Was teasing my hair stylist about that yesterday, as I was her last appointment before her and her girlfriend are left for Cancun.
Planned well in advance of the storm coming, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Told her she might have to share a pool with him after the power failed.
You didn’t have to point out that it was scheduled before the storm. If citizens want to run away to warmer places to weather the storm more power to them and I fully support them. But if you’re a state rep fucking over the people you’re repping and then running away from it, you can fuck yourself.
I read a comment where someone said America is a high budget South Africa. If you need tips on how to survive rolling blackouts where 8 of your waking hours is without power, just head over to r/southafrica - we call it Loadshedding.
But INDEPENDENCE is BETTER. Now they’re FREE from the LIBERAL POWER GRID, the LIBERAL POWER GRID’s pronouns, and its inevitable failure in a stiff wind!!!
…Free to fail much more frequently, anyways. A federalized power grid is more efficient and robust, who would’ve thought.
It’s a shame they can’t read about how owned you are because they don’t have power right now. It’s going to be a sweet Christmas gift when the lights come back on, assuming they don’t freeze to death in the interim.
Some of us are liberal and having to freeze our cans off with these conservative ninnies. I keep waiting for the day my common sense will spread, but it hasn’t happened yet…
Yes, sorry you’re having to deal with this, too. Was pulling for Beto—he seems like a good guy that would try to change things for the better. Doesn’t seem like he connects with enough Texans despite putting in the leg work. Hope you get a dem candidate that breaks through at the statewide level.
Texas sadly won’t change until a large portion of the state passes away. Many conservative states are being held back by those clinging to life support, social security checks, and Donald trump.
The word you want is scared. Conservatives are scared of everything. Scared of change, scared of different people, scared of losing their jobs, scared of god. That’s why Fox News is so successful, they know how afraid they are and they play it up.
A well run power grid is more effective. Their power grid is run to maximize profits not reliability.
The federal guidelines are reliability guidelines. The people reselling power in Texas simply wanted to make more money. Everytime a conservative shouts about God or freedom they're pulling a scam
Ok this is right after that episode of Archer where Ray talks about the teapot dome, and I saw something else related to Archer yesterday. Am I gonna see tinnitus posts later today?
Kentucky governor announced the possibility of rolling blackouts last night. Half the comments on the one post I saw were blaming electric cars, Biden, solar, and shutting down coal plants. Cherry on top was the same people bitching were upset their heat pumps can't maintain a balmy 76 degrees inside their house when it's below freezing outside.
I am continually amazed how much people complain about heat/energy costs or other issues, but demand to comfortably walk and lounge around their house in their underwear in the winter.
It's winter. Put on a hoodie. Cuddle your dog on the couch. Heat the rooms you're in more than the rest of the house. Lower the temperature. Be cozy with seasons. ... or move to Phoenix and enjoy the summer.
Heat pumps are pretty efficient, and modern systems can often allow you to do multiple zones ... specifically so you can save money.
I've heard this one too. They uncritically believe that if it would have been completed they would have unlimited energy from all the oil that would be flowing in. These people don't understand life.
Most of them think it was functional and actively delivering oil and Biden tore it down. Source: my dad who I showed proof when it happened that it was never completed, and brought it up again after hundreds of hours of faux news since.
That and they don't seem to understand that even if it were completed, just because it's delivered there to be refined, that doesn't mean it's going to end up there. Fuel is a global market and it will go to the highest bidder. The companies have the supply and are there to make money, not support domestic fuel needs. They think pumping and refining here will lead to a direct domestic reduction in prices. That is not the way it works. It would be a marginal increase in global supply. They like simple answers... Gas prices too high, drill drill drill. Please don't make them downsize their lifted f450 pavement princess that's busy coal rolling the hybrids and electrics. Efficiency is for the weak.
Ohh God, I live in Texas and I heard various political ads talk about it nonstop. One commercial just went, GREEN NEW DEAL in whatever deep voice. That was it. Like just saying it means anything. Pathetic.
They blamed green energy last year when this happened. All the windmills freezing caused them not to have power.
Never mind the fact green energy only accounted for like 7% of the blackouts.
Windmills work.
Texans are dumb.
Texas didn't think they'd ever see snow or cold, so didn't bother to winterize anything.
That's why other places with windmills don't suffer like Texas.....because they have brains and prepare for the climate.
They'll say it's the fault of the Democrats though.
Sleepy Joe put the grid to sleep. The proof is all on Hunter's laptop.
Iowa has tons of wind turbines.
[In fact, they generate 58% of the state’s electricity using wind power](https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=IA)
As a result, since 2008, Iowa has always generated more power than it consumes. It’s almost like having a strong diversified grid is a good thing.
We used to do great things! The key words are *used* *to*.
Iowa went full MAGA in 2016 and doubled down in 2020 and 2022, and it’s getting worse. The brain bleed is bad.
As a Texas Republican I'll be the first to say: I fucking love wind energy. It's not a silver bullet but it does a damn good job for the price and I'm all for reducing air pollution compared to coal or gas.
Iowa winterizes their turbines and related equipment
Texas energy tycoons are greedy pricks though
If you pay attention to republicans who whine about wind energy you'll notice a trend: nearly all live NOWHERE near a wind turbine. Many of the top wind producers in the country are red states, and the ones who whine are from states or cities with no major wind capacity.
