Biden declares a winter emergency for Texas.

[s0me0nesmind1]

If you believe the power coming to your house actually comes from 100% renewable energy then you're goofier than I thought. Renewable energy just provides as much power to the grid over time as you consume. When renewable energy supply is strong, providers cut back production from other sources. When renewable production is low, the opposite is true. The reason is that the system is largely incapable of storing energy other than through pumped hydro storage like the Mt Elbert power plant.

Reading sentences and interpreting them as they were written is VERY hard. I know. I know. No need to tell us about it lol.

 

[jman19]

Reading sentences and interpreting them as they were written is VERY hard. I know. I know. No need to tell us about it lol.

Jhhnn may be wrong but you didn't actually say anything here. Literally zero bits of information communicated.

 

[Brainonska511]

I'm in MA, and it's about $120-200 per month for me. We have a pile of electronics running, so it's not shocking, I turn off whatever / whenever I can to try and keep the cost down.

I'm in MA and our average (over the entire year) electric bill is $55/mo. Probably helps it's 2 people + 1 small dog on a single floor of a triple decker, and we're not running ACs and computers 24/7.

 

[shortylickens]

If you believe the power coming to your house actually comes from 100% renewable energy then you're goofier than I thought. Renewable energy just provides as much power to the grid over time as you consume. When renewable energy supply is strong, providers cut back production from other sources. When renewable production is low, the opposite is true. The reason is that the system is largely incapable of storing energy other than through pumped hydro storage like the Mt Elbert power plant.

Umm, proof they cut back on other sources when renewable is more available?
Cuz Americans grow as a population ever year and thats why they keep adding power stations, slowly.
They dont remove them unless they pose a safety hazard.

 

[Jhhnn]

Reading sentences and interpreting them as they were written is VERY hard. I know. I know. No need to tell us about it lol.

I read it just fine. Your provider obviously swaps production with others. They sell power when their generating capacity is high & buy it to meet demand at other times. It's not like they have the capacity to store power.

 

[Jhhnn]

Umm, proof they cut back on other sources when renewable is more available?
Cuz Americans grow as a population ever year and thats why they keep adding power stations, slowly.
They dont remove them unless they pose a safety hazard.

You're belaboring the obvious. When circumstances are right, renewables are less expensive than other sources. Sun & wind are free. Fuel isn't.

 

[Lanyap]

kudlow is an intellectual midget and why anyone believes or listens to anything he says is beyond me.
Remember he said Dr Fauci was wrong about everything COVID-19 related.

LOL, he was on FOX news.

 

[Lanyap]

Yeh, but it was a nice racket while it lasted. I'm surprised they only found 29K suckers in Texas who'd buy into to the notion that they could beat the system.

The whole notion of choice in power providers is contrived. You can't choose the fuel source, the actual generator of power or the distribution network. All you can choose is which marketing outfit to buy from. It's just a wayto create another layer of profit taking in the supply chain that forces the necessary entities into a cheaper is better race to the bottom.

Funny you should mention that. Let's look behind the curtain.

Mmmm, 23 employes. What a scam. And TX allowed this to happen. I think the Feds need to open an investigation.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/griddy/

Griddy
A whole new way to buy power! No mark ups. No contracts. No hidden fees. Just the wholesale price!

https://www.owler.com/company/gogriddy

Griddy is an online platform that provides real-time energy prices and data to residents and businesses.

 

[Zorba]

Umm, proof they cut back on other sources when renewable is more available?
Cuz Americans grow as a population ever year and thats why they keep adding power stations, slowly.
They dont remove them unless they pose a safety hazard.

Read up on the Duck curve: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve

Also just watch this site some, power grid for the Great Plains, as wind generation goes up, everything else goes down, especially NG: https://marketplace.spp.org/pages/generation-mix Sometimes when wind is really blowing spot wholesale prices drop to zero. Who is going to burn fuel to sell their power for $0?

 

[Zorba]

That's not correct. In many states you can choose the generation type along with pricing and contract structure. CO has not deregulated electricity, so don't mistake that for the rules across the country.

The distribution network choices has constraints, but were talking about a different issue here.

If you believe in green power, you can absolutely choose a contract that's renewable, say 100% wind power.

Choice gives consumers a chance to vote and act with their wallets.

