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2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

Parliament

By Parliament
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Wanker Bob

Wanker Bob 379

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, immamac said:

Has more to do with commercial and essential infrastructure than demographics. 

Population density and energy consumption averages probably play in as well. I have property in zilker and it's been without electricity for over 24 hours at this point. 

Admittedly I have no idea how they choose it but with the way things are it just wouldn't surprise me. 

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SubliminalHorn
SubliminalHorn

Power back on. 109 hours. I almost want to cry a little 

Machinator
Machinator
BradInATX
BradInATX

I've actually been turning my heat up a degree every time a new Surly member loses power on this thread. It's a nice balmy 94 in here.

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Dewey

Dewey 3280

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, immamac said:

If you feel this way then you need to get with others who feel the same way and organize for a campaign of accountability for those responsible. 

I am firmly in the camp that this is gross negligence by those who are in charge and on the board of ERCOT. I'll gladly create a platform for people to speak out against it. 

Count me in

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gmr548

gmr548 16504

Posted
Posted
Still have power and afaik no frozen pipes in Spring Branch in Houston, team #nodrip outside with em wrapped and dripping my downstairs faucets with hot and my upstairs with cold. Only concern is that our water pressure in the entire neighborhood is significantly less than it was a couple days ago, and if the faucets stop dripping... They may start freezing. C'est la vie.
RE: the STNP, we'll know for sure tomorrow morning if they shut down or not per the reactor status page. It was marked as 100% up as of sometime between 3 and 7A this morning so they really may have shut down as a 0500 as I've seen some folks saying. Our energy infrastructure is pathetic in this state.
It's fucking ridiculous that we're in this position of not having enough natural gas on hand to heat AND generate electricity, and that our grid refuses to connect to other states just to avoid rEgUlAtIoN. My mom in PF, my 85yo cancer survivor grandmother in Austin, and my 86yo cancer survivor grandfather on Lake Travis all have been without power for damn near 20 hours now due to the """rolling blackouts""". People are almost certainly going to be freezing to death tonight. Fuck.

Reactor 1 at zero this morning.
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immamac

immamac 42517

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, smoky said:

How difficult is it to drive in Austin in a non 4wd vehicle?

Need to go get my parents. They told us their power came back on, but didn't tell us it went off again an hour later.

 

Unless you are ready to walk where you are going and you don't have AWD or experience driving in icy conditions you are putting your parents in more danger by driving than they are staying home. 

In other words it is extremely dangerous and highly likely you will not make it and be stranded in sub freezing temperatures

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Hpara759

Hpara759 1777

Posted
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2 minutes ago, smoky said:

How difficult is it to drive in Austin in a non 4wd vehicle?

Need to go get my parents. They told us their power came back on, but didn't tell us it went off again an hour later.

 

I've driven back and forth from Georgetown to downtown Austin 6 days in a row now (5 1/2 actually) in a 2wd Colorado diesel.....

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Gale Snoats

Gale Snoats 242

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Going on hour 28 with no power in Barton hills. We all slept on floor in living room in front of fire but with these shitty original construction windows it can't be much above freezing in this house if at all. Down to barely any power on phone again but will go charge in car in a bit. No internet. No hot spot. No computer power. Neighbor tried twice to get out yesterday and just slid back down hill so stuck here. No telling how many across Texas died last night. Maddening. People need to go to jail for this.

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smoky

smoky 837

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Unless you are ready to walk where you are going and you don't have AWD or experience driving in icy conditions you are putting your parents in more danger by driving than they are staying home. 
In other words it is extremely dangerous and highly likely you will not make it and be stranded in sub freezing temperatures
Is there a 4wd Uber option? Or could someone show up in a Toyota Tercel?
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Wanker Bob

Wanker Bob 379

Posted
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1 minute ago, Gale Snoats said:

Going on hour 28 with no power in Barton hills. We all slept on floor in living room in front of fire but with these shitty original construction windows it can't be much above freezing in this house if at all. Down to barely any power on phone again but will go charge in car in a bit. No internet. No hot spot. No computer power. Neighbor tried twice to get out yesterday and just slid back down hill so stuck here. No telling how many across Texas died last night. Maddening. People need to go to jail for this.

System failure. No jail. Promotion. 

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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8799

Posted
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Going on hour 28 with no power in Barton hills. We all slept on floor in living room in front of fire but with these shitty original construction windows it can't be much above freezing in this house if at all. Down to barely any power on phone again but will go charge in car in a bit. No internet. No hot spot. No computer power. Neighbor tried twice to get out yesterday and just slid back down hill so stuck here. No telling how many across Texas died last night. Maddening. People need to go to jail for this.

Probably better off just leaving the car outside and keeping the garage door shut. Maybe keep it locked and idling all day so it’s always warm? Lol.
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Enchubben

Enchubben 5509

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I would venture to guess that about 2% of the people screaming fuck ercot actually fully understand our electricity market/regulators and what is causing the issue.

I mess around with utility stuff for work semi regularly and I would admit that I understand probably 10% of how this works. 

Imagine being California where this shit happens regularly, and then get back to me about how the Texas version sucks. 