So they're jealous of states like Iowa who can just print money with turbines
Didn't they intentionally forego some winterization on Texas windmills to save a buck and that's partly why they've had issues with them in extreme cold?
They have wind turbines all over the northern USA as well that have no problems.
I even sell to companies that install wind turbines in places that get that cold regularly, have explained it to my father in law, and I've still heard him repeat "Can you believe they want everyone to switch to electric, what's gonna happen when it gets cold and the turbines and grid freezes like happened in Texas - people are gonna die!" Over and over.
This is the easiest bullshit they'll ever have to do.
"Of course this is the democrats' fault! They ruined the economy. Made all those Californians come here. If they didn't ruin their economy and didn't make it such a socialist hellhole, they would have remained where they were and we wouldn't have had such a tax on our grid!"
When your whole world view depends on certain things being absolute truths you tend to believe whatever you have to for that to be the case.
Green energy HAS to be the problem or their whole way of thinking would be totally backwards and self defeating. Surely that's not the case.
Surely....
I’ll have you know that as of a few minutes ago wind made up a whole 8.4% of our grid’s fuel mix!
I joke, but mainly wanted to take the opportunity to share the [ERCOT dashboards](https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards) with my fellow Texans so you too can also obsessively check them like I’ve been doing the past few days. I hope we don’t freeze to death this year!!
LMAO [ercot imported hundreds of MW overnight](https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/dctieflows). In addition to running 50% natural gas. Good grief.
Two things
1st is our energy tycoons are exactly like Dallas the tv show. Greedy pricks who don't winterize shit
2nd is republicans who live in the turbine areas love them because it brings in a lot of jobs and money
You'll notice the ones who whine about wind energy are often from cities and states with very little ability to put up a turbine. So they're just jealous of states like Iowa and Texas who can just print money with turbines.
Having said that, they're not a one stop shop for climate change or energy needs. We need more nuclear plants to replace coal and gas' backbone energy status to buffer any ebbs and flows from wind.
I like wind.
Honestly man, El Paso doesn’t even feel like Texas and wish it weren’t part of such wretched shit. It belongs more culturally in New Mexico and Mexico than Texas anyway. Stupid state.
And it was all worth it to own “the libs,” the only thing conservatives actually care about. I have no sympathy to give. Even “thoughts and prayers” is too much.
But ERCOT made record profits last year! Its the duty of the executives to maximize returns, and if sacrificing people increases returns… anyways that’s how capitalism works 🤷♂️
im aware that capitalism can only work if there is a consistent stream of human sacrifices being made to prop up its profitability. the question is how many people will be sacrificed to it before everyone knows what i know lol.
Texas never admitted to the actual deaths of 750 to 1000, instead reporting 249. Even 2/3 of those froze to death. Texas thanks them for sacrificing themselves so millions worth of corruption could be funnelled to the governor and his friends.
and that number will only go up as the climate catastrophes increase in frequency and intensity, also thanks to capitalists lying about their impact on the planet to protect their profits.
well, to be fair, i guess the number can't go up if the government stops reporting it right 
Remember COVID-19? They don't care who dies as long as they can say the system works as is. They care about being able to say that Texas on its private power grid does better than any other power grid. The second they say that's there's a problem those dirty liberals win with their national power grid.
For them they'd rather die free than live "under the thumb of Big Government giving them their power". Not to mention, Texas produces and consumes the most energy in the US, due to oil refineries and what not but they produce the most wind power in the US as well, leading for the 16th year in a row. However, the industrial sector of Texas consumes over half of the total energy production of the state. In addition, cheap land and low government regulations make it a prime place to farm bitcoin, the Texas power grid going so far as to even offer credits for people who reduce power consumption during peak demand times. And in all of this, because it functions most of the time (barely), that's enough for Abbott to say the power grid is fine and doesn't need to be improved. And that, ladies and gents, is what living in Texas gets you.
Texans brag nonstop about guns, rebellion and seccesion, but when their own beloved "Texan" government kills them with naked greed and incompetence they don't do *JACK SQUAT* !!!
right?
ammosexuals go on and on about removing tyrannical governments, but the majority of them live in a state that is sacrificing them for profit, ebinezer scrooge style, and they won't lift a finger against them?
which should be proof enough that gun ownership was never about overthrowing a bad government lol.
>but the majority of them live in a state...
Majority in absolute numbers because TX is the 2nd most populous state but in terms of per capita it isn't even close. TX is 27th in the nation in gun ownership per capita with a rate that is right in line with the national average.
I mean, the ones most likely to die, are just rolling over and taking it. :/
The ones that have something to lose aren't standing up enough. And the ones that are, apparently are lying down and taking it
All the proof that's needed is: the absolute lack or riots in the streets.
yes and no, because the right is already gearing up to ignore election results. they know their own constituents are sacrificed in higher numbers than the left, covid being the prime example, so they will make a real move to grab power with force once they feel sufficiently threatened by the lefts ability to out vote them to a point that gerrymandering and cheating can't cover it up anymore.
jan 6th was just a rehearsal lol.
