I'll hop up on one of my little soapboxes for just a bit to say that one reason that many utilities and politicians do not like renewable energy, particularly solar power, is that it takes power away from them (both literally and figuratively). This has *already* happened in Hawaii, where it is cheaper to build your own standalone, battery-powered, maintenance-free photovoltaic system than it is to purchase power from the electric utility (completely unsubsidized). As solar and battery prices come down and utility power continues to get more expensive, that crossover is going to happen in more and more locations around the world. It is events like this one in Texas which really irk me because we do not only pay for our electricity in our monthly bills, but we also pay for it through our taxes. If they are going to take all that money and then shirk their responsibility to provide power under circumstances which have been discussed for decades, then they need to be taken down. Alternatives do exist and this is exactly the type of watershed event which will cause Texans to take back some of that power that the utilities have had for so long. Can I try to give it a name? ELEXIT!! (Help me out here!) /soapbox

I don't buy that particular argument. In this particular case, it appears that 10s of MILLIONS of dollars could have saved BILLIONS. Put another way, lots of resources which were already bought and paid for would still be in place providing water to homes, or not burned down, etc.

Perhaps you have not seen this video? Texas governor calls for probe into power grid operator ERCOT

I do see people planning less rather than more. I think there are many reasons. One reason that I can relate to is just the limitations of what you can do when living in a development where the water is provided by the city and you cannot install solar panels due to HOA restrictions, etc. While we are *very* prepared for disasters now that we live in the country and have our own well and land that we can use for our purposes, we were utterly unprepared when we lived in a development under HOA restrictions.

The need for government regulations such as building codes, electrical codes, etc. is also because if they were not in place, builders (even the honest ones) would make dangerous mistakes which would cost us our properties or our lives. The things found in the National Electrical Code are NOT OBVIOUS THINGS TO DO. We only know to do things a certain way because many, many houses have burned down and many, many people have been electrocuted in the past, followed by investigations and improvements of those codes. I cannot stand bureaucrats, including the ones that enforce those codes because they can be a PITA, but I also don't think I can live without them.

Yeah, I saw on one of the models last night (Canadian, maybe?) that parts of NC could get nearly 2" of ice!! I guess that's extremely unlikely since the models did not agree, but still it is pretty scary.

Californians prepare for earthquakes. Houstonians prepare for hurricanes (do they?). New Englanders plan for Nor'easters. I don't think they can *prevent* all damage from catastrophic events, but I believe they can greatly reduce their effects. As I said in the other thread, I do not feel that ERCoT has done their job, which is to keep the lights on. While I haven't seen any damage estimates, yet, I will almost guarantee it is in the BILLIONS of dollars. IMO, much of that loss could have been avoided by better planning.

Yes, that's the big issue, particularly up here farther from the equator. The worse night I know of in this house was 150kWh in a single day!! Things are MUCH more manageable in Texas, even if there is extreme weather. Yes, this week's even would have been an issue, but no one with the system I just mentioned would have been without electricity for anywhere near the amount of time that many are reporting.

While I think the technology is all in place to handle Texas (if a bit expensive), I think we are a LONG way from being ablte to make this work in New England (or does Pennsylvania consider itself to be mid-Atlantic? Something else?) We have been generating roughly all of the net amount of electricity used by our nearly-all-electric (except the cooktop) home in northern VA for about 10 years, including fuel for one EV. But being net zero is much different from being able to meet the electricity needs in real time. I will post some data on this when I have a chance.

Yes, it is expensive if you need the batteries, which is what I am proposing upthread. That said, such a system is significantly more fault tolerant than what is in place in Texas today. Massive redundancy. I wonder how many people who just took over $100,000 worth of damage will find $75,000 to be quite cheap. On the other end, the $12,000 number is a no-brainer, IMO. No backup, but one of the best investments you can make today.

No, because it looked too expensive when I saw an ad for it on the TV.

Unfortunately, some of the models are calling for more ice and/or snow in Texas. Here in Northern VA we are expecting either snow or sleet. Snow accumulation is supposed to be about 8 inches (they keep changing the number). Right now it is cold, bright, and sunny, so this is a great solar day so far. Time to go outside and make sure I can get the generator running. Where are you and what are you expecting from this storm?

