America is one of the most toxic places I've ever been

[BabaYaga 15288]

15 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

So you're claim that OK's was shit compared to ours can be quantified as five spots in a ranking system of 50 states?

Compelling.

I do congratulate you for reading an article instead of making up relying on shit your MIL says.

 

Edit to add: Baba Yaga was one of my favorite places in the last century whenever I was in that part of Houston. Several years ago, I went back and the place was huge with a fabulous brunch buffet.

Yes, you're right.  On a thread with everyone shitting all over Texas' grid, to see our neighbors being even worse is in fact very compelling.  Try again.  

[gmr548 16576]

I wonder what the equivalent of Waco is in England?  

I believe it’s called England.

[BabaYaga 15288]

1 hour ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Londoners are no problem. It’s the dudes from the sticks...they might as well be speaking Mandarin. Lived in Egypt for awhile and was hanging out with folks from 20 different countries, all speaking English with heavy accents...had no problem understanding all but one of them. Some English dude from the sticks speaking English to me. We couldn’t communicate, it was so weird.

Go to Wales and check back with us.  That's a mother fucker of a hot mess.  

In London last couple years back.  I can say they will get spun up fast during games.  Every pub had "no football gear allowed - no exceptions" posted out front.  We were at a Cham. league game between Man City & Shakhtar Donetsk.  It was wild.  This one kid was wearing a Liverpool shirt (young kid - 12-13 maybe) and sort of clapped when Donetsk scored.  Couple of guys stood up and railed into him.  "Don't you know where you are BOY.  Yu zip' yer mouth"  

Look at the security ring around the Donetsk fans.  Like a prisoner release game from a local prison....and of course, when they scored, a couple broke through the security lines and tried to get onto the field.  Wild game!  The smaller matches are even more intense.

 

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

[Samson's Wig 3191]

4 hours ago, Lobo said:

I wonder what the equivalent of Waco is in England?  

Boris Johnson's asshole.

[RDCanecutter 26388]

4 hours ago, Lobo said:

I wonder what the equivalent of Waco is in England?  

Waco is the Future England of The Time Machine. Here you see Eloi filing into George O's to be devoured by Morlocks.

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

7 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Waco is the Future England of The Time Machine. Here you see Eloi filing into George O's to be devoured by Morlocks.

 

I went to that George’s place once.

Once. 

[Anastasis 23463]

This thread is one of the most toxic places I've ever been. 

 

 

 

All y'alls mom's houses excepted. 

[RDCanecutter 26388]

17 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

I went to that George’s place once.

Once. 

Same here. My Waco stints (various gigs over the course of ten years) started with me dumping my salary at joints like Crickets, to hanging out in little dives that the White people don't know about, to going "fuck it" and just renting a car and driving to Laredo.

Car rental places always like it when you tell them you're taking their car to Laredo.

[JimmyJames 12271]

2 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Same here. My Waco stints (various gigs over the course of ten years) started with me dumping my salary at joints like Crickets, to hanging out in little dives that the White people don't know about, to going "fuck it" and just renting a car and driving to Laredo.

Car rental places always like it when you tell them you're taking their car to Laredo.

Couldn’t understand the George’s hype. It was like the old “Players” next to UT except the food wasn’t nearly as good. Players food was awesome. George’s not so much. 
 

The Waco ninfas next to crickets is actually pretty good. Much better than all the Austin area ninfas which have all shut down because they all sucked. 
 

Tex mex in Laredo blows them all away though. 

[workswithseed 2090]

5 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Many years ago I went to a fútbol game in Buenos Aires and sat next to a chain smoking Brit. He talked my ear off the entire match and I shit you not, I didn’t understand a single word that came out of his mouth. Not one.

so wherever that dude was from.

Sounds like Welsh.

Or could be this guy.

 

[Armybrat 40822]

Has Bob escaped yet?

[atomheartbevo 89628]

On 3/19/2021 at 7:43 AM, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Some English dude from the sticks speaking English to me. We couldn’t communicate, it was so weird.

You sure it wasn’t a fucking bog jumper instead of an Englishman?

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

17 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

You sure it wasn’t a fucking bog jumper instead of an Englishman?

Maybe it was Gaelic ?