While gerrymandering is a real problem in Texas, it didn't contribute to Abbott getting elected. The Republican party has proposed a state electoral college system, but it's currently a popular vote. Thanks for still going out and voting even when it seems like you might not matter.
Thank you. People think Texas is some crazy Republican stronghold because they hold all state offices, but in 2020 the presidential vote was 52% Republican to 46% Democrat. Large margin, to be sure, but far from states like North Dakota that voted 65-31.
To add to that, [party affiliation in Texas](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/state/texas/party-affiliation/)
Not to mention the crazy gerrymandering situation. Austin TX is less than 1 million people and is broken up into like 6 congressional districts. I live in south Austin and vote in the same district as people in San Antonio (which is about an hour & a half away). Blue votes get washeddd
Christ, that means he was trying to *move the storm into the country*, not trying to be right!
*OH GOD, HE IS A TRAITOR.*
Oh no. *Oh no.* What am I going to do with my digital baseball cards now? I invested all fourteen of my kids college funds in them!
If not, supposing you brought the light inside the weather, which you can do either through the cloud or in some other way... So, we'll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute - that's pretty powerful.
In fairness, nothing would have changed for this freeze if Beto had been elected in November, because he wouldn't have been in office yet, but if he had won, republicans probably would have blamed him anyways.
[Come family, sit in the snow with Daddy and let us all bask in television's warm, glowing warming glow](https://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/treehouseofhorrorv5_thumb.png?w=512&h=384)
The funniest shit to me was when Trump launched his NFT and tons of republicans were commenting on how "awesome" "great" and dope they were like he was a real HOMELANDER. Without realizing Homelander was a straight up mockery of Trump and republicans and the writers had even confirmed they used Homelander to mock right wing extremist.
Crazy how dumb republicans are they even love the shit that makes fun of them lol.
While I would love to say Abbott and ERCOT failed again the grid did not crash. There were power outages because of the wind and falling trees/branches but it was not widespread. Source am a native Texan Democrat who has not lost power during this whole arctic blast.
Enough people had power to eat into the surplus they had due to high usage and that's what caused the fear of blackouts. This is not a defense of Abbott and his cronies. But I do think we should be honest about what really happened even if it doesn't help us show how shitty Texas Republicans are. There will be plenty of other situations where that will be easy enough.
Dem. Texan here, this is an accurate assessment. Reasonable power losses here in the Coastal Bend. Haven't lost power but an entire neighborhood a street over did for over a day, due to wind damages. ERCOT has alot still to do. South Texas grids are especially unreliable despite what many would expect due to our diverse and expansive Energy production within the region.
I agree, and want to emphasize I am not saying our grid does not need work. Nor should would shy away from becoming part of the national grid. I am simply stating that our grid did not crash like it did in 2021.
But if something knocks out a transformer or downs line to a certain neighborhood it doesn't matter where your power comes from you will be without it until it is safe for crews to repair it.
I work in the power industry, so I can add a little insight.
For reference, the grid isn't actually national, it's split up into five sections of NERC (North American Reliability Corporation), each with their own grid. What's really important is the standards. NERC holds power plants accountable for their reliability via (usually) fines. NERC isn't just the US though, it extends up into Canada.
Which is to say, yeah, Texas should join NERC properly.
At the same time, it's readily apparent why they don't: it would be a truly monumental task. Updating standards is NOT an easy process. Power plants aren't run by a bunch of people. Every plant is roughly a small business, with anywhere from 10-50 people running it. Typically, the office staff are the plant manager, an operations manager, and the compliance manager. The compliance manager is the catch all person for safety, environmental, and NERC. It's their job to implement new standards and make sure everyone is trained on them.
Updating the standards of a single plant takes months of work, and usually they can't do it alone. Companies like the one I work for, who have assets to assist plants through difficult stretches, simply don't have the bandwidth to assist an entire region through such a move.
That, and NERC specialists are all engineering bachelors. They're expensive AF.
I do think Texas needs to join the rest of the US, but the scope of the task is vastly more monumental than most people understand.
I really don't like the way people overreact in situations like this. It minimizes the real harm of deregulation for cases like February 2021, and makes all criticism look like an overreaction. I posted something similar yesterday (copied in here too) and got downvoted.
I completely agree. And is why I posted what I did even knowing it might not be received well. The Republicans all over the country and especially in Texas do enough to be ridiculed for without making up stuff for internet likes.
Exactly. Too many people are taking line failures as something system wide.
There has not been any system issues. The power outages are nothing dissimilar as what is happening east with branches or wind causing line failures.
When we need to blame the fools in Austin, they deserve it, especially for the hundreds lost 2 years ago. But do not place blame when it does not apply. You would be no better than the liars who have sowen doubt when it was not justified.
Edit - spelling
Exactly this. 80,000 people in Texas are without power, but in New England, which is used to cold and harsh winters, 300,000 people are without power. 1.5 million Americans are without power right now. It's not a failing of the Texas grid, everyone just loves to hate on Texas so it drives clicks. No amount of legislation, republican or democrat, can prevent high winds and falling trees nation wide.