You two ladies can tell your husbands that some random dude on the internet told you that you owe them a kiss! 😀

I will say that is my view of yesterday's tech. I wasn't planning on adding more solar to my house, but one of dw's coworkers recently asked me for advice on bids he was getting for a solar system. When I saw the prices for equipment these days, I decided I couldn't pass it up. I spent about $3000 (unsubsidized) for 3.7kWp of solar panels and mounting hardware and I expect to get that entire amount back over the next six years (through the magic of net energy metering, which IS a form of subsidy). With today's prices for photovoltaics, you can purchase the entire kit of equipment to provide all of the electricity for a typical house in Texas for about $12,000 with a 25-year warranty on everything. If you are handy and can install it yourself, you can build a system and through net energy metering you can recover your entire cost in about eight years. That system will produce ever-valuable electricity for more than 25 years, paying back 4X to 5X of the expense. If you are not comfortable installing it yourself, then your costs increase significantly: expect to pay another $24,000 to have someone else install the system above. Batteries are still expensive today, but the technology is now reliable and durable. Figure about $30,000 to $40,000 for the battery for the house above, installed (most of these do not allow self-install). The battery warranty is only for 10 years, currently. Since I have net energy metering available to me, I have avoided the cost of batteries so far. Electricity utilities are fighting, and winning, the battle to eliminate the subsidy with is net energy metering. So, yes, you can build a maintenance-free, standalone photovoltaic system with existing products today, but it will cost about $75,000 for the typical Texas house with storage. I doubt that the photovoltaic equipment will come down much more, nor will installation costs. The battery is the part which costs serious money for today and I expect massive drops in price over the next decade or so.

I cannot answer the window question but I can answer this one. All the pipes, the filter, and the pump are designed to not leak any air (or water) so that the water does not drain back into the pool when the pump shuts off. This is so that the pump is always primed and can start up quickly and easily. As a result, when the pump is off, the water is just sitting, motionless, in the pipes, the filter, and the pump exposed to the cold air. The pipes will freeze and crack first, then the pump, and finally the filter (because of mass differences). In colder climates, you pay a pool installer each Fall to pump high pressure air through all of the lines to ensure there is no water in them. While the air is blowing they put plugs in all of the jets so that water cannot reenter the pipes. The other thing that can break is the skimmers. typically those hold water during the winter, but a flexible air bladder such as a sealed soda bottle is placed in there to protect them. I doubt that the pools in Texas had cold for long enough for the skimmers to break, but I wouldn't count it out.

Not only did he save you money, but think about how hard it will be to get a plumber in Texas starting now!

Yeah, I'm not in favor of the government doing this kind of planning because they have a way of screwing up even the best ideas. Still it is interesting to have a look and see where we are. I think I will make a post to show what it would cost to move just a single household to PV and EV, with and without storage. That brings up a good question: Does anyone have access to hourly electricity usage in a hot part of Texas during the summertime. I'd be interested to see what happens at night. (I know what goes on here in the wintertime and it is NOT pretty!) I agree that electric cars and trucks are inevitable pretty much everywhere. Photovoltaics are likely inevitable at lower latitudes. Beyond that, things get much, much more complicated.

Thanks! I'll have a look at the article today if I get a chance. I'm a big fan of many thing that Elon Musk has done, including his batteries. That said, the technology in the Tesla batteries is great for cars, but I'm not convinced it is the best solution for daily cycling applications. The price is not quite right for stationary storage, either. Utilities can sometimes justify that cost because they are trying to solve expensive problems. BTW, does the coal used in Texas come from Texas, or from elsewhere? (That figures into this equation in my opinion.)

I'm very sorry to hear about your burst pipe! Where is the pipe that burst? Do you have a valve that will allow you to isolate that pipe while not turning off water to your entire house?

I believe that "Yes!" this could be done using today's technology. I will go further and say that Texas could meet their entire energy needs with photovoltaics for all energy production, battery storage for overnight needs and synthetic natural gas for seasonal load shifting, some transportation, and emergency electricity backup using existing natural gas generators. Here are the key factors, IMO: - Texas has massive solar and wind resources which are much more than sufficient than what is required to meet the need. - Texas is at a latitude where the solar resources are closely aligned with the load requirements. With some help from @chiguirre, I posted about this fact here yesterday. Because the electricity load is only slightly shifted in time versus the load, I recommend that the solar simply be oversized and that any overproduction should be used for charging batteries and or synthesizing natural gas for storage and later use. - Texas has a warmer climate where wintertime loads are minimized. (Those of you in the panhandle will have to correct me here if I am wrong! Is your climate more like, say, Missouri?) - Electric vehicles can be employed for both transportation and for overnight/emergency electricity storage. This will require electric vehicles to charge during the daytime rather than at nighttime. For reference, in Texas it takes about four 60-cell PV panels to power one typical electric vehicle (or three 72-cell PV panels). - About 40 60-cell PV panels can meet the electricity needs of a typical single-family home in Texas (or about 33 72-cell PV panels). - Additional storage batteries will be needed at homes for when the vehicle is not available to capture additional production. These batteries have about a 90% round-trip efficiency. - Electric buses, electric heavy trucking, and electric trains can round out the transportation infrastructure. - Electricity can be used to convert water and CO2 into methane. A fellow Texan, Elon Musk, is working on developing advanced, efficient systems to do this to enable a return trip from Mars. (In addition, Elon Musk is applying for permits to drill wells for methane!) This methane can be used in the existing storage, distribution, and utilization facilities to provide heat, electricity, and industrial feedstocks. This will allow for the existing fossil fuels to be used during the transition to synthetic fuels and will ensure a seemless movement to renewables. - I think the biggest challenge I can see with this idea may be farming. Farm equipment typically runs on diesel fuel. Does any of the farm machinery in Texas run on natural gas to take advantage of the abundance there? Even if it is not done today, it is certainly something that can be done using existing technology.