Denand>Supply. Period. You don’t blow up the utility market to fix demand that is driven by extreme weather that occurs once every hundred years. We can talk increasing supply, but you’d have to head to the CR to discuss why that won’t happen. 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45492

Posted
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12 minutes ago, immamac said:

Unless you are ready to walk where you are going and you don't have AWD or experience driving in icy conditions you are putting your parents in more danger by driving than they are staying home. 

In other words it is extremely dangerous and highly likely you will not make it and be stranded in sub freezing temperatures

 

10 minutes ago, Hpara759 said:

I've driven back and forth from Georgetown to downtown Austin 6 days in a row now (5 1/2 actually) in a 2wd Colorado diesel.....

Lol.

Honestly, I think part of it depends on where you are going.  My parents are in NW Hills and there's no WAY I could drive up there.  If it's mostly a flat drive, you have a better chance. 

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Dewey

Dewey 3280

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Article up top talks about how they basically take the winter off, less manpower to operate,  they do not incorporate any type of system, one that would use antifreeze or heating oils. Basically they're cheap and we're paying for their unpreparedness. No one is asking for cheaper prices, just that they could function somewhat when temperatures dip below freezing,  that we don't have 4 million without power. 

I don't understand how it all works, but I can tell as of right now it's not working at all. Major fuck up and people deserve far better than this 

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immamac

immamac 42517

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1 minute ago, Enchubben said:

I would venture to guess that about 2% of the people screaming fuck ercot actually fully understand our electricity market/regulators and what is causing the issue.

I mess around with utility stuff for work semi regularly and I would admit that I understand probably 10% of how this works. 

Imagine being California where this shit happens regularly, and then get back to me about how the Texas version sucks. 

Denand>Supply. Period. You don’t blow up the utility market to fix demand that is driven by extreme weather that occurs once every hundred years. We can talk increasing supply, but you’d have to head to the CR to discuss why that won’t happen. 

You understand that supply being significantly diminished is the issue here? Demand is high, yes, but supply plummeted due to a complete and utter lack of preparation and complete incompetence. This isn't just run of the mill bitching about rolling blackouts, this isn't transmission lines down, this is complete fucking criminal incompetence and negligence.

There are issues, while expensive that can be deployed especially with over a weeks notice to keep generation (even if diminished) up and running. Right now there is substantial amount of generation that is just hard offline, with no ability to start back up until after a thaw.

I'm not a nuclear power plant operator, but there are many on here including blacklab so I'll defer to him, but the way I understand it they could have left the nuclear reactor at steady state instead of pushing capacity to prevent from overheating. Nuclear isn't supposed to fluctuate, it's supposed to give steady state generation, whoever made the call to "push the generation" likely caused the failure of a very critical piece of generation that has massive effect on the available electricity on the grid. 

 

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Hpara759

Hpara759 1777

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

 

Lol.

Honestly, I think part of it depends on where you are going.  My parents are in NW Hills and there's no WAY I could drive up there.  If it's mostly a flat drive, you have a better chance. 

the worst out of all the days was yesterday morning getting out of my hood....I was the first one out and had to break trail

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, HenryJames said:

spacer.png

Item  #746 of things we need to do after this lethal cold snap is to change that fucking title.

Next winter, as I wanted to this year, I'm starting a thread only for Texas winter. That's the only place I'm going to post weather forecasts for winter, period.

Book it.

Passing my 6th hour without power, My Vegas bet is I get it at noon today if I'm lucky could easily see not getting it till this evening or later.

Fortunately, it's still a tropical 56 in the house after the coldest night in Bee Cave history

 

 

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texas08

texas08 1599

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I’m sure that if you have it you’re already doing this...

But if you have a camping tent, set it up and sleep in there...it helps.

Gas fire place and gas stove (for food). Surviving, but the game changer was the tent.

Cracked a few windows and managed to keep the living room right around 60...tent was 62-64. Under blankets was 68-70.

I need a damn carbon monoxide detector so I can sleep with more peace of mind.

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cactusflinthead

cactusflinthead 27594

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11 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

I would venture to guess that about 2% of the people screaming fuck ercot actually fully understand our electricity market/regulators and what is causing the issue.

I mess around with utility stuff for work semi regularly and I would admit that I understand probably 10% of how this works. 

Imagine being California where this shit happens regularly, and then get back to me about how the Texas version sucks. 

Denand>Supply. Period. You don’t blow up the utility market to fix demand that is driven by extreme weather that occurs once every hundred years. We can talk increasing supply, but you’d have to head to the CR to discuss why that won’t happen. 

Well come on down. Explain to me why it is deregulated. 

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immamac

immamac 42517

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Posted
1 minute ago, texas08 said:

I’m sure that if you have it you’re already doing this...

But if you have a camping tent, set it up and sleep in there...it helps.

Gas fire place and gas stove (for food). Surviving, but the game changer was the tent.

Cracked a few windows and managed to keep the living room right around 60...tent was 62-64. Under blankets was 68-70.

I need a damn carbon monoxide detector so I can sleep with more peace of mind.