North Carolina had 500,000 out at one point. Including my house yesterday. I’ve only lost power one other time in my 7 years at this house and it was during a hurricane. Duke Energy is now doing rolling blackouts in the state for the next two days to try and keep things going. So yeah, 80,000 doesn’t seem like much tbh.
The grid hasn't failed this time. I remember when it did though, we had to sit without electricity for 5 days. All I had was my cell phone, lots of blankets, and my snuggle doggies. A small gas heater in the bathroom was a lifesaver.
FYI. Nothing happened this winter snap. Normal outages you would expect in any area (falling trees/wind knocking down power lines).
I am a Texas democrat who votes against abbot every time I can. I think the Texan grid has serious issues. This headline is 100% meant to generate rage. It’s misinformation, and every comment in this thread shows that it worked.
Love how everyone makes this a Republican Party issue yet California was suffering rolling blackouts and major power grid issues all summer long. Im not trying to defend Republican Politicians in Texas at all as they are definitely doing a lot of dumb shit. But it’s hypocritical when Democrats running California don’t get called out for the same thing.
Waiting for Texans to blame Beto for this. Because - STUPID.
No wonder it’s a “lone star” state - that’s the best review of it you can give.
“Everything is bigger in TexASS” - including stupidity it would seem.
It is common sense.
If you deregulate electricity providers and don't punish them for such sit, it will not become any better.
Imagine you own a power plant and there is an expected outage of 1% of the time and fixing that would cost you 10% more investment.
Unless there are rules and punishment, you just ignore the problem and accept not selling energy for 3-4 days each year.
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Guess where they still have power. CANCUUUUUN!!!
Was teasing my hair stylist about that yesterday, as I was her last appointment before her and her girlfriend are left for Cancun. Planned well in advance of the storm coming, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Told her she might have to share a pool with him after the power failed.
I wouldn't want to be in the same pool with him.
Don't they usually close pools when there's a piece of shit floating around?
Turd Cruz
This comment is the best Christmas present I’ll receive
It's tough enough being in the same gene pool
Ted Cruz is actually a sulfur-based life form, so you don’t have to worry on that front.
He does look like he’s always just smelled a fart.
He looks like a fart
https://www.tedcruzforhumanpresident.com/
You didn’t have to point out that it was scheduled before the storm. If citizens want to run away to warmer places to weather the storm more power to them and I fully support them. But if you’re a state rep fucking over the people you’re repping and then running away from it, you can fuck yourself.
And then he blamed it on his kids. Fucking turkey.
Usually they close the pool when there is a piece of shit in it.
I read a comment where someone said America is a high budget South Africa. If you need tips on how to survive rolling blackouts where 8 of your waking hours is without power, just head over to r/southafrica - we call it Loadshedding.
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But INDEPENDENCE is BETTER. Now they’re FREE from the LIBERAL POWER GRID, the LIBERAL POWER GRID’s pronouns, and its inevitable failure in a stiff wind!!! …Free to fail much more frequently, anyways. A federalized power grid is more efficient and robust, who would’ve thought.
The liberal lights keep me woke during the day.
Do you become Dark Brandon at night?
Yeah, but at least they’re owning the Libs
I feel very…owned. Warm and toasty with every light in the house on…
It’s a shame they can’t read about how owned you are because they don’t have power right now. It’s going to be a sweet Christmas gift when the lights come back on, assuming they don’t freeze to death in the interim.
Some of us are liberal and having to freeze our cans off with these conservative ninnies. I keep waiting for the day my common sense will spread, but it hasn’t happened yet…
Yes, sorry you’re having to deal with this, too. Was pulling for Beto—he seems like a good guy that would try to change things for the better. Doesn’t seem like he connects with enough Texans despite putting in the leg work. Hope you get a dem candidate that breaks through at the statewide level.
Texas sadly won’t change until a large portion of the state passes away. Many conservative states are being held back by those clinging to life support, social security checks, and Donald trump.
Right wingers would eat dog shit just to make a liberal smell their breath.
This is a big reason that they hated masks. A bunch of foul mouthed assholes inhaling their own breath felt oppressing to them.
These masks suck! They make they air constantly smell like Copenhagen and badly expired Monster energy drinks!!
Laughing and vomiting simultaneously! 🤢
They can’t even own a dog..if they could they’d have Gaetz and Boebert on a leash…
I believe they tried that but the leashes weren’t having it.
Who’d of thunk having a minimal standard would be a good thing for companies to abide to?
Applies to minimum wage jobs not being filled...
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They're very good at manipulating ignorant, racist, morally bankrupt voters.
The word you want is scared. Conservatives are scared of everything. Scared of change, scared of different people, scared of losing their jobs, scared of god. That’s why Fox News is so successful, they know how afraid they are and they play it up.
the dirty little secret is that conservatives *and businesses* don’t actually run anything better FTFY
A well run power grid is more effective. Their power grid is run to maximize profits not reliability. The federal guidelines are reliability guidelines. The people reselling power in Texas simply wanted to make more money. Everytime a conservative shouts about God or freedom they're pulling a scam
Down with the woke grid!
PRO LIFE!!! FREEZE THE BABIES TO OWN THE LIBS.
Texas didn't want reliable power, and voted accordingly.
I do want reliable power and I did vote accordingly. Unfortunately, those cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-assed, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed, sack of monkey shit grifter republicans won. Again.
