BRKG Rolling power outages underway in TX...

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Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
Texas
Customers Tracked: 12,464,052
State Outages: 180,660
Last Updated: 2/19/2021, 12:26:59 PM

Texas
Customers Tracked: 12,441,990
State Outages: 251,465
Last Updated: 2/18/2021, 10:06:47 PM

In the last 14.3 hours, outages have dropped to 180,660 without power. A reduction of 71,000. Customers Tracked up by 22,000.

More people have power.

Are rolling blackouts still happening?

Texican....

[/QUOTE]
 
SusieSunshine

SusieSunshine

Veteran Member
www.upi.com

President Joe Biden orders FEMA to deliver generators, other supplies to Texas - UPI.com

President Joe Biden ordered FEMA to deliver generators to power critical sites such as hospitals and water facilities in Texas after a winter storm caused blackouts throughout the state.
www.upi.com www.upi.com
Biden orders FEMA to deliver generators, other supplies to Texas

Feb. 18 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the federal government to provide generators and other assistance to Texas amid power outages brought on by extreme cold.
Homeland security adviser and deputy national security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said during a press briefing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent 60 generators to support critical sites such as hospitals and water facilities.

FEMA also provided 729,000 liters of water, more than 10,000 wool blankets, 50,000 cotton blankets and 225,000 meals, as well as attempting to get more fuel oil and diesel in to fuel the facilities. The blackouts and freezing temperatures have also disrupted the food supply chain in Texas, creating a food shortage.
"Jill and I are keeping Texas, Oklahoma and other impacted states in our prayers. I've declared states of emergency, authorized FEMA to provide generators and other supplies and am ready to fulfill additional requests," Biden wrote on Twitter. "Please heed the instructions of local officials and stay safe."

Millions in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi were without electricity by early Thursday, and residents in 100 Texas counties were under boil water advisories after blackouts shut down treatment facilities.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden remained in close contact with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of other states affected by the winter storm and was receiving regular briefings from national security officials.
"The president has kept abreast of the developments in Texas and the surrounding states and receives updates every day but more than once a day," she said. "It is certainly a focus."

Psaki added that Biden has directed his team to "make rapid decisions and be responsive to the needs of the states as they come up."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement on Thursday describing Biden's emergency declaration as a "vital, life-saving step" as Congress works to pass his American Rescue Plan, which includes $50 billion in funding for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund.
"All Americans are watching the situation in Texas and throughout the heartlands with great sadness. We must come to the aid of those suffering without power and water and we grieve with the families who have lost loved ones to this disaster," she said.
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
Had an in the wall dead end hot water pipe burst. Discovered this when the hot water heater was no longer heating water and noticed water tracks down the slab. Turned off the cold water to the water heater. Got repair supplies yesterday and repaired.

Hot water again. Showers for everyone and washing and drying clothes.

Hopefully, the utility companies will soon have the utility systems repaired and restore utility service to all that are without utilities in Texas.

May God help everyone that is hurting and bring peace to the family and friends of those that have perished.

Texican....
 
TxGal

TxGal

Day by day
Hearing from family and friends as things begin to thaw out. One family member has ice/snow damming on roof...in South Texas. Now showing a few tell-tale wet spots on ceiling. Waiting to hear back from insurance co.

Further south - FoF report of house with 10 burst pipes, many in upper level of home. Not good.

Also FoF - About half a dozen people reporting the dreaded slab leaks in their homes. That one really scares me!

And the thaw is just beginning.
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Heating suggestions:

I'll offer two different, (reasonably) safe heating solutions that we use here at the Doc1 Homestead:

1.) Two mantle Coleman propane lanterns. A twin mantle propane lantern provides a tremendous amount of heat and is very safe for indoor use. Propane lanterns produce very, very little CO. We use these for supplemental heating when the temps get really low. They are designed to use the little one pound disposable cylinders, but those are very expensive for the small amount of propane they contain.

We bought adapter hoses which allow the lanterns to run off of standard, 5 gallon (20 lbs) propane tanks. OK, good so far, but how do you hold the lanterns up? I'm glad you asked. I use 5/16s steel rod - which can be bent by hand - and bend them into the shape of shepherd's hooks. Then I weld a pair of vice grips to the bottom of the fixture. This allows the shepherd's hook to be clamped to the carrying handle of the propane tank and the lantern to be hung from that. Works a treat and we've been using two of these rigs to provide supplemental interior heating during this recent spate of brutal cold.

Note that out of an abundance of caution, we don't leave these burning when we go to sleep. What we do - when the temps get down into the low 20s and teens - is sleep in shifts so that one of us is always on "fire watch".

2.) Petromax kerosene lanterns. These are pressurized, two mantle kerosene lanterns that burn at very high temperatures. They operate at such high temperatures that the combustion is nearly complete and they produce very little CO. We have a CO alarm and the Petromax lanterns very rarely cause them to go off. Nonetheless, it's advisable to have at least a small amount of ventilation.

The Petromaxes have a bit of a learning curve, so practice with them before the time of need.

(IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE) Do NOT use the standard Coleman "white gas" lanterns! They produce a lot of CO and will kill you in an enclosed room!

Best
Doc
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
TxGal said:
Hearing from family and friends as things begin to thaw out. One family member has ice/snow damming on roof...in South Texas. Now showing a few tell-tale wet spots on ceiling. Waiting to hear back from insurance co.

Further south - FoF report of house with 10 burst pipes, many in upper level of home. Not good.

Also FoF - About half a dozen people reporting the dreaded slab leaks in their homes. That one really scares me!