[Macklemore 2876]

On 3/19/2021 at 12:26 PM, JimmyJames said:

Tex mex in Laredo blows them all away though. 

LOL, keep digging the hole you are in this thread. The Mexican food in Laredo is not Tex-Mex. You can get fideo and choriqueso as an appetizer but not queso. Do some learning.

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Macklemore

[JimmyJames 12271]

3 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

LOL, keep digging the hole you are in this thread. The Mexican food in Laredo is not Tex-Mex. You can get fideo and choriqueso as an appetizer but not queso. Do some learning.

 

Whatever. It’s really good food no matter what you want to call it and I’ve had queso in Laredo. 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

On 3/18/2021 at 2:30 PM, BabaYaga said:

Could we shut down 100% of those worthless windfarms that require so much time and maintenance and pivot hard to natural gas or nuclear. 

In our unregulated market, no one forced any of those jackhole generators to spend on "worthless windfarms" instead of winterizing or increasing NG capacity.

[Bigbend1812 12915]

[Johnny Sack 8397]

6 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

In our unregulated market, no one forced any of those jackhole generators to spend on "worthless windfarms" instead of winterizing or increasing NG capacity.

It’s more complicated than that.  The truth is we mothballed a lot of PRB coal and lignite fired plants.  Because they became uneconomical. They were uneconomical for two reasons.  The first is cheap natural gas.  The second is a lot of costs with coal are related to government regulations.  I’ve dealt with coal pricing contractual formulas in litigation multiple times in my career.  And I can tell you in my opinion some of those costs were caused by ridiculous and unnecessary government regulations.  Especially the land reclamation costs.  They make you turn those mines into fucking Augusta National.  Way, way better than what it was before the mining.  

[BabaYaga 15288]

6 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

In our unregulated market, no one forced any of those jackhole generators to spend on "worthless windfarms" instead of winterizing or increasing NG capacity.

"Unregulated"  lol

First, name a single market in this country that is truly unregulated?  Windfarms exist due to a single factor - ridiculous federal subsidies.  It's the only way the math works.  And when I say subsidized, I mean heavily...to the tune of close to $20 billion.  Free money and subsidized transmission from the government makes for a very attractive return on investment.  This has drawn considerably from new coal and natural gas plants.  Generation of these can't compete due to these massive market distortions.  

[BabaYaga 15288]

28 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

It’s more complicated than that.  The truth is we mothballed a lot of PRB coal and lignite fired plants.  Because they became uneconomical. They were uneconomical for two reasons.  The first is cheap natural gas.  The second is a lot of costs with coal are related to government regulations.  I’ve dealt with coal pricing contractual formulas in litigation multiple times in my career.  And I can tell you in my opinion some of those costs were caused by ridiculous and unnecessary government regulations.  Especially the land reclamation costs.  They make you turn those mines into fucking Augusta National.  Way, way better than what it was before the mining.  

The EPA intentionally targeted and drove virtually all coal plants out of business.  This drove investors to other avenues, such as my post above:  free money, subsidized windfarms

[TwiceHorn 31438]

7 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

"Unregulated"  lol

First, name a single market in this country that is truly unregulated?  Windfarms exist due to a single factor - ridiculous federal subsidies.  It's the only way the math works.  And when I say subsidized, I mean heavily...to the tune of close to $20 billion.  Free money and subsidized transmission from the government makes for a very attractive return on investment.  This has drawn considerably from new coal and natural gas plants.  Generation of these can't compete due to these massive market distortions.  

They still had a choice.  And they chose ROI over public interest.  No one ordered them to divert funds from gas or coal.

Sack's point is well-taken, but coal plants are a pain in the ass, especially lignite.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

The EPA intentionally targeted and drove virtually all coal plants out of business.  This drove investors to other avenues, such as my post above:  free money, subsidized windfarms

I’ll look up my old briefing on coal and lignite pricing inputs.  My last case on that was in 2010.  Government regs caused a lot of it.  
 

I pretty strongly believe this was a massive cold storm that was both long and widespread over an area.  I think our grid will be improved because of it.  I don’t want the baby to be thrown out with the bath water.  
 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

I don’t hate wind.  I am proud we have a lot of wind energy.  It’s Texas.  It’s windy on the coast and our west.  
 

