When are we going to start caring more about people and less about politics?
Texas got caught in an armageddon created by its energy policies last week. People suffered. Energy companies raked in the dough. Texas has a lot of problems to solve, and politics can only make it worse.
What caused Texageddon? Finger pointing was swift and politically biased. Some were quick to say wind caused the crash. But just as swiftly, the finger got pointed at fossil fuels instead. The short answer was... both! It's not about fuel type, it's about being unprepared.
The avalanche of politically-motivated social media memes actually made people dumber. I think my favorite stupid meme was the picture of a wind turbine in some cold, cold place that was supposedly operating (but there was no way to tell, it was a photo, not a video). The illogical message was that if a wind turbine can work in some other cold place, it did not fail in Texas. But it did. On a grand scale. The problem with Texas turbines is that they were not properly winterized for an event of this magnitude. The one in the cold place was winterized, obviously.
The first problem in Texas is that the unwinterized wind generators went off line. Yes, they did. Natural gas made up the difference, for a while. Coal and nukes are pretty much baseload that run at a steady rate.
Texas got caught in an armageddon created by its energy policies last week. People suffered. Energy companies raked in the dough. Texas has a lot of problems to solve, and politics can only make it worse.
What caused Texageddon? Finger pointing was swift and politically biased. Some were quick to say wind caused the crash. But just as swiftly, the finger got pointed at fossil fuels instead. The short answer was... both! It's not about fuel type, it's about being unprepared.
The avalanche of politically-motivated social media memes actually made people dumber. I think my favorite stupid meme was the picture of a wind turbine in some cold, cold place that was supposedly operating (but there was no way to tell, it was a photo, not a video). The illogical message was that if a wind turbine can work in some other cold place, it did not fail in Texas. But it did. On a grand scale. The problem with Texas turbines is that they were not properly winterized for an event of this magnitude. The one in the cold place was winterized, obviously.
The first problem in Texas is that the unwinterized wind generators went off line. Yes, they did. Natural gas made up the difference, for a while. Coal and nukes are pretty much baseload that run at a steady rate.
But then gas started to have issues because it couldn't get enough fuel. The problem there? Non-winterized equipment and fuel scarcity because more gas was being directed to heating homes than normal. Then one of the nukes went offline due to a frozen pipe. Again, lack of winterization adequate to withstand the unusual weather was the problem.
The result? Disaster! What began as rolling blackouts stopped rolling because there just wasn't enough energy to go around. Power went out and stayed out in some areas.
So, which kind of generator caused the problem? ALL of them! The problem isn't with the generators, it's the lack of winterization and lack of fuel for the gas generators. If wind had failed and all the other generators stayed up, the tragedy probably wouldn't have happened.
Did wind cause it? No, not by itself. However, Texageddon is a shot across wind's bow, and an alarming wake up call for those who think we can power our country on 100% industrial scale wind and solar in the future. Big wind is big business! A lot of wind is built because it's profitable due to tax credits. It has zero fuel cost and much of the cost of building it is offset by subsidies. Wind can offer its energy into the market at close to zero. When wind is working, it can be the cheapest energy in the market. However, cheap wind makes other generators that can operate when called more expensive. They don't sell as much when times are good. Expensive generators close if they don't sell enough power to make a profit. The more wind we build, the more these expensive plants close until we're left with nothing but wind. And wind cannot generate when called. It's a simple matter of too many eggs in one basket. When wind fails, there may not be enough dispatchable generation left to keep things running. That's the problem with wind. If Texas had less frozen wind and more coal generators, could things have turned out differently? Possibly.
The biggest problem in Texas is its lack of a capacity market. A capacity market pays generators to be ready to generate a certain amount of power when called. If a generator being paid for capacity doesn't deliver when called, there are severe financial penalties. Since Texas doesn't have one, it doesn't pay that extra to have generators on standby, making its energy cheaper when times are good. Texas thought it didn't need one because its market pays big bucks to generators who can deliver in times of scarcity. The thought was that the opportunity to cash in big time during scarcity would be enough to make generators spend money winterizing their equipment so they could take advantage of the opportunity when it arose. But that's not what happened... generators were making enough money during the good times that they didn't want to spend the money to winterize, because winterizing would make the cost of their power go up. The result is that many generators went offline. The ones that stayed up made huge piles of money. Of course, that's money that comes from electric consumers, some now facing bills in the thousands because their power stayed on. This isn't the way to run a power market! With a functioning capacity market that penalizes generators who can't produce the capacity they are paid for, a generator doesn't take the risk and does spend the money it needs to keep its generator running during cold weather.