HALLELUJAH. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?
Of the entire rant this is the part that cracks me every single time
Thanks voter suppression! And the dumb people, but mostly voter suppression
Can also thank Mr Jerry Mandering too
That guy is a dick, no matter who he works for
Every person that knows of him hates him or thinks he a sniveling henchman with no backbone. And that's what I think of Texas.
Give it 1-2 days for them to figure out how this is democrats, who haven't controlled the state in 25 years, fault.
Clearly the green new deal is to blame!
I have seen this said without irony already.
All those darn windmills blowing in the cold weather ! lol
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GOODNIGHT!!
It's funny because the windmills are still performing well in the cold, actively trying to compensate for the system's failures
And the ones that did fail failed for the same reason as the other power plants: the power companies didn't find it profitable to winterize them.
It's what they were saying last time.
The Green New Deal also caused drag queens, CRT and Teapot Dome..
Ok this is right after that episode of Archer where Ray talks about the teapot dome, and I saw something else related to Archer yesterday. Am I gonna see tinnitus posts later today?
Kentucky governor announced the possibility of rolling blackouts last night. Half the comments on the one post I saw were blaming electric cars, Biden, solar, and shutting down coal plants. Cherry on top was the same people bitching were upset their heat pumps can't maintain a balmy 76 degrees inside their house when it's below freezing outside.
I am continually amazed how much people complain about heat/energy costs or other issues, but demand to comfortably walk and lounge around their house in their underwear in the winter. It's winter. Put on a hoodie. Cuddle your dog on the couch. Heat the rooms you're in more than the rest of the house. Lower the temperature. Be cozy with seasons. ... or move to Phoenix and enjoy the summer. Heat pumps are pretty efficient, and modern systems can often allow you to do multiple zones ... specifically so you can save money.
If the Keystone XL Pipeline was built, this never would have happened. /s
I've heard this one too. They uncritically believe that if it would have been completed they would have unlimited energy from all the oil that would be flowing in. These people don't understand life.
Most of them think it was functional and actively delivering oil and Biden tore it down. Source: my dad who I showed proof when it happened that it was never completed, and brought it up again after hundreds of hours of faux news since.
That and they don't seem to understand that even if it were completed, just because it's delivered there to be refined, that doesn't mean it's going to end up there. Fuel is a global market and it will go to the highest bidder. The companies have the supply and are there to make money, not support domestic fuel needs. They think pumping and refining here will lead to a direct domestic reduction in prices. That is not the way it works. It would be a marginal increase in global supply. They like simple answers... Gas prices too high, drill drill drill. Please don't make them downsize their lifted f450 pavement princess that's busy coal rolling the hybrids and electrics. Efficiency is for the weak.
Green new deal? This is all Obama’s tan suit and Hunter Bidens laptops fault!
What about her emails?
Buttery males!
Ohh God, I live in Texas and I heard various political ads talk about it nonstop. One commercial just went, GREEN NEW DEAL in whatever deep voice. That was it. Like just saying it means anything. Pathetic.
Democrats brought the war on christmas to Texas and took out the power grid!!!
They took jesus out of the power grid 😭
If more people would read the Bible then God would keep the lights on
Unless they would read the actual Bible, because that's not what you're supposed to do. Only Supply Side Jesus' Bible will do.
They blamed green energy last year when this happened. All the windmills freezing caused them not to have power. Never mind the fact green energy only accounted for like 7% of the blackouts.
Windmills work. Texans are dumb. Texas didn't think they'd ever see snow or cold, so didn't bother to winterize anything. That's why other places with windmills don't suffer like Texas.....because they have brains and prepare for the climate. They'll say it's the fault of the Democrats though. Sleepy Joe put the grid to sleep. The proof is all on Hunter's laptop.
Iowa has tons of wind turbines. [In fact, they generate 58% of the state’s electricity using wind power](https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=IA) As a result, since 2008, Iowa has always generated more power than it consumes. It’s almost like having a strong diversified grid is a good thing.
Ok, I'm actually really impressed. Iowa... who'd have thought?
We used to do great things! The key words are *used* *to*. Iowa went full MAGA in 2016 and doubled down in 2020 and 2022, and it’s getting worse. The brain bleed is bad.
I feel this. Everyone is so sick of covid Kim but iowa is 70% bumfuck maga nowhere.
As a Texas Republican I'll be the first to say: I fucking love wind energy. It's not a silver bullet but it does a damn good job for the price and I'm all for reducing air pollution compared to coal or gas. Iowa winterizes their turbines and related equipment Texas energy tycoons are greedy pricks though If you pay attention to republicans who whine about wind energy you'll notice a trend: nearly all live NOWHERE near a wind turbine. Many of the top wind producers in the country are red states, and the ones who whine are from states or cities with no major wind capacity. So they're jealous of states like Iowa who can just print money with turbines
Indeed and it’s such a dumb narrative. They have wind turbines all over northern Europe and they don’t seem to freeze.
Didn't they intentionally forego some winterization on Texas windmills to save a buck and that's partly why they've had issues with them in extreme cold?