I don’t believe it was gross incompetence last month.  It was a bitch of a storm.  We will be better for it in the future.  

[BabaYaga 15288]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

They still had a choice.  And they chose ROI over public interest.  No one ordered them to divert funds from gas or coal.

Sack's point is well-taken, but coal plants are a pain in the ass, especially lignite.

A choice?  I get that in a disconnected, academic, after-action review, bereft of any actual consequences.  Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that.  Bad policy in these subsidies pulled money away from more stable options and simultaneous federal regulations hammered these same choices from the other side.

I'm sure you have money invested in the markets.  I would take the bet for any amount of money that while you probably have a superficial knowledge of who you are invested in, you have no real understanding of the macro, public interest implications of any of them, let alone how they synergize in a portfolio together.  You look at ROI, like everyone else....

[Nivek 16923]

I don’t hate wind.  I am proud we have a lot of wind energy.  It’s Texas.  It’s windy on the coast and our west.  
 
I don’t believe it was gross incompetence last month.  It was a bitch of a storm.  We will be better for it in the future.  

It was gross negligence on part of our republican government. The system was shown to have problems a decade ago, it was ignored.

What is the proof it will be better? The job was to prevent this shit from happening not to fucking react to it.

[Poolflood 845]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I don’t hate wind.  I am proud we have a lot of wind energy.  It’s Texas.  It’s windy on the coast and our west.  
 

I don’t believe it was gross incompetence last month.  It was a bitch of a storm.  We will be better for it in the future.  

You seem rational.  So not sure why you should other to post.

1 minute ago, Nivek said:

It was gross negligence on part of our republican government. The system was shown to have problems a decade ago, it was ignored.

What is the proof it will be better? The job was to prevent this shit from happening not to fucking react to it.

California still have rolling blackouts do to that unexpected phenomenon called "Summer".  Gross negligence or do they get a pass because of D?

 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

19 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

A choice?  I get that in a disconnected, academic, after-action review, bereft of any actual consequences.  Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that.  Bad policy in these subsidies pulled money away from more stable options and simultaneous federal regulations hammered these same choices from the other side.

I'm sure you have money invested in the markets.  I would take the bet for any amount of money that while you probably have a superficial knowledge of who you are invested in, you have no real understanding of the macro, public interest implications of any of them, let alone how they synergize in a portfolio together.  You look at ROI, like everyone else....

The point is, electric power generation and transmission  are endeavors imbued with the public interest.  They're not just another widget market to exploit.  That's why they were public utilities for most of their existence.

Sure, you don't want to invest in money-losing projects, but the profit motive has to be tempered at some point by the fundamental reason you are in business:  to provide reliable power to the masses, so people don't freeze to death and your power outages don't cost billions of dollars in collateral losses.

Now, there may be an argument that winterizing is so expensive given the likelihood of its need that it is unjustifiable from a cost-benefit perspective.  But I haven't seen anyone make that argument in a real rational way.  I see it alluded to that that might have been the case, but I have seen nothing to indicate anything but that the generation companies blew it off because it was expensive and they didn't think they'd get caught with their pants down.  Well, they got caught with their pants down and the rest of us took it in the ass.

Even if wind power was really so tantalizing from an ROI perspective, ROI still should have taken a back seat to their fundamental reason for existence.  THAT is the fundamental problem with capitalism today.  ROI uber alles.  Especially when that ROI is short-term and fails to account for external costs

Edited March 22, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Captainant 27637]

25 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I’ll look up my old briefing on coal and lignite pricing inputs.  My last case on that was in 2010.  Government regs caused a lot of it.  
 

I pretty strongly believe this was a massive cold storm that was both long and widespread over an area.  I think our grid will be improved because of it.  I don’t want the baby to be thrown out with the bath water.  
 

Pretty rosy view when the evidence we have points in the opposite direction. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Texas-government-making-no-real-changes-to-16037054.php

They care more about ensuring profits for investors than making improvements to the grid and it's policy and regulatory structure. Nothing is going to change because it's less profitable to be responsible

[BabaYaga 15288]

4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

The point is, electric power generation and transmission  are endeavors imbued with the public interest.  They're not just another widget market to exploit.  That's why they were public utilities for most of their existence.

