Wild Weather

[ppine]

I like to camp all year. I don't like the snow as much as I used to.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

What's happening in Texas is pretty much the result of how many people think. Both in utility management and personal lives.

How many times have we heard or read on forums the statement "I've never had that problem before, I see no reason to spend more money than necessary now".

Those who told the Texas power utility to "Winterize" probably just said "Why, we've never had that problem before".

Sadly, after things warm up and power systems are back online, the managers will just say "this was a once in a lifetime event and we won't see it happen again" and like always, nothing will change.

Unfortunately if Texas is forced to tie into the grid and fall under Fed Regulation, will the system be any more reliable? With that oversight I'm sure costs to the Utility and Consumers will go up. Might be better for voters in Texas to just build a fire and "toast the chestnuts" of those responsible without outside intervention.

Sadly, it shows how short lived their memory is. Texas has had to deal with this 3 times in the last 30 years. The last time was February 2011, I would hate think ten years is a lifetime.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

Sadly, it shows how short lived their memory is. Texas has had to deal with this 3 times in the last 30 years. The last time was February 2011, I would hate think ten years is a lifetime.

You would if you were married to my ex-wife but that's another topic for another day

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

You would if you were married to my ex-wife but that's another topic for another day

I that why she's your ex? RIP

[Johnfort]

Originally Posted by PodGeek

Here in Denver we're not really safe until after Memorial Day.

Several years ago on Memorial Day I put my boat in the water at the marina, only to have 2 feet of snow in it 2 days later. In Colorado.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

I that why she's your ex? RIP

For the record I was referring to the ex I parted with in 1985, not the one I subsequently married and was with for almost 32 years before she was taken by cancer.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

For the record I was referring to the ex I parted with in 1985, not the one I subsequently married and was with for almost 32 years before she was taken by cancer.

My apologizes, I already knew you had an ex- and you lost your last wife to the big C. I should have worded that differently but thinking about it now I should have said nothing. Again, Sorry for the way it came out.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

My apologizes, I already knew you had an ex- and you lost your last wife to the big C. I should have worded that differently but thinking about it now I should have said nothing. Again, Sorry for the way it came out.

No worries. I read it like you intended, just posted this to clarify for those who may have not known the whole story

[lbrjet]

Wind generates about 25% of the power used in TX, not 10%. They lead the nation and produce about as much as the other 4 top states COMBINED. I didn't know that until today.

[lbrjet]

I live in Phoenix. Mike, you must have been looking at the low temp to say we were in the 40's. The highs have been in the 60's and 70's during all of February and it has been quite nice. Average lows are in the 40's and have been normal, with a few low 50's mixed in.

[popshumphrey]

North Texas here. It was minus 5 with no power or water. Two weeks ago I was in big bend and the outside temp gauge read 100 in the sun. Fortunately I rewinterized when I stored the rig. Temps will drop again in a few years lol

[Rockinh]

Oddly enough, haven't heard a lot about global warming lately.

[rsdata]

Oddly enough, haven't heard a lot about global warming lately.

current terminology is Climate Change... this covers all the bases... hot and cold... then add man-made OR Anthropogenic to climate change

[Rockinh]

Originally Posted by rsdata

current terminology is Climate Change... this covers all the bases... hot and cold... then add man-made OR Anthropogenic to climate change

Kinda like when the wife says she wants to go to a restaurant or no, lets stay home and I will cook. Put it in brackets, cant be right, cant be wrong. But mostly cant be right.

[elob_tx]

Lots of opinions here. I went to Alaska in 1969 and worked in the power industry there until 1973. I then moved back to Texas and worked in industry including the construction of the South Texas nuclear generating station and maintenance and operations of conventional steam and gas turbine cogeneration plants.

My wife, a researcher and chemical engineer, designed gas processing systems for dehydration and acid gas scrubbing all around the world. Our family therefore has first hand experience in these matters.

In parts of the country where there are sustained low temperatures these facilities are substantially constructed inside structures to protect them from snow, ice, and the cold. Early plants built in the south were designed in the north and were constructed the same way they were constructed there. Over time, the engineering began to be reflected by where these facilities were constructed. Where cold temperatures, snow and ice were a rarity facilities were built outdoors.

