was not a symbol of freedom from authoritarianism. It was a rebellion which was only a relevant point because American settlers chose to live in Mexico and failed to uphold the contract with their new government: to limit slavery to their own properties and not to spread their Protestantism. Your interpretation of the situation was missing more relevant info than mine was.
      - vorpalhex 5y ago
        Well really the revolution was due to Mexico betraying Spain and failing as a centralized government as Spain said they would. I think you are missing that Texas had always been distinct - not just part of Mexico/Spain - and that those immigrants didn't suddenly pop there right before to pick up Texas but had been living there since it was Spanish territory. Even France wanted to buy Texas as a distinct entity at one point.

JaimeThompson 5y ago

The Texas grid had similar issues in 1989 and very little was done to fix the issues. If the rumors I have heard are true then Texas lost the new Intel fab in large part because of the unreliable power grid.

trinovantes 5y ago

You mean the "hundred year storms" that happened in 1989, 2011, and 2021?

thephyber 5y ago
I think this should be discussed more. The frequency of outlier storms is higher than the actuarial tables were designed for. The line that delineates “hundred year storm” seems to be mislocated in the actuarial tables. This seems to happen with hurricanes, floods, fires, and these polar vortex storms bringing extreme cold down into the lower continental US.