Quarantine Journals - Snow week, energy crisis, holy moly, Part III

The power is going on and off more quickly now.  It's hard to know what to trust and what urgency to get things done.  The dishwasher is frozen.  The shower is frozen.  I have been trying to get the shower unfrozen but haven't had luck yet.  When the power comes on, I move the space heater into the bathroom.  We've had it going for a few hours this morning, and we are all waiting on pins and needles for the other shoe to drop.

Only.. it doesn't. We've had power most of today.  It's warm and we have defrosted the dishwasher and shower with the the space heaters.  Friend's houses are flooding because of burst pipes.  People are abandoning their homes because they still don't have power.  Dad had power from 12 - 8AM, but then it was gone again.  Got the power back around lunch time and I think it stayed on for him too.

I've been texting our neighbor to let him know what's going on.  He's been staying at a hotel this whole time. I'm glad. He's an older guy who lives alone and this is too much.

I decided to take a shower, finally, and my toe got iced to the new bathroom tile and ripped.  Dammit what the hell.

Me: How much did it snow last night?
Richard: Probably only an inch
My, my, how the narrative has changed from snowflakes in the muddy frost to "only a foot of snow outside ." This snowpocalypse has hardened us all.

From one crisis to another.  North Texans are urged to reduce water usage as much as possible. Fort Worth has to boil their water but also doesn't have power.  Many people still haven't even seen a glimpse of it.

Lots of conversations going on about our privatized grid and what a fucking mess it has made of their entire situation. Thanks ERCOT!

Finally, around 4PM I told the kids we could go outside again for another romp in the snow.  Oliver was super tired today, from days and days of this mess a no nap.  He took a nap with me earlier, but woke up super grumpy and was just too miserable to be in the snow.  He played for a bit but then he was miserable and wanted to go inside with Richard.  I stayed outside and played with Penny, had great fun in a snowball fight, and explored the yard, icicles etc.  

We watched TV and ate dinner and everyone went to bed in their beds.  The house is quiet and warm and it feels so damn luxurious.  I am very much looking forward to curling up in my bed and going to sleep after I finish typing this all up. Work will just have to wait yet another day.

From Judge Clay Jenkins:

Power generation is stubbornly staying at 47k Megawatts. It reached 50k yesterday but then declined. The problems stem from two main sources: A lack of winterization packages on generator plants and units and a lack of gas line modernization being required by state leadership.
Gas lines are regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas. This is a three member commission elected statewide. Generators are regulated by Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), which is a board appointed by Office of the Governor Greg Abbott.
They, not the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), made the policy decision to not require the needed winterization and modernization standards required in the other 49 states.
In an effort to provide the lowest cost energy to large commercial users, they failed to ensure enough protection for residents in their homes. We need a system with the lowest prices that ensures reliability in completely predictable situations like this. It happened around the Super Bowl in 2011 and it will happen again. We know extreme weather happens here and we know weather patterns are getting worse due to climate change. The Governor has called for a review of ERCOT. That should be expanded to the PUC and the Railroad Commission.
ERCOT's job is to manage the load. The railroad commission's job is to require a safe, efficient and effective gas delivery system that doesn't freeze on its way to the gas plants. Most offline gas plants during this crisis have been off because the gas lines going to their plants are frozen.
Some plants are tripping off when they try to start up due to lack of winterization. Wind units, which normally make up 25k Megawatts got down to 5k. @PUCTX didn't require the winter weather packages on any of these required in the other 49 states.
When regulators make a knowing decision to not require a safety apparatus, they are telling companies not to spend money on that apparatus because businesses won't be reimbursed. It's not reasonable to expect companies to do things that are not required and put them at a disadvantage to their competitors in the state's scheme.