In The News Today...

Quote: SOOPOO

Just reminding you just because you say the same thing over and over and over and over again does not mean it is true. The rest of the forum is.aware of this... I’m just trying to help you here.....

I’m sure those displaced by the tires in California are blaming their Republican Governor? Those whose houses and businesses were burnt down in Portland were blaming their Republican mayor? Those in NY who have dead relatives from nursing homes are blaming their Republican Governor? The dead in Colorado avalanches blaming their Republican Governor? The devastated city of Minneapolis blaming its Republican mayor and Governor? As far as this type of incompetence... it really is bipartisan....

Portland? The whole place is a near no-go zone. Boarded up stores and people will attack your car at a stoplight.

Quote: AZDuffman

Portland? The whole place is a near no-go zone. Boarded up stores and people will attack your car at a stoplight.

Take the Confederate Flag off your truck and you’ll be fine.

MSNBC hasn't reported on recent news concerning Andrew Cuomo's nursing home fiasco but decided that this story was important

Quote: fleaswatter

MSNBC hasn't reported on recent news concerning Andrew Cuomo's nursing home fiasco but decided that this story was important

A two-second search of MSNBC.com determined this was a lie.

Always sad when you have to make stuff up.

https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/-who-cares-cuomo-under-fire-for-covid-death-data-101102149904

https://www.msnbc.com/mtp-daily/watch/fbi-investigating-new-york-gov-cuomo-s-handling-of-covid-19-pandemic-101238853718

But damn. That Newsmax story about the Biden dogs was desperate! What a sad excuse for a news network.

Quote: terapined

Only in TX is it a disaster due to republican policies
Other parts of the country and planet, just an inconvenience

Lots of public policy is reactive. Imagine being a politician in Texas proposing spending billions of dollars to Winterize (or whatever word you would use) the power structure in the event of a prolonged deep freeze. Of course, you'd have to create a regulatory body with teeth first...and you'd be ordering several otherwise independent companies to do it.

Looking at Austin, Texas here:

https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/austin/texas/united-states/ustx2742

February 2019: Never below freezing.

February 2018: It got to 31 degrees once.

February 2017: It got to 39.9 once and otherwise never dropped below forty.

February 2016: It touched freezing once.

February 2015: It got down to 30.2 for two consecutive days.

February 2014: Mid to High 20's for two days.

February 2013: Barely made it below forty.

So, go back in time and make that proposal---you'll get laughed directly out of office.

Blaming Texas for this one is like blaming the Federal Government (or overall medical infrastructure) for not having thousands of ventilators just sitting around doing nothing in a warehouse in the beginning weeks/months of the pandemic.

Infrastructure improvements in this regard, even if put in place, would be forever pointed at in the state as an example of, "Wasteful Government spending." Why forever? The answer to that is because, having replaced the system, there's no real way to absolutely prove the previous system would have failed.

Anyway, the entire thing is a trade-off. Every news source that I've seen kept aping, "Not on the Federal grid," but never really explained why. The reason why is because Texas does not provide any electricity across state lines, and as a result, is not engaging in interstate commerce, and therefore, doesn't have to comply with Federal regulations that, in fairness, would have probably prevented this.

The tradeoff is increased energy competition within the state as it more resembles a competitive retail market as opposed to a regulated monopoly. And, believe it or not, the market in Texas has basically done what it set out to do. Despite high demand due to several big cities and sweltering heat in the Summer, Texas has among the lowest energy costs of any state in the country.

According to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy:

https://neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/204.htm

Texas had the seventh-cheapest cost per kilowatt hour in the country. Of course, none of the states cheaper than Texas have as many major cities (and, obviously, not as much of a population, in general) so the Texas system has kept power relatively cheap.

If you asked them a year ago about the tradeoff in power savings versus something that could happen in theory, I think it's a safe bet where they'd have fallen. Perhaps now they will, "Sing a different tune," so to speak. Maybe not. Each penny in change per kilowatt hour pricing, on average, would cost each household a little over an extra $100 per year.

In any case, it's not quite as simple as they wanted to do it just for the sake of being independent, or whatever.

Quote: Mission146

Anyway, the entire thing is a trade-off. Every news source that I've seen kept aping, "Not on the Federal grid," but never really explained why. The reason why is because Texas does not provide any electricity across state lines, and as a result, is not engaging in interstate commerce, and therefore, doesn't have to comply with Federal regulations that, in fairness, would have probably prevented this.

I doubt that. We had a blackout on the Eastern Grid in 2002. California blackouts are legendary for about 20 years now.