Sure, you don't want to invest in money-losing projects, but the profit motive has to be tempered at some point by the fundamental reason you are in business:  to provide reliable power to the masses, so people don't freeze to death and your power outages don't cost billions of dollars in collateral losses.

Now, there may be an argument that winterizing is so expensive given the likelihood of its need that it is unjustifiable from a cost-benefit perspective.  But I haven't seen anyone make that argument in a real rational way.  I see it alluded to that that might have been the case, but I have seen nothing to indicate anything but that the generation companies blew it off because it was expensive and they didn't think they'd get caught with their pants down.  Well, they got caught with their pants down and the rest of us took it in the ass.

Even if wind power was really so tantalizing from an ROI perspective, ROI still should have taken a back seat to their fundamental reason for existence.  THAT is the fundamental problem with capitalism today.  ROI uber alles.  Especially when that ROI is short-term and fails to account for external costs

Problem is, you are asking for policy and investment decisions based upon a "black swan: event.  

Public utilities or not, these projects require outside capital.  Capital investments respond significantly to fee money like a stray cat responds to a can of day old tuna.  Nor are they necessarily invested for the life of the project.  Capital is infused and removed like you breath in and exhale air.  My whole point was the external subsidies dangling free money that drive these farms into fruition.  Without, they are non-existent.  To simplify this as "the problem with capitalism" really means the problem with choice.  People choosing when and where to invest their money and the Grand Canyon sized gap of details in between. 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

14 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Problem is, you are asking for policy and investment decisions based upon a "black swan: event.  

Public utilities or not, these projects require outside capital.  Capital investments respond significantly to fee money like a stray cat responds to a can of day old tuna.  Nor are they necessarily invested for the life of the project.  Capital is infused and removed like you breath in and exhale air.  My whole point was the external subsidies dangling free money that drive these farms into fruition.  Without, they are non-existent.  To simplify this as "the problem with capitalism" really means the problem with choice.  People choosing when and where to invest their money and the Grand Canyon sized gap of details in between. 

No, I'm asking for policy and investment decisions based on something other than pure profit motive.  Pure profit motive is ok for widgets.  It's not ok for a public facility.

I acknowledge the possibility that winterizing didn't make financial sense given the cost and likelihood.of need.  I haven't seen any evidence that that analysis was ever undertaken.  All I see is people labeling it a "black swan event."  Well 2011 was another black swan event, and as far as I can tell, nothing was done about it, not even half-measures.

[BabaYaga 15288]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

No, I'm asking for policy and investment decisions based on something other than pure profit motive.  Pure profit motive is ok for widgets.  It's not ok for a public facility.

I acknowledge the possibility that winterizing didn't make financial sense given the cost and likelihood.of need.  I haven't seen any evidence that that analysis was ever undertaken.  All I see is people labeling it a "black swan event."  Well 2011 was another black swan event, and as far as I can tell, nothing was done about it, not even half-measures.

Then why, for the love of God, is the federal government dangling FREE MONEY in front of investors?  We are saying essentially the same thing, but from different perspectives.  

Free money is blood in the water, and the regulators know this.  This was intentional.  

And for the record, 2011 was bad, but nothing like this most recent event where the ENTIRE state was blanketed.  That has never happened in my lifetime at least.  Now, on the converse, if the NE gets 90+ days of 100+ temps and hundreds if not thousands die as happened in France (1,500+), we can have the same argument.  Grids are constructed to operate in the general environment that they support.  

[TwiceHorn 31438]

24 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Then why, for the love of God, is the federal government dangling FREE MONEY in front of investors?  We are saying essentially the same thing, but from different perspectives.  

Free money is blood in the water, and the regulators know this.  This was intentional.  

And for the record, 2011 was bad, but nothing like this most recent event where the ENTIRE state was blanketed.  That has never happened in my lifetime at least.  Now, on the converse, if the NE gets 90+ days of 100+ temps and hundreds if not thousands die as happened in France (1,500+), we can have the same argument.  Grids are constructed to operate in the general environment that they support.  

Because the fucking companies don't have to take the free fucking money every goddamn time.

Do you buy a car every time a dealer or manufacturer offers 0% financing? 

There's evidence that our power providers chose to make more money over the last decade, every time, over insuring that their plants and grid systems were up to snuff.