The left should embrace this, along with cutting carbon industry subsidies, so that the market is on a level playing field and green will out-price dirty fossil fuels. Better tactics rather than heavy regulation, new taxes and "attacking" carbon industries and getting into ugly politics. Let the market and innovation do its work.

Who has deregulated. 17 states in all. Some just gas, some elec, some both.

To be clear, you are buying wind credits, but your electrons could very well be coming from a coal burner. Buying renewable credits has nothing to do with utility de-regulation.

 

[Bitek]

I read it just fine. Your provider obviously swaps production with others. They sell power when their generating capacity is high & buy it to meet demand at other times. It's not like they have the capacity to store power.

Of course. Despite what the GOP says, the power doesn't shut off the wind doesn't blow, or if solar, night falls.

It also means the diehard Qanoner who believes that CC is a Jewish plot to destroy America is getting wind electrons when it's windy, even if they selected a "fk renewables, go coal" plan.

The point is you are directly creating demand that the grid must fill per contract. This creates market signals where to invest generation capital.

 

[K1052]

Really stepping on every possible rake...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1372000192493404161

 

[allisolm]

Texas AG says more than $29 million in unpaid electric bills will be forgiven as he sues Griddy Energy

Griddy will "release all outstanding payment obligations for those Texas consumers who were unable to pay their energy bills due to the high prices charged during the storm..."

It says that The AG is working with the company "in ongoing good faith negotiations to attempt to address additional relief" for customers who have already paid energy bills stemming from the storms.

Hopefully those who had the money automatically deducted can obtain relief as well.

 

[Zorba]

Not completely related, but I thought this was cool. The SPP grid operator, which operates the grid in the Great Plains region is predicting that wind will carry 100% of the load in a couple of days. The current record is 78% set last year about this time.

 

[lamedude]

How is this "false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices"?

They even told their customers to GTFO.

We pushed out an email as quickly as we could suggesting that our members switch to another provider with a fixed rate.

Unfortunately, it looks like other providers are no longer excepting switches until later in the week.

Was Griddy suppose to cut service and hope Hank Hill doesn't let them freeze to death?

 

[shortylickens]

You're belaboring the obvious. When circumstances are right, renewables are less expensive than other sources. Sun & wind are free. Fuel isn't.

thats got nothing to do with it.
corporations exist to make money, not serve people. And Texas has been proving it regularly.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

How is this "false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices"?

They even told their customers to GTFO.

Was Griddy suppose to cut service and hope Hank Hill doesn't let them freeze to death?

How is the circled part deceptive? Presuming that it is correct that the highest it can go is $9/kWh ?

When a cloud SaaS application advertises that they have 99.9% uptime - that is factually true - and can be true even if they had 8.75 hours of downtime.

Obviously that number is no longer true after the fact, but prior to it?

 

[Brainonska511]

How is the circled part deceptive? Presuming that it is correct that the highest it can go is $9/kWh ?

When a cloud SaaS application advertises that they have 99.9% uptime - that is factually true - and can be true even if they had 8.75 hours of downtime.

Obviously that number is no longer true after the fact, but prior to it?

Seems deceptive in that it downplays the low chance, extremely high cost events.

We shouldn't need to be statisticians or lawyers to do something as simple as choosing an electric provider.

 

[Paratus]

Texas government has decided to address the grid issues by debating a bill that would pass most of the costs on to renewables while not charging regular power providers. Conservative governance for you.

Amazon warns Texas: Don’t pass bill that would drive up wind power costs

Bill would "directly assign" grid stability costs to renewable power providers.

arstechnica.com

"Fallout from Texas’ statewide power outages in February continues to spread. Today, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a bill that would require power producers to bear the costs of services that help keep the electrical grid stable.

If the bill passes, it would “unfairly shift the cost of ancillary electric services exclusively onto renewable generators rather than all the beneficiaries,” according to a letter written by the Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (PREF), an industry group, and signed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Goldman Sachs, and a number of other firms.

Amazon and other big tech firms have invested heavily in renewable power, seeking to spruce up their images while cutting their power bills. Costs for wind and solar have dropped precipitously in recent years, making investments in wind farms and solar plants attractive to power-hungry data center operators like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

“It is important to note that these changes neither enhance electric reliability nor lower consumer costs,” the letter states. “They appear to be premised on the assumption that renewable energy was disproportionately responsible for the state’s February power outages, a thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.”