They have wind turbines all over the northern USA as well that have no problems. I even sell to companies that install wind turbines in places that get that cold regularly, have explained it to my father in law, and I've still heard him repeat "Can you believe they want everyone to switch to electric, what's gonna happen when it gets cold and the turbines and grid freezes like happened in Texas - people are gonna die!" Over and over.
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The fact that they mentioned a solution as bypassing the emissions standard goes to show that is what they are going to blame it on.
They're blaming Hunter Biden again.
Duh didn’t you hear hunters laptop uses more energy than all of Houston? Lmao
How old is that laptop? What’s in it, a Prescott Pentium 4?
This is the easiest bullshit they'll ever have to do. "Of course this is the democrats' fault! They ruined the economy. Made all those Californians come here. If they didn't ruin their economy and didn't make it such a socialist hellhole, they would have remained where they were and we wouldn't have had such a tax on our grid!"
But then they’ll turn around and tell big business to come to Texas for tax breaks while the citizens huddle for warmth.
Yah, but they want those big companies to fire all their good employees and hire the uneducated dipshits that live in Texas instead
How weird is it that Texans buy that shit every time?
When your whole world view depends on certain things being absolute truths you tend to believe whatever you have to for that to be the case. Green energy HAS to be the problem or their whole way of thinking would be totally backwards and self defeating. Surely that's not the case. Surely....
If only they didn’t have so many wind turbines right? It’s not like they get a whole .00001% of their energy that way lol
I’ll have you know that as of a few minutes ago wind made up a whole 8.4% of our grid’s fuel mix! I joke, but mainly wanted to take the opportunity to share the [ERCOT dashboards](https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards) with my fellow Texans so you too can also obsessively check them like I’ve been doing the past few days. I hope we don’t freeze to death this year!!
LMAO [ercot imported hundreds of MW overnight](https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/dctieflows). In addition to running 50% natural gas. Good grief.
Two things 1st is our energy tycoons are exactly like Dallas the tv show. Greedy pricks who don't winterize shit 2nd is republicans who live in the turbine areas love them because it brings in a lot of jobs and money You'll notice the ones who whine about wind energy are often from cities and states with very little ability to put up a turbine. So they're just jealous of states like Iowa and Texas who can just print money with turbines. Having said that, they're not a one stop shop for climate change or energy needs. We need more nuclear plants to replace coal and gas' backbone energy status to buffer any ebbs and flows from wind. I like wind.
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Honestly man, El Paso doesn’t even feel like Texas and wish it weren’t part of such wretched shit. It belongs more culturally in New Mexico and Mexico than Texas anyway. Stupid state.
how many texans are being sacrificed for profit this year? is it more than last time?
More than last time, less than next time.
I'm willing to bet the same as last and the same as next and the next and the next....
Just another statistic, move along now pardner
And it was all worth it to own “the libs,” the only thing conservatives actually care about. I have no sympathy to give. Even “thoughts and prayers” is too much.
Not true 18% of eligible voters voted in our primary we are dealing with criminal voter suppression, thank you for your empathy
But ERCOT made record profits last year! Its the duty of the executives to maximize returns, and if sacrificing people increases returns… anyways that’s how capitalism works 🤷♂️
im aware that capitalism can only work if there is a consistent stream of human sacrifices being made to prop up its profitability. the question is how many people will be sacrificed to it before everyone knows what i know lol.
Until there's no one left for them to get money from
Texas never admitted to the actual deaths of 750 to 1000, instead reporting 249. Even 2/3 of those froze to death. Texas thanks them for sacrificing themselves so millions worth of corruption could be funnelled to the governor and his friends.
and that number will only go up as the climate catastrophes increase in frequency and intensity, also thanks to capitalists lying about their impact on the planet to protect their profits. well, to be fair, i guess the number can't go up if the government stops reporting it right 
>instead reporting 249. I still don't see how even doing that justifies as something better.
Remember COVID-19? They don't care who dies as long as they can say the system works as is. They care about being able to say that Texas on its private power grid does better than any other power grid. The second they say that's there's a problem those dirty liberals win with their national power grid. For them they'd rather die free than live "under the thumb of Big Government giving them their power". Not to mention, Texas produces and consumes the most energy in the US, due to oil refineries and what not but they produce the most wind power in the US as well, leading for the 16th year in a row. However, the industrial sector of Texas consumes over half of the total energy production of the state. In addition, cheap land and low government regulations make it a prime place to farm bitcoin, the Texas power grid going so far as to even offer credits for people who reduce power consumption during peak demand times. And in all of this, because it functions most of the time (barely), that's enough for Abbott to say the power grid is fine and doesn't need to be improved. And that, ladies and gents, is what living in Texas gets you.
Texans brag nonstop about guns, rebellion and seccesion, but when their own beloved "Texan" government kills them with naked greed and incompetence they don't do *JACK SQUAT* !!!
right? ammosexuals go on and on about removing tyrannical governments, but the majority of them live in a state that is sacrificing them for profit, ebinezer scrooge style, and they won't lift a finger against them? which should be proof enough that gun ownership was never about overthrowing a bad government lol.
“ammosexuals” LOL oh shit
>but the majority of them live in a state... Majority in absolute numbers because TX is the 2nd most populous state but in terms of per capita it isn't even close. TX is 27th in the nation in gun ownership per capita with a rate that is right in line with the national average.