It doesn't matter whether 2011 was worse than this or not.  There's zero evidence that they did anything in response except business as usual.  There is some evidence that had they responded to the ERCOT recommendations, this event would have been less disastrous.

I would be content if, in response to ERCOT's recommendations, the various entities came back and said "well, we've run numbers on these projects and we can't afford to do any of them without help, and, it doesn't make sense even if we could because of the unlikelihood of this type of event repeating"  But they didn't.  They didn't do a got damn thing, except try to make more money while ignoring their fundamental obligation to the public.

Edited March 22, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[BabaYaga 15288]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Because the fucking companies don't have to take the free fucking money every goddamn time.

Do you buy a car every time a dealer or manufacturer offers 0% financing? 

I get your point.  I really do, but this is not a good example.  A car is a finite item that serves a singular purpose upon receipt.  This is energy sector investment.  No different than IT.  Monies invested are drawn to investment opportunities.  This is where the market distortions come into play via federal regulations and subsidies.  Minus these, monies go elsewhere.  

 

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

There's evidence that our power providers chose to make more money over the last decade, every time, over insuring that their plants and grid systems were up to snuff.

It doesn't matter whether 2011 was worse than this or not.  There's zero evidence that they did anything in response except business as usual.

Textbook definition of a Black Swan event.  If you or anyone have predictive validation that was put forth to reconcile a 100+ yr storm that covered 100% of the states counties, please share.  

Now if this happens again, it's going to attract more investment opportunities and reconcile itself against these new climactic patterns that we haven't' seen in 100+ years.  Again, if the NE had a Texas summer, it would crack like a wine glass stem and you'd see thousands of casualties....because it's not meant to handle these types of weather patterns,  You can't account for 100% of the variables in any plan.  It's just not feasible.  

[TwiceHorn 31438]

9 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I get your point.  I really do, but this is not a good example.  A car is a finite item that serves a singular purpose upon receipt.  This is energy sector investment.  No different than IT.  Monies invested are drawn to investment opportunities.  This is where the market distortions come into play via federal regulations and subsidies.  Minus these, monies go elsewhere.  

 

Textbook definition of a Black Swan event.  If you or anyone have predictive validation that was put forth to reconcile a 100+ yr storm that covered 100% of the states counties, please share.  

Now if this happens again, it's going to attract more investment opportunities and reconcile itself against these new climactic patterns that we haven't' seen in 100+ years.  Again, if the NE had a Texas summer, it would crack like a wine glass stem and you'd see thousands of casualties....because it's not meant to handle these types of weather patterns,  You can't account for 100% of the variables in any plan.  It's just not feasible.  

You are viewing this entirely from a corporate management perspective and a modern one, at that, focused solely on the bottom line.

The problem is, where the corporation(s) is responsible for public services, very important ones, the calculus changes a bit, or at least it should.

It's the Pinto problem, all over again.

The reality is that in 2011, ERCOT recommended that power generators take certain steps.  A complete response to those recommendations may have mitigated this problem, even if it was 100x worse.

The engineering reality is that even a complete effort to winterize wouldn't have eliminated all of the problems we experienced.

But I haven't seen any evidence that anything was even attempted, or analysis undertaken to say why it wasn't.  That would have been a prime opportunity to examine what kind of forces were at work on our electricity market and why they weren't permitting prudent precautions to be taken.

You're basically saying it was a Black Swan event, you never take any precautions against Black Swan events because they're Black Swan events.  I can't accept that.  I could accept a rational cost-benefit analysis, even one that was ultimately in error, but I don't see any evidence that there was one.

[BabaYaga 15288]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

You are viewing this entirely from a corporate management perspective and a modern one, at that, focused solely on the bottom line.

The problem is, where the corporation(s) is responsible for public services, very important ones, the calculus changes a bit, or at least it should.

It's the Pinto problem, all over again.

The reality is that in 2011, ERCOT recommended that power generators take certain steps.  A complete response to those recommendations may have mitigated this problem, even if it was 100x worse.

The engineering reality is that even a complete effort to winterize wouldn't have eliminated all of the problems we experienced.

But I haven't seen any evidence that anything was even attempted, or analysis undertaken to say why it wasn't.  That would have been a prime opportunity to examine what kind of forces were at work on our electricity market and why they weren't permitting prudent precautions to be taken.