 

[Jaskalas]

“It is important to note that these changes neither enhance electric reliability nor lower consumer costs,” the letter states. “They appear to be premised on the assumption that renewable energy was disproportionately responsible for the state’s February power outages, a thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.”

• R: Blame renewables.
• L: A thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.
• R: Liberal lies.

Left Reality, meet Right Reality. I can imagine which prevails in Texas. Facts and reason are soooo 20th century. Better to erroneously hate on renewables.

 

[MrSquished]

The conservative deplorableness knows no bounds. At this point it should be only news if the GQP says or does anything honest.

 

[K1052]

Texas government has decided to address the grid issues by debating a bill that would pass most of the costs on to renewables while not charging regular power providers. Conservative governance for you.

Amazon warns Texas: Don’t pass bill that would drive up wind power costs

Bill would "directly assign" grid stability costs to renewable power providers.

arstechnica.com

"Fallout from Texas’ statewide power outages in February continues to spread. Today, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a bill that would require power producers to bear the costs of services that help keep the electrical grid stable.

If the bill passes, it would “unfairly shift the cost of ancillary electric services exclusively onto renewable generators rather than all the beneficiaries,” according to a letter written by the Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (PREF), an industry group, and signed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Goldman Sachs, and a number of other firms.

Amazon and other big tech firms have invested heavily in renewable power, seeking to spruce up their images while cutting their power bills. Costs for wind and solar have dropped precipitously in recent years, making investments in wind farms and solar plants attractive to power-hungry data center operators like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

“It is important to note that these changes neither enhance electric reliability nor lower consumer costs,” the letter states. “They appear to be premised on the assumption that renewable energy was disproportionately responsible for the state’s February power outages, a thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.”

Gas and power industry have successfully turned their total and complete fuckup, abetted by the state government, into a problem for renewables.

 

[fskimospy]

Texas government has decided to address the grid issues by debating a bill that would pass most of the costs on to renewables while not charging regular power providers. Conservative governance for you.

Amazon warns Texas: Don’t pass bill that would drive up wind power costs

Bill would "directly assign" grid stability costs to renewable power providers.

arstechnica.com

"Fallout from Texas’ statewide power outages in February continues to spread. Today, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a bill that would require power producers to bear the costs of services that help keep the electrical grid stable.

If the bill passes, it would “unfairly shift the cost of ancillary electric services exclusively onto renewable generators rather than all the beneficiaries,” according to a letter written by the Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (PREF), an industry group, and signed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Goldman Sachs, and a number of other firms.

Amazon and other big tech firms have invested heavily in renewable power, seeking to spruce up their images while cutting their power bills. Costs for wind and solar have dropped precipitously in recent years, making investments in wind farms and solar plants attractive to power-hungry data center operators like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

“It is important to note that these changes neither enhance electric reliability nor lower consumer costs,” the letter states. “They appear to be premised on the assumption that renewable energy was disproportionately responsible for the state’s February power outages, a thesis that has been unequivocally discredited.”

Sometimes I wonder what the discussions in these boardrooms are like where they try to balance their desire for low taxes and low regulation with the fact that the same people pushing them are lunatics, totally divorced from reality.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Gas and power industry have successfully turned their total and complete fuckup, abetted by the state government, into a problem for renewables.

How does Amazon have a vested interest here?

I can unequivocally agree. Fuck this shit, renewables while nothing to write home about - were certainly not the underlying problem. So unless this dipshit is saying renewables was the main power source - and thus the source of the outages (which it wasn't obviously) then he is just blowing smoke and people should be pissed.


Christ, just admit it was a fuck-up on fossil fuel part and fund money to fix it, why does everything from every fuckin' politician have to be a game?

 

[K1052]

How does Amazon have a vested interest here?

I can unequivocally agree. Fuck this shit, renewables while nothing to write home about - were certainly not the underlying problem. So unless this dipshit is saying renewables was the main power source - and thus the source of the outages (which it wasn't obviously) then he is just blowing smoke and people should be pissed.


Christ, just admit it was a fuck-up on fossil fuel part and fund money to fix it, why does everything from every fuckin' politician have to be a game?

Specifically Amazon I think outright owns some TX wind farms. Most corporations sign power purchase agreements with renewable producers which are used to finance construction through the banks. The legislature doesn't seem to appreciate that they're screwing over not just customers they consider tree huggers but a rapidly growing intersection of big businesses.