Tag Archives: blackouts

Sure is a good thing the Lege fixed all those power grid problems

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Otherwise, who knows what could happen? Texas’ main power grid struggled to keep up with the demand for electricity Monday, prompting the operator to ask Texans to conserve power until Friday. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a … Continue reading →

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We go to the next freeze with the power grid reform we have, not the power grid reform we wanted

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It is what it is, and what it is isn’t much. Texas lawmakers on Sunday passed a final proposal to shore up the state’s power grid in response to this year’s deadly outage crisis, agreeing on a raft of reforms … Continue reading →

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Another upward revision of the freeze death count

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Buzzfeed News takes a deep dive. The true number of people killed by the disastrous winter storm and power outages that devastated Texas in February is likely four or five times what the state has acknowledged so far. A BuzzFeed … Continue reading →

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Are we headed for a June special session or not?

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Too soon to tell. Right now this is just the usual end-of-session venting and frustration. With the future of the power grid and voting laws in Texas hanging in the balance, tensions among the top political leaders in the Legislature … Continue reading →

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Abbott knew the blackouts were coming

Posted on May 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good morning. Take a deep, cleansing breath, have a seat, and then read this. Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office knew of looming natural gas shortages on February 10, days before a deep freeze plunged much of the state into blackouts, … Continue reading →

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How many times will we fail to fix our power grid?

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

By “we”, I mean our Legislature, and the PUC, and the Governor, and the Railroad Commission, and pretty much everyone else in charge of this state. Ten years ago, Texas power plants froze during a fast-moving winter storm, causing rolling … Continue reading →

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How hot will summer be?

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Depends on how dependable the electricity providers are. ERCOT sought to reassure worried Texans that the state’s electricity grid will have enough power to meet record-breaking demand this summer, less than three months after a catastrophic power failure left millions … Continue reading →

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The Big Freeze didn’t just screw Texas

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I had no idea. Texas’ deep freeze didn’t just disrupt natural gas supplies throughout Lone Star country—its effects rippled across the country, extending as far north as Minnesota. There, gas utilities had to pay $800 million more than they anticipated … Continue reading →

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So we bail out the electricity providers

Posted on May 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I guess I don’t know enough about our weird electricity market to suggest a viable alternative to this, but it sure doesn’t speak well of our system. An approximately $2.5 billion plan to bail out Texas’ distressed electricity market from … Continue reading →

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Funding weatherization

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m okay with this, with one caveat. A plan to help finance what will likely become mandatory power plant upgrades to withstand more extreme weather in the wake of the February power crisis received preliminary approval in the Texas House … Continue reading →

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Trib polling roundup, part 1

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

On COVID and vaccinations. Texas voters are feeling safer about being out in public, and better about getting COVID-19 vaccines, but a majority of the state’s voters still consider the coronavirus a “significant crisis,” according to a new University of … Continue reading →

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How our water systems failed during the freeze

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good analysis of something that has received far less attention than the blackouts that resulted during the freeze. Which is interesting because the blackouts were the main cause of the water outages and resulting boil notices. And the fix here … Continue reading →

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ERCOT roundup

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few stories of interest that I didn’t feel like putting in their own posts… ERCOT will argue it is immune from lawsuits. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas will argue that it has governmental immunity that protects it … Continue reading →

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It was worse in Harris County during the freeze

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Harris County residents were far more likely to have lost electricity and water during February’s winter storm and blackout crisis than residents of other Texas counties, a survey by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs … Continue reading →

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Chron analysis puts freeze death total at 194

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Sobering, to say the least. The deaths of nearly 200 people are linked to February’s cold snap and blackouts, a Houston Chronicle analysis reveals, making the natural disaster one of the worst in Texas this past century. The tally, which … Continue reading →

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The infrastructure bill and the power grid

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan could help rebuild Texas highways and ports and push broadband into rural parts of the state, where up to 31 percent of residents do not have access to high-speed internet. It … Continue reading →

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Winter storm death count now at 111

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

A revision of the numbers. Expect this to happen at least once more. At least 111 Texans died as a result of last month’s winter storm, according to updated numbers released Thursday by the state Department of State Health Services. … Continue reading →

