YaleClimateConnection: “How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts.” In Feb2021, Winter Storm Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people in Texas. “Hundreds of Texans died as a result, and the storm is estimated to have cost the state $130 billion.” Gov. Greg Abbot precipitously + erroneously blamed renewables, telling “Sean Hannity of Fox News, “This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America…fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas as well as other states to make sure we will be able to heat our homes in the wintertime and cool our homes in the summertime.”
The reality is that ‘although wind energy underperformed in the cold temperatures, so did gas and coal power plants.’ “All types of electricity generation facilities experienced failure, according to an analysis of the event by the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute.” A parallel assessment came from “Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, [which] similarly concluded that natural gas power plants were responsible for the majority of Texas’ power outages.” FERC’s other major take-away was also damning. “Many of the power generation facilities in Texas had not followed recommendations to prepare for severe winter storms with equipment winterization plans.”
“Wind farms can operate in frigid temperatures if equipped with de-icing equipment.” Fossil methane gas infrastructure can be enclosed or fitted with heating cables to prevent some cold weather shutdowns.” And what about “the myth that “solar only works when it’s sunny?” That’s where complementary solutions come in, like adding batteries to store extra solar power during the day and building more long-distance electrical transmission lines to strengthen the power grid.
“Unlike all other states in the continental U.S., Texas’ power grid remains relatively isolated from the rest of the country and thus lies outside of FERC’s jurisdiction.”
In times of extreme weather, the Lone Star States might just feel a bit goldarn lonely due to their own cussedness
