Texas Big Freeze Aftermath

[raison de arizona]

It's only a matter of time before some idiot complains about windmills stealing all the electricity.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, once said, "Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up."

Word is that this quote is taken somewhat out of context, but I'm not going to ruin the fun by figuring out why.

[northland10]

And you thought they had crazy right-wing laws now. They will start doing even wilder ones to distract voters from the fact that they are sitting in the dark. They'll forget all about that lack of power when Abbott and others remind them of all them dirty foreigners, CRT taking over the classrooms, LGTB people making all children into bisexual trans gay boys and girls, and trans dogs.

Too, also, and more government-required prayer in schools and government, starting with the Lord's prayer, my Sig Sauer which art loaded in my holster, hallowed be thy name..

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

ERCOT didn't think this summer would be as hot as it actually is, interim CEO is 'concerned about the future'

I'm trying not to type in all caps. But, JFC! YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE? NOW? THIS HASN'T OCCURRED TO YOU UNTIL NOW?

Heads should be rolling. Years ago.

(Some) heads did (finally) roll, this is the new guy. He has to play with the hand he was dealt. And yet...

[Volkonski]

Texas will have energy problems at least until Russian oil and gas becomes fully available again.

Currently Texas is exporting record amounts of LNG at record prices. Since most electricity in Texas is generated using gas this means record high electricity prices. Combine that with unusually high temperatures and Texans will be paying unusually high electric bills this summer.

I also expect that quite a few Texans will find that their AC systems won't be able to handle triple digit temperatures since those systems were sized for high temperatures in the mid 90s.

Texas needs more wind turbines which are mostly produced in China.

[Gregg]

ERCOT didn't think this summer would be as hot as it actually is, interim CEO is 'concerned about the future'

I'm trying not to type in all caps. But, JFC! YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE? NOW? THIS HASN'T OCCURRED TO YOU UNTIL NOW?

Heads should be rolling. Years ago.

Well, they did put Jeff Skilling in prison, they just failed to correct his ideas.

[Gregg]

It's only a matter of time before some idiot complains about windmills stealing all the electricity.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, once said, "Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up."

Word is that this quote is taken somewhat out of context, but I'm not going to ruin the fun by figuring out why.

Herschel Walker expanded on this, to explain how we are cleaning up China's dirty air.

[Foggy]

Texas needs more wind turbines which are mostly produced in China.

In 2003 I started telling people that there was unlimited money to be made in clean, renewable energy, and if the US didn't lead the way, some other country would. Money, OK? Capitalism. WHY are we not going to lead the world?

[RTH10260]

BUT... But... but... think of all those workers that need their jobs in scrubbing all that great green clean coal

[Kendra]

[Gregg]

Texas needs more wind turbines which are mostly produced in China.

In 2003 I started telling people that there was unlimited money to be made in clean, renewable energy, and if the US didn't lead the way, some other country would. Money, OK? Capitalism. WHY are we not going to lead the world?

Cause Joe Manchin makes his money paying people (not enough) to dig coal out of the ground.

[much ado]

It's only a matter of time before some idiot complains about windmills stealing all the electricity.

Like, yeah! Ya ever notice how when the windmills are spinning real good that there's a lot of wind. That's because the spinning windmills are USING electricity to MAKE the wind. That PROVES it!!!!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Volkonski]

If you drive west from central Texoma you will pass many wind turbine fields.

Under the wind turbines you will see farms and cattle ranches.

Texas politicians who remain focused on fossil fuels are blind to the future.

[Jim]

If you drive west from central Texoma you will pass many wind turbine fields.

Under the wind turbines you will see farms and cattle ranches.

Texas politicians who remain focused on fossil fuels are blind to the future.

Wonder how many family farms have been SAVED from going under by renting their land for wind turbines?

On average, rental payments for the placement of a single wind turbine lease can pay landowners up to $8,000 per year. Thus, wind farming can quickly become quite valuable, especially for larger locations that can host several hundred wind turbines.

[Volkonski]

A lot of them for certain. It works both ways.

Landowners rent their land to wind turbine operators and wind turbine operators that buy land lease the surface rights to farmers and ranchers.

It is win win.

[RTH10260]

If you drive west from central Texoma you will pass many wind turbine fields.

Under the wind turbines you will see farms and cattle ranches.

Texas politicians who remain focused on fossil fuels are blind to the future.

NO!... No!... no!... I have it from good authority that the places are littered with dead birds, the carnage Cementaries, I tell you Believe ME!

[Gregg]

If you drive west from central Texoma you will pass many wind turbine fields.

Under the wind turbines you will see farms and cattle ranches.

Texas politicians who remain focused on fossil fuels are blind to the future.

NO!... No!... no!... I have it from good authority that the places are littered with dead birds, the carnage Cementaries, I tell you Believe ME!

Yeppers, they have more dead birds piled up than a family reunion at Colonel Sanders' house.

[RTH10260]

manna drops from thy skies, all battered and deep fried, and ketchup splatter everywhere and discolours the WH walls....

[Phoenix520]

[Foggy]

I drove around the West (but only across the Texas Panhandle) in 2015 and I couldn't believe how many windmills I saw. I'm sure there are a lot more today.

[humblescribe]

A lot of them for certain. It works both ways.

Landowners rent their land to wind turbine operators and wind turbine operators that buy land lease the surface rights to farmers and ranchers.

It is win win.

Except for the Treasury for the Great Lone Star State. According to the interwebs, Texas assesses a 4.6% severance tax on the oil volume value. This has remained unchanged since 19 and 51. There is also a .625 cent assessment for oil and gas clean up. For natural gas there is a 7.7% tax on the market value of the gas. In addition there is a 4.6 percent tax on the market value for condensate production.

This is a primary reason why Texas does not have a state income tax. (It does have a corporate net worth tax, but I digress.)

So, if windmills start generating enough electricity not only in Texas but in other states that use natural gas from Texas, extraction will decline with a corresponding reduction in the severance tax. How much lost revenue is anyone's guess today.

I wonder whether the resistance to generating electricity with renewables is based more on fiscal and employment matters.

Odd fact: California does not have a severance tax for all the extraction that occurs about the state.

[Lani]

Our dinky little electricity cooperative company decided to go all renewables a few years back. Biomass, solar, hydro, windmills. We reached 70% in 2021!

While the average Hawaii residential bill for electricity rose between 25% to 35% between March 2021 and March 2022 for the rest of the state, KIUC’s member bills rose only 5% over that same period. During that time, the price of oil increased nearly 75%!

KIUC will be 90% or higher by or before 2025. Our renewable benchmarks have been nineteen years early.

Other islands are being stupid. Probably here, too, but a small minority. Some hate "ugly" solar panels. Don't want to see ugly windmills. Some claim windmills would be on sacred land and/or they make you sick.

But anyway, if an island of 70,000+ people, can do this in a few years, every location should have ways to get off or limit oil.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

manna drops from thy skies, all battered and deep fried, and ketchup splatter everywhere and discolours the WH walls....

You have entered the realm of great American poetry. In the South it is known as Great Mericun Pomes.

Is it technically haiku?

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

manna drops from thy skies, all battered and deep fried, and ketchup splatter everywhere and discolours the WH walls....

You have entered the realm of great American poetry. In the South it is known as Great Mericun Pomes.

Is it technically haiku?

too long, but if you say "double u aitch" for WH, it's the right length for tanka, which is the precursor to haiku

manna drops from thy
skies, all battered and deep fried,
and ketchup splatter
everywhere and disco-
lours the WH walls

As a tanka, it rather bland and the split word is problematic (unless you're intending a pun on disco, in which case bonus points).

[RTH10260]