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SCoTX punts on ERCOT lawsuit question

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Wimpy. The Texas Supreme Court punted Friday on a question dogging millions of Texans affected by last month’s catastrophic power failure: Can ERCOT, the state’s grid manager, be sued? The state’s highest court ruled 5-4 that it won’t decide — … Continue reading →

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Our rinky-dink critical infrastructure

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good Lord. On Valentine’s Day, the major utility that supplies electricity to West Texas readied for a severe winter storm. Hired contractors prepared to fix power lines, managers started up the storm emergency center, and operators reviewed the list of … Continue reading →

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The state of the Public Utility Commission

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

News item #1: While many Texans last week were worried about sky-high electric bills from February’s winter storms, the state’s sole utility commissioner was privately reassuring out-of-state investors who profited from the crisis that he was working to keep their … Continue reading →

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The opening bid on power outage response

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Not bad, but there’s a long way to go and not a lot of detail just yet. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday announced seven priority bills responding to the winter weather crisis last month that left millions of … Continue reading →

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Congress has questions for Abbott

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Will he answer them? That’s the bigger question. Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, including Reps. Marc Veasey of Dallas and Lizzie Fletcher of Houston, are conducting a probe into Gov. Greg Abbott and why Texas’ electrical … Continue reading →

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PUC Chair resigns

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The body count increases. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the state’s electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, resigned Monday, according to a resignation letter provided to the Texas Tribune. The Gov. … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues Griddy

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Bandwagon time. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday against electricity retailer Griddy, claiming it misled customers using deceptive business practices after some customers reported bills costing tens of thousands of dollars. These charges were incurred during Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Why is Greg Abbott doing so little to help Texas recover from the freeze?

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

If this Politico story doesn’t make you mad, then either you’re a Greg Abbott shill or you really need to check your priors. Assessing the effectiveness of disaster response is a famously fraught political game. What looks like a master … Continue reading →

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The freeze effect on farmers

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As you might imagine, single digit temperatures are not good for agriculture. Well before the sun finally broke through the cloudy and icy haze in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley last week, Dale Murden knew he was in for a bad … Continue reading →

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Biden starts with decent approval numbers in Texas

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Keep it up. President Joe Biden, who today is making his first visit to Texas since his January inauguration, starts his term with about the same numbers of voters giving him good and bad marks for job performance, according to … Continue reading →

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Who watches the utility overseers?

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, nobody. At least, not anymore. Late last year, as winter approached and power companies prepared for cold weather, Gov. Greg Abbott’s hand-picked utility regulators decided they no longer wanted to work with a nonprofit organization they had hired to … Continue reading →

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Anger at Abbott

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I want to believe, I really really want to believe. It was clear by Tuesday afternoon that Texas was in a full-blown crisis – and Gov. Greg Abbott had largely been out of sight. More than 4 million households did … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick’s priorities

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They haven’t changed. He might have had to shoehorn in a thing or two because he’s not stupid and he knows he had a close call in 2018, but the essence of Dan Patrick is eternal. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick … Continue reading →

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We need more focus on the Public Utility Commission

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with this tweet: . Just to repeat again. ERCOT is not a state regulator. It is a group overseen by the Public Utility Commission, a group that has so far escaped much of the scrutiny focused on ERCOT. … Continue reading →

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The economic hardship of the freeze

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We may have power and water again (mostly), but some things that were lost can’t easily be gotten back. Last Tuesday, as Houston temperatures hovered below freezing for much of the day, Gloria Sanchez’s lights — and heat — cut … Continue reading →

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Harris County considers its ERCOT responses

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe ERCOT isn’t right for us. Harris County should consider leaving the state’s main power grid after it failed to prevent widespread blackouts for more than half of Houston-area residents last week, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said Monday. Garcia … Continue reading →

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President Biden will visit Houston on Friday

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Here he comes. President Joe Biden plans to come to Texas on Friday in the wake of extensive winter storm damage in the state. The president and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston, according to a White House … Continue reading →

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