In a state known for oil, residents had better pray the wind picks up fast — or else they’re going to be having some serious electricity problems.
On Sunday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs Texas’ electrical grid, warned that without voluntary energy reduction measures, the electrical grid in the state wouldn’t be able to reliably meet demand.
The reason? It wasn’t windy enough.
(Here at The Western Journal, we’ve documented how renewable energy short-changes Americans — increasing their electricity bills while reducing service reliability. We’ll continue to bring readers the truth about alternative energy that the mainstream media won’t. You can help by subscribing.)
In a Sunday media release, ERCOT said it was “asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity, Monday, July 11 between 2-8 p.m.”
ERCOT appeals for conservation from 2-8 p.m. Monday, July 11. More details available: https://t.co/CVBehrr5J1 @PUCTX #txlege
— ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) July 11, 2022
“The heat wave that has settled on Texas and much of the central United States is driving increased electric use. Other grid operators are operating under similar conservative operations programs as ERCOT due to the heatwave,” the media release read.
Should nuclear power be considered as an alternative energy option?
“While solar power is generally reaching near full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period. Current projections show wind generation coming in less than 10 percent of its capacity.”
According to Reuters, the grid operator said it faced a “potential reserve capacity shortage with no market solution available” and that rolling blackouts were possible.
Imagine that. An energy source dependent on the weather ends up failing when it’s needed most. It’d be comical if it weren’t so serious.
However, the wire service reported Monday that ERCOT had held off on rolling blackouts as the state was hit with triple-digit temperatures.
“[ERCOT’s] website showed the operator entered late afternoon with about 3,600 megawatts of operating reserves — which could power three-quarters of a million homes,” Reuters reported.
Industrial users cut back on their power usage and cryptocurrency miners said they’d curtail energy-intensive blockchain operations during the emergency.
“We have approached all Texans and Texas businesses to conserve energy,” an ERCOT spokesperson told Reuters.
While wind power has been touted as one of the pillars of President Joe Biden’s shift to renewable energy, this isn’t the first time it’s played a part in a Texas energy crisis.
Let’s recall that, in February of 2021, the state faced widespread power outages due to a spate of winter storms. One of the culprits? Frozen wind turbines.
“Wind farms across the state generate up to a combined 25,100 megawatts of energy. But unusually moist winter conditions in West Texas brought on by the weekend’s freezing rain and historically low temperatures have iced many of those wind turbines to a halt,” the Austin American-Statesman reported at the time.
“As of Sunday morning (Feb. 14, 2021), those iced turbines comprise 12,000 megawatts of Texas’ installed wind generation capacity, although those West Texas turbines don’t typically spin to their full generation capacity this time of year.”
I have gathered information all day from ERCOT & the Public Utilities Comm. & will provide a detailed update shortly.
Many power generation companies facilities froze overnight and shut down their ability to generate power.
They are working to get power back on line.
More soon
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 15, 2021
But as we all know, it was really Ted Cruz taking a vacation in Cancún during the winter storm — even though he like, doesn’t even hold a position of state authority — that caused the massive power outages. Don’t let the climate-deniers fool you.
Heck, don’t let the climate-change crusaders fool you, either. They can be a tricky bunch, too! Like California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who told the state back in 2020 it needed to “sober up” about how much power renewables could provide.
According to Breitbart, Newsom made the remarks after a few hundred thousand customers in northern and central California lost power during a heat wave.
“While we’ve had some peak gust winds,” he said, “wind gust events across the state have been relatively mild.”
Instead, Newsom said, California needed “backup” and “insurance” power from other states.
The Biden administration in general — and climate czar John Kerry in particular — have been banging on about the future of wind turbines and how they should be manufactured in America. This all sounds fantastic when you’re trying to convince energy workers that they’ll still have jobs once the pipelines and coal mines are shut down.
In practice, however, it looks a little more like this. When Greg Abbott’s Texas and Gavin Newsom’s California can at least agree on the fact wind power mightn’t be the most reliable source of energy there is, it’s time to look elsewhere.
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