2/20/21
Like many Texans I, as well as most our staff, were without power since Sunday morning at approximately 0130 hrs (1:30am). ERCOT became a new household subject. Our elderly were without their CPAP machines. Our pipes were freezing, some bursting. Our young were freezing, some crying. All the while the Republic of Texas was repeatedly lied to by our federal officials and the company they allowed to run our electrical grid. So lets really break down what happened here, lets take the time to educate ourselves and the public.
What do we know? First lets all start with the “official report” ERCOT sends the warning out that it will be staging planned “rolling brownouts” across Texas to address any strain on the grid due to the incoming winter storm. Funny, I know several electricians from around the states that are calling B.S. including myself. So this “planned blackout” only hit certain lower income neighborhoods, rural towns and areas while most the city centers kept their warmth. Even down to the emergency personnel, our police, ems, firefighters and hospitals were shut down. ERCOT in it’s foolish wisdom shut down power to the “lesser” of us to power those they chose.
A “rolling” blackout is a planned loss of power, so they planned it but couldn’t or wouldn’t maintain it? Why? What do we now know about ERCOT? Formed in the 1970’s it helped and led the states in energy independence. Now on the market for any shareholder to have influence, can they be trusted? According to their site (About ERCOT)and Wikipedia they are operated by Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. So in the end it falls on our elected officials. So ERCOT was not prepared? Why… Because they say the storm was worse than any in history? Lets explore that.
From the numbers reported by multiple other outlets (https://weather.com) 2.4 – 2.8 million were without power in this “unprecedented” storm. According to Insider.com, 2021 (Texas winter storm: power cuts, White House declares emergency (insider.com)) this unprecedented storm was responded to by , ” The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) started rolling blackouts across the state early Monday. At least 2.8 million Texans had experienced power outages as of 2 p.m. local time, according to PowerOutage.us. ” Although ABC, CBS and the like double the first number for shock value, “More than 4.4 million people were without power in Texas as of 12:30 p.m. ET, according to poweroutage.us” (Millions in Texas without power as deadly storm brings snow, freezing weather (nbcnews.com)). So that’s this storm but when was the last arctic blast in Texas” past?
The answer is 2011, an arctic blast hit leaving the Houston and surrounding areas in 3″ of snow and icy conditions. This blast lasted a full week. The only news you can drum up now on it are some pictures (Houston’s Winter Storm – February 2011 (chron.com)) and an article on Wikipedia calling it “The Groundhog Day Blizzard” (2011 Groundhog Day blizzard – Wikipedia). Here’s all I can find on it today, (Remembering the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011, five years later | WGN-TV). In this blizzard a whopping 75% of Texas population experienced rolling blackouts due to ERCOT and Texas’ mistakes. Ask google the population of Texas real quick…I’ll wait. 29 million, now lets do a little math. According to reports, max (according to fake news ABC,CBS,NBC) 4.5 million were without power in Texas during this Arctic Blast…Making it an “UNPECEDENTED” event. Heck, lets estimate 5 million were without power. 5 million is what percent of 29 million. I’ll wait, my 11 year old brought this to my attention. That’s a whopping 17.24% of the population … lets call it 18% why not? A little more math, what’s 75% of 25 million (population according to answers.com What is the population of Texas 2011? – Answers) The 2021 winter storm was “NOT UNPRECEDENTED”, far from it actually. 18.75 million Texans were without power during the storm of 2011. Allegedly for the same reasons. That compared to the 4.4 million in this storm makes calling it unprecedented a joke.
So, why? Is it doing better now? These are better numbers than in 2011. Correct! These are better numbers than in the 2011 storm, something can be said about that. But what problems did they encounter? The same problems they had before. In both storms the “renewable energy sector” which boasts of being able to provide 60% of the power to the Texas Grid but only provides about 25% (The Real Reason for Texas’ Rolling Blackouts Isn’t Renewables (gizmodo.com))was completely disabled due to cold. According to this article the natural gas sector maintains 50% of output but when doing research we actually find the latter to be true. (State Energy Profile Data (eia.gov))What they do not tell you is that is todays output vs. prior to the storm the were quite different.
Natural Gas-Fired 44.4 %
Coal-Fired 18.8 %
Nuclear 9.8 %
Renewables 26.1 %
now
Natural Gas-Fired 36.3 %
Coal-Fired 16.5 %
Nuclear 8.8 %
Renewables 38.9 %
Before
Amazingly, the data on the right cannot be found anymore so I count it as thought provoking but not reliable. The fact is in both storms we lost all renewable energy and at minimum a 10% reduction in all other sectors across the board.
The media would have you believe that it was natural gas that failed us so they could push their “Green Agenda”. When the truth is all renewable energy went off line according top ERCOT officials. Only 10% of all other resources went down due to loss of power and frozen lines. Why did they lose power? Were they powered by so called “Green energy”. It would make sense, turbines power plants as an effort to be green. Green energy goes down, energy producing plants go down. I worked at a coal plant in Texas that boasted about how it was wind powered to reduce their carbon footprint. So, I know for a fact it exists.
So what did we learn class…They feed us more lies, lies, lies…Thinking we are useless idiots. Most residential homes are gas heated due to federal energy efficiency standards. Mobile homes and small apartments are typically electric heat as are bigger commercial buildings. ( I am an Electrician and HVAC technician) Due to their Green agenda they upgrade our HVAC systems, our light bulbs and appliances to use minimal energy and force us to buy. Then they have the nerve to say we are using too much energy. Cut the bull!! Green Energy does work but on an individual scale. Massive turbines and solar fields are not the answer. We need to explore where our power plants get their power from. Some get their energy from green sources, this can cause issues when green sources go down. As an individual what do we do to prepare for future events? We need to petition that our laws need to be changed , how so?
What if you wanted to be energy independent so this does not happen again? Did you know that most of those with solar power had no power during the outage? It is because, due to the law. Your renewable energy has to go back to the grid and then gets distributed to power your home. It is not your energy…THIS HAS TO CHANGE!!! I want solar BUT I WILL BE DAMNED if it gets distributed to someone else before it does me. People actually get jailed for staling power or being self sufficient.(Man Banned from His Own Land for Living Off-Grid | Think About Now) The fact is they want it all!!! Rebel!! Find those electricians that are willing to help you wire your solar panels for you!! Get a battery bank for 72 hrs power. Prepare, become self reliant!! We must protest this attack against self sufficiency. Call your representatives, ask them why you can’t keep your solar? Why is it illegal to be self sufficient. If we were self sufficient, home to home… we wouldn’t need a grid. Now we have our answer…Why did the power go out? Greed, according to the providers ERCOT held them hostage, so to speak. Gov. Abbott called for an investigation in the matter. The petition to hold them responsible lies here. (Petition · Hold Texas and ERCOT Responsible for a Broken Power Grid and Freezing Citizens · Change.org)
Prepare, prepare, prepare… We Texans have a resolve that hell it’s self can’t kill. No matter if it freezes over or not. We must contact our reps today and everyday… have them loosen laws that prohibit and attack self-sufficiency. If we were legally allowed to take care of each other or ourselves by becoming more self sufficient we would be less strain on the grid, society and life as a whole. We would succeed, but they will fight it. If we are self sufficient they go broke. Or have we learned nothing from our founders yet? God Bless and God Speed.
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