Not news. :) From my iPad
Betty > On May 14, 2022, at 9:24 AM, ghe2001 <ghe2...@pm.me> wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA256 > > [T]he Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked consumers to > scale back energy use to make up for six power-generation facilities that > failed just before a hot weekend. > > Most of Texas is on its own power grid, a decision made in the 1930s to keep > it clear of federal regulation. This isolation means both that it avoids > federal regulation and that it cannot import more electricity during periods > of high demand. To keep electricity prices low, ERCOT did not prepare its > equipment for freezing weather, and in February 2021 the Texas electric grid > failed during a cold wave, leaving more than 3 million people without > electricity or heat. Two hundred and forty-six people died, while El Paso, > which is not part of ERCOT and is instead linked to a larger grid that > includes other states and thus is regulated, had weatherized its equipment > and its customers lost power only briefly. > > The problem didn’t stop there. The then–chief executive officer of ERCOT > recently testified that Texas governor Greg Abbott told ERCOT to keep the > wholesale price of electricity at an astonishing $9000 per megawatt-hour (one > study said this was $6,578 too high) for about three days longer than needed, > thus overcharging customers by about $26.3 billion. > > That money did not appear to fix the system. In June 2021, mechanical > failures during a heat wave pushed the state to the verge of blackouts and > prompted ERCOT to ask people to turn their AC to higher temperatures, turn > off their lights, and avoid using appliances that take a lot of electricity. > Now, less than a year later, the system is in trouble again. > > -- > Glenn English > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: ProtonMail > > wsBzBAEBCAAGBQJif7tfACEJEObKK1bRaqt3FiEExEbtoeXBeE9fruv35sor > VtFqq3cQ/gf/R68YpEX4mFuLUCg1yFfNvdxy3wZaR7Y0MekP8uswr/0lf3gQ > JehQKa0s6ovbMXGxXHgF+BC8/Yk9iuMPdKO1YN9r9IWLwFV5SMTleK+Fr1J4 > LRaWIAVLT2+zzDgRqgIE+8vsZkmMH/gIJc6ksuLk7d7pyYRHVMIArpNXo574 > +e63v7C3tvsnXzPe8ReDzPG401mBSQNgq+nHBd4As29dcoj6OPgkmC/gq0ds > Eoz3O9J7ytMcrr3laPlCv/BtD1r3ONN5xPZZOazuim9+4iL5CTf7sGjibybs > 5lm0fL/u6Gh04QsxKirTGtmw5FX0SBOa4u0NUBKScmQa2W+qCm3QOg== > =gegM > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- >