Another annoyance... the social media posts blaming "deregulation" for the crisis. Suddenly, every facebooker is an energy expert that actually has no idea what deregulation is, or that many other states are deregulated without the same problems happening. The difference? A functioning capacity market.
And then there's the ignorant wailing about Texas running its own "grid." If Texas subjugated itself to federal control, just like magic, things would be different? No. The reality is that Texas's neighbors were also having supply issues and rolling blackouts. There was no power to spare. Times were tough all over. Transmission lines, by themselves, don't make electricity. You can plug in all the extension cords you want, but if there is no electricity in the socket, nothing works.
Texageddon has become a political volleyball. There are real concerns about a future reliant on just a couple of centralized energy sources that cannot always produce when called, and how subsidies and "green new deal" unicorn farts are making this issue worse. And then there's the other side, who insist Texageddon is a result of political power and fossil fuels.
The answer? Distributed energy sources. Put your eggs in as many baskets as possible and you're less likely to break them all when one basket crashes.
Texas has a lot of work to do to fix its energy market. There is nothing political about that. Maybe all the armchair electrical experts can now move on to other idiotic political topics and give this one a rest.
The result? Disaster! What began as rolling blackouts stopped rolling because there just wasn't enough energy to go around. Power went out and stayed out in some areas.
So, which kind of generator caused the problem? ALL of them! The problem isn't with the generators, it's the lack of winterization and lack of fuel for the gas generators. If wind had failed and all the other generators stayed up, the tragedy probably wouldn't have happened.
Did wind cause it? No, not by itself. However, Texageddon is a shot across wind's bow, and an alarming wake up call for those who think we can power our country on 100% industrial scale wind and solar in the future. Big wind is big business! A lot of wind is built because it's profitable due to tax credits. It has zero fuel cost and much of the cost of building it is offset by subsidies. Wind can offer its energy into the market at close to zero. When wind is working, it can be the cheapest energy in the market. However, cheap wind makes other generators that can operate when called more expensive. They don't sell as much when times are good. Expensive generators close if they don't sell enough power to make a profit. The more wind we build, the more these expensive plants close until we're left with nothing but wind. And wind cannot generate when called. It's a simple matter of too many eggs in one basket. When wind fails, there may not be enough dispatchable generation left to keep things running. That's the problem with wind. If Texas had less frozen wind and more coal generators, could things have turned out differently? Possibly.
The biggest problem in Texas is its lack of a capacity market. A capacity market pays generators to be ready to generate a certain amount of power when called. If a generator being paid for capacity doesn't deliver when called, there are severe financial penalties. Since Texas doesn't have one, it doesn't pay that extra to have generators on standby, making its energy cheaper when times are good. Texas thought it didn't need one because its market pays big bucks to generators who can deliver in times of scarcity. The thought was that the opportunity to cash in big time during scarcity would be enough to make generators spend money winterizing their equipment so they could take advantage of the opportunity when it arose. But that's not what happened... generators were making enough money during the good times that they didn't want to spend the money to winterize, because winterizing would make the cost of their power go up. The result is that many generators went offline. The ones that stayed up made huge piles of money. Of course, that's money that comes from electric consumers, some now facing bills in the thousands because their power stayed on. This isn't the way to run a power market! With a functioning capacity market that penalizes generators who can't produce the capacity they are paid for, a generator doesn't take the risk and does spend the money it needs to keep its generator running during cold weather.
Another annoyance... the social media posts blaming "deregulation" for the crisis. Suddenly, every facebooker is an energy expert that actually has no idea what deregulation is, or that many other states are deregulated without the same problems happening. The difference? A functioning capacity market.
And then there's the ignorant wailing about Texas running its own "grid." If Texas subjugated itself to federal control, just like magic, things would be different? No. The reality is that Texas's neighbors were also having supply issues and rolling blackouts. There was no power to spare. Times were tough all over. Transmission lines, by themselves, don't make electricity. You can plug in all the extension cords you want, but if there is no electricity in the socket, nothing works.
Texageddon has become a political volleyball. There are real concerns about a future reliant on just a couple of centralized energy sources that cannot always produce when called, and how subsidies and "green new deal" unicorn farts are making this issue worse. And then there's the other side, who insist Texageddon is a result of political power and fossil fuels.
The answer? Distributed energy sources. Put your eggs in as many baskets as possible and you're less likely to break them all when one basket crashes.
Texas has a lot of work to do to fix its energy market. There is nothing political about that. Maybe all the armchair electrical experts can now move on to other idiotic political topics and give this one a rest.
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