And the thaw is just beginning.
Click to expand...


As I posted previously, there are not enough plumbers in the whole USA to quickly repair all of water leaks Texas will soon be experiencing. This will cause even those water systems that are working to have very low - sometimes unacceptably low - water pressure. I expect water authorities to start turning water off to some affected neighborhoods until the leaks are remediated.

Everyone should begin collecting water in as many containers as they possibly can before all of the state's leaks overwhelm the water systems.

Best
Doc
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
_______________
Doc1 said:
As I posted previously, there are not enough plumbers in the whole USA to quickly repair all of water leaks Texas will soon be experiencing. This will cause even those water systems that are working to have very low - sometimes unacceptably low - water pressure. I expect water authorities to start turning water off to some affected neighborhoods until the leaks are remediated.

Everyone should begin collecting water in as many containers as they possibly can before all of the state's leaks overwhelm the water systems.

Best
Doc
Click to expand...

Awesome post with some great advice.
 
DryCreek

DryCreek

Veteran Member
Tex88 said:
Show me on this doll where the “green agenda” touched you. It wasn’t the green agenda and the dems or the feds who effed this up. It was power companies who decided it was too expensive to upgrade and maintain the grid. It was whoever made the idiotic decision to keep the Texas grid separate from the Federal grids so they don’t have to abide by federal regulations. It wasn’t “lol the windmills froze”, 68% of the outages were caused by insufficient winterizing of fossil burning systems.
Click to expand...
Bullshit.
Our grid is much more robust than the shared grids. I guess you are unaware of the "CRES" buildout over the past five years. Everything from the 500 KV, 345KV, and down to 138KV distribution systems have expanded. This was mandated to support wind power generation in West Texas.
The main issue was the rapid loss of 25% of our generation capacity due to wind turbine blade icing. Those heavily subsidized wind installations made it economically impossible to keep older thermal units in the fleet. Our company continues to retire fossil plants due to the fact that all of the wind power has to be accepted by the Grid Operator. This forces plants that are only efficient when baseloaded to be run at levels where they are inefficient, or idled. Those plants are still taxed, still require staffing, and need to be maintained. They become a revenue drain, so they are retired. Now we see how dependable wind power is. I guess you get what you pay for?
And no, 60% of thermal (fossil) was not lost. Besides, the generation side is not operated by ERCOT, they are commercial entities operating in a for-profit business model.
 
Lilbitsnana

Lilbitsnana

On TB every waking moment
SusieSunshine said:
WOW 60 Total Gennies! That sure will help.
Click to expand...

I suspect they are the huge semi trailer generators (I think there are bigger ones too)

Some of the gas stations and stores used them here in Alabama after the huge tornado outbreak in 2012?
The first ones I saw had been secured locally by each individual store/gas station; but since a lot of them were being used later in multiple towns, it is possible that FEMA had brought some in too.
 
thompson

thompson

Certa Bonum Certamen
The sun has been out most of the day and the temperature here in the neighborhood is right at 40º! Most of the snow is melted from the front and back yards, only portions shaded by the trees and bushes remain, and most of that is gone, too. It's still forecast to dip down to 21º tonight, though, but still much better than the extreme low of 4º several days ago.

Our friends who live in North Zulch (about a 25-30 minute drive NE of Bryan/College Station) are still without water this afternoon. The ones there who do have it are still under a boil order. :(



Saw the following article posted on the KBTX webpage:


www.kbtx.com

BTU, CSU respond to higher rate rumors

After extreme cold and days of blackouts utility customers are nervous their electric rate will go up
www.kbtx.com www.kbtx.com

BTU, CSU respond to higher rate rumors

After extreme cold and days of blackouts, utility customers are nervous their electric rate will go up

By Adrienne DeMoss
Published: Feb. 19, 2021 at 12:42 PM CST|Updated: 3 hours ago

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Texans across the state are finally starting to get power back after being in the dark for several days. Customers under Bryan Texas Utilities and College Station Utilities are seeing their power turned back on, too.

Now, many people are worried that their electric rate will go up.

According to BTU, that won’t happen. In a series of tweets sent out Friday morning, BTU assured its customers that utility rates will not spike. The utility company is owned by the City of Bryan and the rates are set by city rate ordinances. BTU’s current rate ordinance can be found here.

When signing up for an electric service you can usually choose from several plans; fixed, variable or indexed rate. Since BTU is a municipal utility they are on a fixed rate plan, meaning the price you pay per kilowatt-hour stays the same throughout your contract. Even if market prices change, the energy rate won’t be affected.

These rates can only be changed if the city council votes to change the electric rate.

But, BTU did warn customers that since usage has most likely gone up due to the extreme cold the city has experienced the last few weeks, customers may see a higher bill than normal.

College Station Utilities sent out a statement to customers Friday addressing some questions many customers have had.

CSU announced they have suspended all delinquent disconnects and late fees until March 1. They also reminded customers that electric utility will never disconnect during freezing weather.

Customers have not been sent bills that reflect electric usage during this week’s winter event. The most recent statements reflect usage only through Feb. 11. CSU did warn that bills covering Feb. 12 through the storm may be higher due to individual usage.

While the cost of supplying all of their services to their customers increased during the winter storm, CSU said they will do their best to cover those costs before raising rates.

“The unanticipated costs of supplying electric, water, and wastewater services to our residents increased significantly during the storm. The city will exhaust all available avenues to cover those costs before considering rate increases. Rates are among the many items the city council and city staff will discuss in August as part of the budget process.”


[My note: We'll see.]
 
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