Who am I and why do I care about renewable energy in Texas? I might as well start with a disclaimer so that everyone knows where I am coming from. I am a conservative retired electrical engineer who lives in Northern VA. I am also a big fan of photovoltaic solar electricity production. I installed an off-grid photovoltaic system on our property over 21 years ago and an on-grid system 10 years ago. About 6 years ago I upgraded the old off-grid system to be on-grid. I recently purchased another 3.7 kW of solar panels and am in the process of adding them to our roof. We have a 9-year-old Nissan LEAF electric vehicle and several gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. We also have two gasoline vans and a diesel tractor. I frequently hear overly-pessimistic anti-renewable rhetoric from conservatives that I know and I also frequently hear overly optimistic pro-renewable rhetoric from liberals that I know. The same is true about their views on electric cars. The simple truth is that there are things that renewable energy does well and there are things renewable energy does not do well. In other words, I do not believe in one-size-fits-all for when it comes to energy I am particularly interested in Texas because I personally believe that it has the best chance of any state in the continental U.S. to convert EVERYTHING THAT USES ENERGY to solar and/or wind power. But that doesn't mean it should be done or even that it could be done. Hence this thread. Oh, BTW, I am not a big fan of wind power. Why talk about Texas? It's certainly topical! I saw a quote yesterday: "Not having energy in Texas is like starving to death in a grocery store." There is a lot of truth to that. It's the main reason public officials will have a lot to answer for regarding the ongoing debacle. With the exception of hydroelectric and geothermal resources (and perhaps uranium), Texas is blessed to have massive energy resources including oil, natural gas, wind, and solar. (Does Texas have much coal?) Texas also has a warm climate (usually!). So there are two questions: 1) Given all of the solar and wind resources available in Texas, is it possible for Texas to convert to 100%* solar and/or wind energy in the near future? If so, how would this be accomplished? and 2) Regardless of whether or not 1) above is true, does it make sense for Texas to make a goal to move toward 100%* solar and/or wind energy? Why or why not? * And to be completely clear here, I am NOT talking just about electricity. I am talking about electricity, heating, transportation, industrial...everything. I'll break the thread starter here so that others can join in. Please, let's keep the politics out of this and think about what makes the most sense for Texas and for Texans.

We have DS21, DD18, and DS16 at home now. I have to say that they have been more connected to friends and family since the Covid-19 lockdowns started. One thing that they have started since then is their Monday night game night. Every Monday at 7:00 PM our children (here and from around the country) get together with two other families from our church to play video games. They connect on Discord for voice discussions during their games. They play until about 10:00 PM. One of the other families that joins is a family whose mother has had chronic illness for many years and they have not gotten out much. We kept DD18 home from college while her twin went back to school. She's not thrilled about it, but she stays connected with her boyfriend and other friends constantly online. (Point being: it's not a boy/girl thing.) I suppose if your daughter is more reserved it might be harder for her to cope with the additional hurdle of online interaction. I wonder if you could try to get some tips from her brother to pass on to her about how to manage online friendships.

Most? I don't see it. On this forum, I have seen two or three posts which made the claim that all of the wind turbines had frozen. I saw no mention here about "unreliable socialist green energy". I started an entire separate thread to discuss why Texas cannot keep the lights on. I think there was one post there which indicated that all of the wind generators had frozen. You have claimed here that wind turbines are not to blame because they have them in Antarctica. IMO, your claim is greenwashing and the other claim is anti-green. To me, both are a bit hyperbolic. All that said, wind energy and solar energy *are* partially to blame for this outage since they are not dispatchable energy sources. You cannot request electricity from solar panels at night or when they are covered with snow and you cannot request electricity from wind turbines when the wind is not blowing or when they have frozen due to the thick lubricant used to combat the Texas heat freezes up. Unfortunately, in Texas the other forms of electricity generation which are supposed to be dispatchable *also* were not because they were not properly winterized. Anyone who wants to see my views on renewable energy in Texas and elsewhere can read them in the other thread.

Do you imagine that wind turbines designed for scientific installations in Antarctica are the same as the giant wind turbines designed for large-scale power production in western Texas? I can assure you they are extremely different. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between "All of the wind turbines in Texas have frozen" and "None of the wind turbines have frozen". But you are certainly correct that blaming this disaster solely on wind generation is clearly wrong. Many, many other generators have failed due to improper winterizing and solar production has eliminated by a blanket of snow.

First rule of management: Everything is your fault!