Quote: Mission146

Lots of public policy is reactive. Imagine being a politician in Texas proposing spending billions of dollars to Winterize (or whatever word you would use) the power structure in the event of a prolonged deep freeze. Of course, you'd have to create a regulatory body with teeth first...and you'd be ordering several otherwise independent companies to do it.

Looking at Austin, Texas here:

https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/austin/texas/united-states/ustx2742

February 2019: Never below freezing.

February 2018: It got to 31 degrees once.

February 2017: It got to 39.9 once and otherwise never dropped below forty.

February 2016: It touched freezing once.

February 2015: It got down to 30.2 for two consecutive days.

February 2014: Mid to High 20's for two days.

February 2013: Barely made it below forty.

So, go back in time and make that proposal---you'll get laughed directly out of office.

Blaming Texas for this one is like blaming the Federal Government (or overall medical infrastructure) for not having thousands of ventilators just sitting around doing nothing in a warehouse in the beginning weeks/months of the pandemic.

Infrastructure improvements in this regard, even if put in place, would be forever pointed at in the state as an example of, "Wasteful Government spending." Why forever? The answer to that is because, having replaced the system, there's no real way to absolutely prove the previous system would have failed.

Anyway, the entire thing is a trade-off. Every news source that I've seen kept aping, "Not on the Federal grid," but never really explained why. The reason why is because Texas does not provide any electricity across state lines, and as a result, is not engaging in interstate commerce, and therefore, doesn't have to comply with Federal regulations that, in fairness, would have probably prevented this.

The tradeoff is increased energy competition within the state as it more resembles a competitive retail market as opposed to a regulated monopoly. And, believe it or not, the market in Texas has basically done what it set out to do. Despite high demand due to several big cities and sweltering heat in the Summer, Texas has among the lowest energy costs of any state in the country.

According to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy:

https://neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/204.htm

Texas had the seventh-cheapest cost per kilowatt hour in the country. Of course, none of the states cheaper than Texas have as many major cities (and, obviously, not as much of a population, in general) so the Texas system has kept power relatively cheap.

If you asked them a year ago about the tradeoff in power savings versus something that could happen in theory, I think it's a safe bet where they'd have fallen. Perhaps now they will, "Sing a different tune," so to speak. Maybe not. Each penny in change per kilowatt hour pricing, on average, would cost each household a little I over an extra $100 per year.

In any case, it's not quite as simple as they wanted to do it just for the sake of being independent, or whatever.

I usually can’t read a Mission post that approaches novel length, but I want to than Mission for pointing out the ‘why’ those wascally wepublicans wuined Texas.

Quote: AZDuffman

I doubt that. We had a blackout on the Eastern Grid in 2002. California blackouts are legendary for about 20 years now.

As you already know, it's nothing for us to sit in sub-freezing weather for weeks at a time. I mean, solid weeks where it never climbs above freezing. The power grids generally do not fail. If you looked at the Austin temperatures we'd refer to that up here as, "A bit nippy."

California is a weird country. They also have some of the highest energy costs in the entire country. I imagine that there are various state regulations, and maybe more local regulations that account for that...but I've never looked into it so could be wrong.

Quote: SOOPOO

I usually can’t read a Mission post that approaches novel length, but I want to than Mission for pointing out the ‘why’ those wascally wepublicans wuined Texas.

You're welcome, thanks for taking the time to read my novel.

Quote: Mission146

As you already know, it's nothing for us to sit in sub-freezing weather for weeks at a time. I mean, solid weeks where it never climbs above freezing. The power grids generally do not fail. If you looked at the Austin temperatures we'd refer to that up here as, "A bit nippy."

California is a weird country. They also have some of the highest energy costs in the entire country. I imagine that there are various state regulations, and maybe more local regulations that account for that...but I've never looked into it so could be wrong.

California put themselves in the sport they are in. Have you seen that Smartest Guys in the Room movie about Enron? CA "deregulated" their utilities but that is kind of newspeak as it made regulations that allowed the system to be gamed. Enron, and of course others, did all sorts of things. Like buying power and sending it to Vegas to create a shortage and then sending power back to CA at a huge markup. I will just say watch the movie, knowing you I will say you should like it.

Reaction to some of this should be its own book. That picture of people in a huge line for the grocery store? Hellllloooooo? 11 months ago you saw huge grocery lines for the china virus scare. Did you not learn the lesson of keeping a couple weeks provisions on hand? Not asking you to go LDS and keep 1-2 years worth, even if I really respect that religion for teaching that, just a few weeks!