In Texas, people are bewildered about how to handle all the white stuff falling from the sky.
The Governor is outraged about lack of planning by ERCOT, which controls 90% of the grid in Texas, and is determined to get to the bottom of it. Uh-huh. Texas is proudly independent of federal regulations and it can handle its own dang energy... except when it can't.
Fact is, ERCOT never planned for cold weather. Almost nobody did, especially for cold weather lasting this long. It hasn't been this cold in 30 years here in Houston. All public schools are closed for the week, if not longer. All nonessential medical appointments are canceled.
We heard that CenterPoint Energy, our local provider, is switching residents' power to a schedule of 6 hours off, 1-1/2 hours on -- except they didn't. We had only 24 hours off. We got lucky. Fingers crossed!
Meanwhile, people are winding up in emergency rooms because they got carbon monoxide poisoning -- this on account of nobody knows how to heat a house safely in inclement weather. They know up in Massachusetts that you don't heat the house by bringing a grill indoors, right?
A boil water notice has been broadcast, but water runs at a trickle, if that. People are asking if it's on at all. You could fill a rain barrel pretty fast -- if you thought that far in advance -- as we're well into the second storm of the week, at an awkward 32-degree temperature. Is that stuff on the road rain, sleet, or black ice? Most of us don't have to know, because we're more homebound now than we ever were from COVID19.
In southwest Houston, some guy who owns a car lot left six dogs out in the cold, and only five survived. It's illegal to leave pets outside if it's 32 degrees or below. In a town where people refer to pets as "precious fur babies," we can expect to see that guy in court come normal weather.
People ask: Where do I go to get my prescriptions filled? How can I keep the power on in my house because I have all this medical equipment I need to use? That lady who asked the latter question on NextDoor got help from two neighbors who have generators.
It's not as stoic a crowd as, say, New York City residents, but thanks to phone texting and FB, we're all trying to help each other.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/539300-five-things-to-know-about-texass-electric-grid?fbclid=IwAR1uegveyZztg9Rrw_5Hz5sDnsTcI5sk1fOGj7ooFnc-QaAi3v2P7cn7Pmw
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