^^ Bust out all the camping gear, your cold weather sleeping bags, tent, etc. You can also boil a big pot of water, and put it in the tent and put it next to any other heat source (hopefully a fireplace) and this will be dramatically warmer than trying to heat your entire home or room.

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Enchubben

Enchubben 5509

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, immamac said:

You understand that supply being significantly diminished is the issue here? Demand is high, yes, but supply plummeted due to a complete and utter lack of preparation and complete incompetence. This isn't just run of the mill bitching about rolling blackouts, this isn't transmission lines down, this is complete fucking criminal incompetence and negligence.

There are issues, while expensive that can be deployed especially with over a weeks notice to keep generation (even if diminished) up and running. Right now there is substantial amount of generation that is just hard offline, with no ability to start back up until after a thaw.

I'm not a nuclear power plant operator, but there are many on here including blacklab so I'll defer to him, but the way I understand it they could have left the nuclear reactor at steady state instead of pushing capacity to prevent from overheating. Nuclear isn't supposed to fluctuate, it's supposed to give steady state generation, whoever made the call to "push the generation" likely caused the failure of a very critical piece of generation that has massive effect on the available electricity on the grid. 

 

Do you think ERCOT manages power plants, their construction, and M&O?

If you want to talk about increasing supply, which I agree is a problem during the few extreme events, why aren’t people asking for more generation facilities? 

Be angry, but maybe asking to doxx and beat people up that work for a not for profit isn’t the best approach. Call me simple, but I just think that a once in a lifetime event event shouldn’t drive the wholesale change of our utility system/power grid that delivers cheap power, effectively, 99% of the time. 

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bluto

bluto 4889

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Posted
Do you think ERCOT manages power plants, their construction, and M&O?
If you want to talk about increasing supply, which I agree is a problem during the few extreme events, why aren’t people asking for more generation facilities? 
Be angry, but maybe asking to doxx and beat people up that work for a not for profit isn’t the best approach. Call me simple, but I just think that a once in a lifetime event event shouldn’t drive the wholesale change of our utility system/power grid that delivers cheap power, effectively, 99% of the time. 

And that 1% causes mass casualties and billions of damages
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BradInATX

BradInATX 9208

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Do you think ERCOT manages power plants, their construction, and M&O?
If you want to talk about increasing supply, which I agree is a problem during the few extreme events, why aren’t people asking for more generation facilities? 
Be angry, but maybe asking to doxx and beat people up that work for a not for profit isn’t the best approach. Call me simple, but I just think that a once in a lifetime event event shouldn’t drive the wholesale change of our utility system/power grid that delivers cheap power, effectively, 99% of the time. 

Man. I hope that my workplace never instills a culture of mediocrity acceptance like yours clearly has.

Most of the time we don't endanger the lives and health of our customers! Participation trophies all around for a job well done.
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Liquor and Poker

Liquor and Poker 3659

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Posted

Got power back last night but Bellaire now has no water.  Something major froze up the line.  We were dripping faucets so I’m hoping the lines are basically empty and this is like I did a cutoff and drain.

on a related note, are my outdoor faucets just fucked now?  They were covered but I’m now scared to check them due to fear they will crack (happened to me in Austin). 

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Doc Sam Beckett

Doc Sam Beckett 5783

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Posted
24 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

I would venture to guess that about 2% of the people screaming fuck ercot actually fully understand our electricity market/regulators and what is causing the issue.

I mess around with utility stuff for work semi regularly and I would admit that I understand probably 10% of how this works. 

Imagine being California where this shit happens regularly, and then get back to me about how the Texas version sucks. 

Denand>Supply. Period. You don’t blow up the utility market to fix demand that is driven by extreme weather that occurs once every hundred years. We can talk increasing supply, but you’d have to head to the CR to discuss why that won’t happen. 

It sure seems like these once every hundred years events are happening once every two years 

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immamac

immamac 42517

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Posted
9 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

Do you think ERCOT manages power plants, their construction, and M&O?

If you want to talk about increasing supply, which I agree is a problem during the few extreme events, why aren’t people asking for more generation facilities? 

Be angry, but maybe asking to doxx and beat people up that work for a not for profit isn’t the best approach. Call me simple, but I just think that a once in a lifetime event event shouldn’t drive the wholesale change of our utility system/power grid that delivers cheap power, effectively, 99% of the time. 

We have enough generation facilities - they are intentionally abandoned and turned off or not prepared to continue generation for 3 days of continuous below freezing (not even fucking crazy temps, just out of the norm for Texas) - Stop acting like this is weather that no one on earth knows how to deal with or generate electricity in. It's cold for Texas, it's not cold with frame of reference to places that actually get cold. This is where preparation comes in, and that's why this is criminal negligence. The unpreparedness of the generation providers and the regulatory commission that oversees them IS THE PROBLEM here, not the lack of generation facilities you fucking rube.

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15325

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Drove around all day yesterday in the 4Runner. 
 

Anyone with front wheel drive or a sedan is insane and was basically screwed anytime they had to stop or climb a him. 
 

Tons of 2wd trucks just spinning etc. 

Cars sliding everywhere and plenty of them. Don’t do it. 

South Austin’s mom has already climbed several hims today.  

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