Many winter's when cold temperatures arrived our facilities needed to be hardened to resist the cold temperatures. Temporary structures were erected to keep the wind off critical equipment and heat tracing was checked in advance of the expected low temperatures. Our facilities also had some underground salt dome gas storage so disruption of fuel supplies was less of a problem. In the 1980's when there were natural gas shortages our fired boilers and some turbines were equipped to burn residual oil or other fuels like waste hydrogen. We even went as far as to construct a 250,000 barrel a day crude oil refinery, purchase a oil tanker and purchase an interest in a North Sea offshore oil platform. All this was done so we could stay in business which was not making and selling electricity. Federal government policy drove these developments and when the policies changed in a few years all this money spent was for nothing. The crude oil plant ran 6 months and was shut down and sat there for over almost 20 years after which it was sold for scrap. $500 million dollars borrowed and debit serviced for nothing. The converted power plants never ran on oil except to demonstrate they would do so. The stake in the North Sea platform was sold as was the oil tanker. Underground storage for the oil was used for a while but we didn't have any need for crude oil except for the refinery the oil was sold and the underground storage mothballed.

My experience with ERCOT ended in 2008 but what was originally supposed to be a overall grid overseer has morphed into an entity that now actually controls, within limits, the operation of the grid in Texas. Originally they called us and we would shut our own operations down so we could help them maintain grid stability. Then they required us to somewhat automate the process so that computer controls could take our manufacturing offline which they controlled. After I retired they exercised more control of our facilities this has caused problems for my last employer when ERCOT took active control of our gas turbine cogeneration plants affecting the heat rate of our facilities. We made electric power as a by-product and made it available if the grid required it to maintain stability. We needed the electricity too but mostly we required the steam. When I retired we made about 1,400 megawatts. To put this into perspective 500 megawatts was average for a coal plant and 1,200 megawatts about average for a nuclear reactor. We had other facilities that produced less in Texas and more than that in Louisiana. And others around the world that produced less.

The common thread throughout is that across the planet few of the issues we face are rectified by edict from deciders that are clueless with how these issues are ultimately addressed. What passes for enlightened governance is ultimately a bad joke. There are good answers to solving these issues but they will not come from lawyers and professional politicians. Answers will come from practical folks getting together and doing what they do best, solving problems.

[SailorSam20500]

Originally Posted by elob_tx

The common thread throughout is that across the planet few of the issues we face are rectified by edict from deciders that are clueless with how these issues are ultimately addressed. What passes for enlightened governance is ultimately a bad joke. There are good answers to solving these issues but they will not come from lawyers and professional politicians. Answers will come from practical folks getting together and doing what they do best, solving problems.

Are you part of Mike Rowe's foundation? Like you, he recommends people use common sense rather than political dogma. Works a lot better.

[elob_tx]

No, although I know who he is. I spent most of my adult life as a troubleshooter of complex electrical and electronic systems. Most of my friends growing up became engineers and scientists. I still have a close friend working as a scientist at Los Alamos National Lab although most of my classmates are retired like me. My wife was a mathematician and received a full scholarship become a chemical engineer. She was the third female chemical engineer with her multinational company in 1977. Spent 1/2 of her career in research and 1/2 in management.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by elob_tx

There are good answers to solving these issues but they will not come from lawyers and professional politicians. Answers will come from practical folks getting together and doing what they do best, solving problems.

Absolutely correct but as they say, you are preaching to the converted.

Government regulation and oversight is like a bad case of toenail fungus. Shows up without invitation and impossible to get rid of.

[bareftn]

Wife and i had 2 different ides where we were going to move this spring when we sell the house. She wanted Texas because she is from their I wanted Florida well in 2018 Texas had very cold weather and now this year well looks like we are going to Florida. I won one

[ADKdave]

You know the old saying "everybody complains about the weather, but nobody is doing anything about it". The people in charge of the power grid in Texas could have done something to prepare for it and rolled the dice and came up short. Time to pay up. Feel bad for those folks.