Thats easy. Do whatever they do in the NE. Some of those guys get transmission lines lost and are off the grid for a couple weeks. For starters, maybe everyone should stop trying to heat every square inch of their 3000sqft home. Texans have always taken advantage of their cheap energy prices. Instead of trying to act like its a god given right, perhaps they will understand why they name winter storms just as we do for hurricanes. These are major events people should immediately prepare for. Do you think people on the coast just shrug their shoulder when a category 5 heat storm rolls through? The same applies for a winter storm.
Iced up wind turbines are only part of the problem. That’s just why THOSE went offline. It’s usually no big deal. Wind doesn’t blow all the time, that’s why we diversify. Problem is they froze at the same time other providers went offline. I don’t know why ours freeze and theirs don’t except maybe the conditions on the coast are different or they’re build differently because they deal with different environments like salt water.
In terms of winter, the homes are built differently there, and most have fire places. Unlike in the south. Because we don’t deal with this often enough for it to be worth making it a standard. I know that’s how some people think, but everything has a cost. Nothing is free.
Same, evacuated out to my parents who just got their power back. Did everything I could to protect pipes, just waiting and praying that nothing bursts. As for food, I put everything in coolers and I keep it outside, the frozen stayed frozen, and the cold stayed cold, no ice needed.
That sucks. I put a feeder out for a hummingbird that's made it through the past 2 nights. It comes first thing in the morning to feed. Just got power back a while ago for the first time in Pearland.
I completely understand. Im in central FL. Building codes and good build quality goes a long ways. Homes are about 2/3 the value in Texas. A solid 4/2 starts out 350k here. You can buy mega houses for 350k in Texas. Im really impressed with the efficiency of my house...and i've heard contractors complain about the 'over burdening' building code...but it pays off. I would feel completely fine stuck 3 days in a power outage whether its 0 degrees or 100 degrees with my very compact emergency setup. Ive seen a few cookie cutter homes in the great sprawl of Texas. Its sad and depressing to see poorly built homes. Texas really needs better regulations and its not going to come cheap.
Isn’t that the root of the problem, the lack of regulations? You say do what the NE does—doesn’t that include extensive winterization and upkeep of the infrastructure. Things that Texas has neglected partly a result of having its own grid and wanting to maximize profits? Wind turbines do just fine in the north where temperatures are constantly in the negatives. Maybe it’s time to start looking into upgrading our generators and wind turbines to withstand the extremes. Interestingly I saw somewhere that Abbott called out to reform the ERCOT
There is absolutely regulations. They just need to stop acting like we live in the 60's and energy prices are dirt cheap. Require another 20k for more efficient houses. Battery tech has come a long ways. Its time to start talking about all houses and businesses build with batteries. It wont happen over night, but now is a good time.
You can try to fix 20 million homes or you can just fix 680 power plants - something that was recommended many years ago. The state has more than enough power generating capacity - it just needs to work.
Is anybody getting "rolling blackouts" Im going on 24 hours, and plenty of people have gone longer. Some haven't lost power at all. At least spread this s**t around if supply is the issue.
CenterPoint saying Houston residents might have to go without power for the rest of the week? https://info.centerpointenergy.com/pdf/CNP_Update_Statewide_power_generation_emergency_expected _to_extend_outages.pdf
Mine hasn't shut off yet but I've lost a lot of water pressure. Not sure if pipes have frozen or city controlling the supply/pressure. Anyone know what to check for this? Edit: Checked on nextdoor and found the answer to my low water pressure.
I know of a few families who left to stay with relatives because of power outages. Came back home to a river running out the door, down the driveway and a ruined kitchen/living room.
Same here. Lower pressure. Keep your cold water on the faucets trickling. Especially on north facing walls/exterior walls/walls under shade all day.
My water just came back so I guess it was a controlled thing. Neighbors came back same time and his pipes burts. Crazy