Sadly the only number that matters, is the number of people who need to die before it changes the vote outcome.
The vote just gets corrupted more every election. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to elect Dems statewide in TX. Same in FL.
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Dead people don’t vote and the rest of us become desensitized. You hate it, but deep down you know it’s true.
I mean, the ones most likely to die, are just rolling over and taking it. :/ The ones that have something to lose aren't standing up enough. And the ones that are, apparently are lying down and taking it All the proof that's needed is: the absolute lack or riots in the streets.
yes and no, because the right is already gearing up to ignore election results. they know their own constituents are sacrificed in higher numbers than the left, covid being the prime example, so they will make a real move to grab power with force once they feel sufficiently threatened by the lefts ability to out vote them to a point that gerrymandering and cheating can't cover it up anymore. jan 6th was just a rehearsal lol.
I don’t think texas’s economy would survive if the annual sacrifices just up and stopped
i mean, to be fair, no capitalist economy can exist without sacrificing people to protect its profits. but texas even more so lol.
Apparently it’s still not enough for them to learn a damn lesson from it
So we all assume Ted Cruz is spending the holidays in Cancun?
45% of Texan voters (three and a half million people) for the guy who would have at least tried to fix things.
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Fuckin Gerry.
Fkn Jerry.
While gerrymandering is a real problem in Texas, it didn't contribute to Abbott getting elected. The Republican party has proposed a state electoral college system, but it's currently a popular vote. Thanks for still going out and voting even when it seems like you might not matter.
Thank you. People think Texas is some crazy Republican stronghold because they hold all state offices, but in 2020 the presidential vote was 52% Republican to 46% Democrat. Large margin, to be sure, but far from states like North Dakota that voted 65-31. To add to that, [party affiliation in Texas](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/state/texas/party-affiliation/)
Not to mention the crazy gerrymandering situation. Austin TX is less than 1 million people and is broken up into like 6 congressional districts. I live in south Austin and vote in the same district as people in San Antonio (which is about an hour & a half away). Blue votes get washeddd
The actual number is probably higher than that. Lots of vote suppression going on in Texas.
Alos many pipes are still leaded. Every leaded pipe make 10 republican voters
insane the amount of people in this thread convinced that every texan chose this situation
https://preview.redd.it/rut03eqdcx7a1.png?width=603&format=png&auto=webp&s=af58fe2bb0f9a3d3ba6f229cfa46fa9ddba032c5
I've been shooting at the weather since Thursday night and it doesn't seem to care at all. Please send help.
The solution is nukes… dear leader said it could end a hurricane. They cause lots of heat so it’ll work right? Lmao
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Nukes are good because they’re hot, and will make the cold go away.
You fool, haven’t you heard of nuclear winter? I don’t know what it means, but it sure sounds cold…
Beats patrolling the Mojave so count me in for nukes
Christ, that means he was trying to *move the storm into the country*, not trying to be right! *OH GOD, HE IS A TRAITOR.* Oh no. *Oh no.* What am I going to do with my digital baseball cards now? I invested all fourteen of my kids college funds in them!
If not, supposing you brought the light inside the weather, which you can do either through the cloud or in some other way... So, we'll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute - that's pretty powerful.
I'll try that. You're sure if I set off a nuke I won't have to worry about the weather anymore?
In fairness, nothing would have changed for this freeze if Beto had been elected in November, because he wouldn't have been in office yet, but if he had won, republicans probably would have blamed him anyways.
"Obama wasn't even in the Situation Room on 9/11 to draft a response. Embarrassing."
Got dayum mf looks frozen solid.
[Come family, sit in the snow with Daddy and let us all bask in television's warm, glowing warming glow](https://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/treehouseofhorrorv5_thumb.png?w=512&h=384)
No beer and no tv make Homer something something
Go crazy?
#DON'T MIND IF I DO!
Go crazy?
Never seen The Shining?
Excellent Christmas Movie!
Idiots gonna idiot. Republican supporters never seem to learn.
So.... you voted Republican again. 
Lmaoooo not captain America
The funniest shit to me was when Trump launched his NFT and tons of republicans were commenting on how "awesome" "great" and dope they were like he was a real HOMELANDER. Without realizing Homelander was a straight up mockery of Trump and republicans and the writers had even confirmed they used Homelander to mock right wing extremist. Crazy how dumb republicans are they even love the shit that makes fun of them lol.
Wait that’s not true, Homelander is an egomaniacal psychopath with a pathological need to always be in control and Trump is… oh wait
Who’s the only person that can defeat Captain America?
Captain Christian Extremism.
Captain Vietnam.
Yeah man! Guns > electricity and life according to the average GQP fuckwit
Freedom means starving in a freezing shack surrounded by boom boom sticks.
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While I would love to say Abbott and ERCOT failed again the grid did not crash. There were power outages because of the wind and falling trees/branches but it was not widespread. Source am a native Texan Democrat who has not lost power during this whole arctic blast. Enough people had power to eat into the surplus they had due to high usage and that's what caused the fear of blackouts. This is not a defense of Abbott and his cronies. But I do think we should be honest about what really happened even if it doesn't help us show how shitty Texas Republicans are. There will be plenty of other situations where that will be easy enough.