You're basically saying it was a Black Swan event, you never take any precautions against Black Swan events because they're Black Swan events.  I can't accept that.  I could accept a rational cost-benefit analysis, even one that was ultimately in error, but I don't see any evidence that there was one.

I'm focused 100% on economic macro incentive structures.  Structures that were distorted by external federal forces.  Again, had those wasteful incentives not been present, monies would not have poured into wasteful farm expenditures and could have been better allocated to more robust and tested processes and plants.  

You are conflating the "market" with these incentives and not seeing the role they played in distorting the market that lead to this mess.  

You then are soliciting an "asked and answered" overview of the black swan event.  BS events are not prepared for due to their very nature.  This the name.  Again, I think for the 4th or 5th time, were this to unfold in reverse with a heat wave in the north, they would be equally unprepared.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Poolflood said:

 

California still have rolling blackouts do to that unexpected phenomenon called "Summer".  Gross negligence or do they get a pass because of D?

 

He steals the ball !!! He drives down the court !!!!! The clock is rolling 3....2.......1........... he shoot's, he scoooooooooooressssssss !!!!!!!!!!

 

Thought the analogy was timely, it being March Madness, and all that shit....

Edited March 22, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[atomheartbevo 89628]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

  I think our grid will be improved because of it. 

What makes you think that?  Or what gives you confidence that the industry will allow that to happen?

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

I don’t believe it was gross incompetence last month.  

We can use whatever terms we want, but we had a warning/preview almost a decade ago, we knew the things that needed to be done, and they weren't done.  Negligence, incompetence, call it whatever you want, but there were people and companies, who could have done something almost a decade ago, and they chose not to, and that fucked millions of Texans really hard.

 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

10 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I'm focused 100% on economic macro incentive structures.  Structures that were distorted by external federal forces.  Again, had those wasteful incentives not been present, monies would not have poured into wasteful farm expenditures and could have been better allocated to more robust and tested processes and plants.  

 

I sort of agree with this.  But, had the wind power incentives not been available, and the cash free for something else, I am relatively certain that it would have been invested in something profit-making or at least revenue-generating rather than purely preventive.

I see it perfectly well.  A corporation does not have to take every incentive offered it by the government except in some perverted world where a corporation is ruled only and entirely by taking every profit opportunity made available to it, despite its other "responsibilities."

16 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

You then are soliciting an "asked and answered" overview of the black swan event.  BS events are not prepared for due to their very nature.  This the name.  Again, I think for the 4th or 5th time, were this to unfold in reverse with a heat wave in the north, they would be equally unprepared.  

You assume that it's a Black Swan event.  First of all, a prior such event occurred in 2011 prompting recommendations that were ignored by all available evidence.  ERCOT didn't treat it as a Black Swan event that couldn't be planned for.   Granted, the 2011 event and this event may have differed in magnitude, but there is evidence that response to the recommendations would have mitigated the effects of this one.  So it's not entirely hindsight bias on my part.

I don't really care to speculate about what might happen in the Northeast.  I am, however, pretty certain that our system leaves private enterprise almost wholly unsupervised in delivering a basic, fundamental service to citizens and that that private enterprise prioritizes profit over all else.  Which is not to say that I favor a return to the public utility model.  There has to be a happier medium than what we've got.

[Captainant 27637]

57 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I get your point.  I really do, but this is not a good example.  A car is a finite item that serves a singular purpose upon receipt.  This is energy sector investment.  No different than IT.  Monies invested are drawn to investment opportunities.  This is where the market distortions come into play via federal regulations and subsidies.  Minus these, monies go elsewhere.  

 

TFW Texas operates its own disconnected grid specifically to avoid federal regulation and oversight.

[washparkhorn 9939]

38 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

He steals the ball !!! He drives down the court !!!!! The clock is rolling 3....2.......1........... he shoot's, he scoooooooooooressssssss !!!!!!!!!!Thought the analogy was timely, it being March Madness, and all that shit....

Here in southern california, the rolling blackouts are rare, short in duration, and primarily rural, not coastal. Never experienced one here in San Diego, but there are warnings of potential temporary blackouts. 

Northern California may be worse because they don't sweep their forests like we do down here. 

California is rich with modern infrastructure and carried a surplus before Covid. Texas just needs to expand their horizons and look for trading opportunities. I know what California and the desert southwest need. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by washparkhorn

[JimmyJames 12271]

21 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

What makes you think that?  Or what gives you confidence that the industry will allow that to happen?

We can use whatever terms we want, but we had a warning/preview almost a decade ago, we knew the things that needed to be done, and they weren't done.  Negligence, incompetence, call it whatever you want, but there were people and companies, who could have done something almost a decade ago, and they chose not to, and that fucked millions of Texans really hard.

 

He thinks the people who created the problem will also solve it. He’s a complete idiot. They won’t.

Theres only one way to solve the problem, but since this isn’t the cloak room I can’t say it. 

[JimmyJames 12271]

39 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

He steals the ball !!! He drives down the court !!!!! The clock is rolling 3....2.......1........... he shoot's, he scoooooooooooressssssss !!!!!!!!!!

 

Thought the analogy was timely, it being March Madness, and all that shit....

Says the guy who didn’t live through the week long blackout and no water for a week. But yeah. No big deal. Only more water damage claims caused by frozen broken pipes in Texas than the entire country goes through in a year. 
 

Moron.

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

What makes you think that?  Or what gives you confidence that the industry will allow that to happen?

We can use whatever terms we want, but we had a warning/preview almost a decade ago, we knew the things that needed to be done, and they weren't done.  Negligence, incompetence, call it whatever you want, but there were people and companies, who could have done something almost a decade ago, and they chose not to, and that fucked millions of Texans really hard.

 

Not to worry, the free markets got this.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

39 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

California is rich with modern infrastructure and carried a surplus before Covid. Texas just needs to expand their horizons and look for trading opportunities. I know what California and the desert southwest need. 

If more and more people keeping moving to Texas, Texas is going to need every last drop of water we can get within a decade or two (or sooner), and we are going to have to take a hard look at water usage.

[castolon 193]

41 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

If more and more people keeping moving to Texas, Texas is going to need every last drop of water we can get within a decade or two (or sooner), and we are going to have to take a hard look at water usage.

We're going to have to and it's probably not going to happen until there's a 2021 power outage level crisis. Humans gonna human. 

[Captainant 27637]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

If more and more people keeping moving to Texas, Texas is going to need every last drop of water we can get within a decade or two (or sooner), and we are going to have to take a hard look at water usage.

Fun (depressing) fact - nearly all the water that flows in the Rio Grande comes from Mexico. It used to be mostly fed by the Colorado River, but all those tributaries have dried up from damming and human usage. There's a huge loss of biodiversity down in the valley due to the loss of the nutrient-rich Colorado River silt that is no longer getting deposited into the Rio. It's gonna look much different for our kids kids than it does today.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Captainant

[Hpara759 1778]

6 hours ago, Captainant said:

Fun (depressing) fact - nearly all the water that flows in the Rio Grande comes from Mexico. It used to be mostly fed by the Colorado River, but all those tributaries have dried up from damming and human usage. There's a huge loss of biodiversity down in the valley due to the loss of the nutrient-rich Colorado River silt that is no longer getting deposited into the Rio. It's gonna look much different for our kids kids than it does today.

Which Colorado River are you talking about?....The one that starts around Ganby Co. Or the one that starts around Lamesa Tx.?

[deadshank 24652]

7 hours ago, Captainant said:

Fun (depressing) fact - nearly all the water that flows in the Rio Grande comes from Mexico. It used to be mostly fed by the Colorado River, but all those tributaries have dried up from damming and human usage. There's a huge loss of biodiversity down in the valley due to the loss of the nutrient-rich Colorado River silt that is no longer getting deposited into the Rio. It's gonna look much different for our kids kids than it does today.

Huh? You sure about the Colorado (either of them) feeding the Rio Grande?

 

[Nivek 16923]

13 hours ago, Poolflood said:

You seem rational.  So not sure why you should other to post.

California still have rolling blackouts do to that unexpected phenomenon called "Summer".  Gross negligence or do they get a pass because of D?

 

Poor attempt at deflection.  I live in Texas and pay taxes to Texas.  California and the price of tea in China has fuck all to do with what happened here.  This was a complete leadership failure in Texas.