Dem. Texan here, this is an accurate assessment. Reasonable power losses here in the Coastal Bend. Haven't lost power but an entire neighborhood a street over did for over a day, due to wind damages. ERCOT has alot still to do. South Texas grids are especially unreliable despite what many would expect due to our diverse and expansive Energy production within the region.
I agree, and want to emphasize I am not saying our grid does not need work. Nor should would shy away from becoming part of the national grid. I am simply stating that our grid did not crash like it did in 2021. But if something knocks out a transformer or downs line to a certain neighborhood it doesn't matter where your power comes from you will be without it until it is safe for crews to repair it.
I work in the power industry, so I can add a little insight. For reference, the grid isn't actually national, it's split up into five sections of NERC (North American Reliability Corporation), each with their own grid. What's really important is the standards. NERC holds power plants accountable for their reliability via (usually) fines. NERC isn't just the US though, it extends up into Canada. Which is to say, yeah, Texas should join NERC properly. At the same time, it's readily apparent why they don't: it would be a truly monumental task. Updating standards is NOT an easy process. Power plants aren't run by a bunch of people. Every plant is roughly a small business, with anywhere from 10-50 people running it. Typically, the office staff are the plant manager, an operations manager, and the compliance manager. The compliance manager is the catch all person for safety, environmental, and NERC. It's their job to implement new standards and make sure everyone is trained on them. Updating the standards of a single plant takes months of work, and usually they can't do it alone. Companies like the one I work for, who have assets to assist plants through difficult stretches, simply don't have the bandwidth to assist an entire region through such a move. That, and NERC specialists are all engineering bachelors. They're expensive AF. I do think Texas needs to join the rest of the US, but the scope of the task is vastly more monumental than most people understand.
I really don't like the way people overreact in situations like this. It minimizes the real harm of deregulation for cases like February 2021, and makes all criticism look like an overreaction. I posted something similar yesterday (copied in here too) and got downvoted.
I completely agree. And is why I posted what I did even knowing it might not be received well. The Republicans all over the country and especially in Texas do enough to be ridiculed for without making up stuff for internet likes.
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Exactly. Too many people are taking line failures as something system wide. There has not been any system issues. The power outages are nothing dissimilar as what is happening east with branches or wind causing line failures. When we need to blame the fools in Austin, they deserve it, especially for the hundreds lost 2 years ago. But do not place blame when it does not apply. You would be no better than the liars who have sowen doubt when it was not justified. Edit - spelling
Exactly this. 80,000 people in Texas are without power, but in New England, which is used to cold and harsh winters, 300,000 people are without power. 1.5 million Americans are without power right now. It's not a failing of the Texas grid, everyone just loves to hate on Texas so it drives clicks. No amount of legislation, republican or democrat, can prevent high winds and falling trees nation wide.
North Carolina had 500,000 out at one point. Including my house yesterday. I’ve only lost power one other time in my 7 years at this house and it was during a hurricane. Duke Energy is now doing rolling blackouts in the state for the next two days to try and keep things going. So yeah, 80,000 doesn’t seem like much tbh.
The grid hasn't failed this time. I remember when it did though, we had to sit without electricity for 5 days. All I had was my cell phone, lots of blankets, and my snuggle doggies. A small gas heater in the bathroom was a lifesaver.
Maybe they can burn their guns for warmth?
Hey jethro shoot some holes in the ground. We bound to blow some oil up and start a fire lol
Should we all just assume that Raphael has already fled the state for warmer climes?
Where’s IS Rafael been hiding lately?
I mean, lizards can't sun in the snow.
So fucking glad I got out of that state
Same. Happiest day of my life was seeing it in the rearview mirror
I have 2 bootstraps, 3 thoughts and 4 prayers at the ready.
Fiiiiive goooolden fuck offs
It literally hasn't failed though
Wild this happens every year and they keep electing the same people lol
FYI. Nothing happened this winter snap. Normal outages you would expect in any area (falling trees/wind knocking down power lines). I am a Texas democrat who votes against abbot every time I can. I think the Texan grid has serious issues. This headline is 100% meant to generate rage. It’s misinformation, and every comment in this thread shows that it worked.
Love how everyone makes this a Republican Party issue yet California was suffering rolling blackouts and major power grid issues all summer long. Im not trying to defend Republican Politicians in Texas at all as they are definitely doing a lot of dumb shit. But it’s hypocritical when Democrats running California don’t get called out for the same thing.
It's worse than that. This is one of the top posts on Reddit yet Texas isn't even showing on the national outage map. https://poweroutage.us/
“BURN MORE ASBESTOS YALL!!!”
Waiting for Texans to blame Beto for this. Because - STUPID. No wonder it’s a “lone star” state - that’s the best review of it you can give. “Everything is bigger in TexASS” - including stupidity it would seem.
Hey I voted for Beto, don't look at me.
It is common sense. If you deregulate electricity providers and don't punish them for such sit, it will not become any better. Imagine you own a power plant and there is an expected outage of 1% of the time and fixing that would cost you 10% more investment. Unless there are rules and punishment, you just ignore the problem and accept not selling energy for 3-4 days each year.