Beryl Barreling Our Way?

[Lead Belly]

Don't forget the Big Picture: Consolidation of NERC regions

https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Reliability%20Assessments%20DL/NERC_SRA_2024.pdf

https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/24_Energy-Markets-Primer_0117_DIGITAL_0.pdf

Here is the tag to save the click.

 

[jetcycles]

I skipped over the past 3 days worth of chit chat, but if anyone needs me, I'll be volunteering for the city passing out water, ice, and MRE's to the public at the Pasadena Convention Center tomorrow from 7:30-3:00. I'll be the dude tattooed down to my fingertips, if you see me, flip me the bird!

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Sasquatch]

Ooh boy.

Yesterday I worked at one of the hospitals in NW Houston and its a shitshow. Tempers are usually short in that neighborhood, its a hospital located smack dab in the middle of the hood. Some of you could probably guess which one but to be nice to the locale, I'm not naming it. Everyone is on edge, everyone is pissed off, and a LOT of people suffer from entitlement mentality and a lack of preparation and personal responsibility. That's a bad combination and it doesn't take much to set them off like that. And honestly - I feel bad for most of them, especially the kids. It sucks when its 95+ degrees, power is out so you don't have AC, nothing is open, and if you don't have a car getting to the emergency shelters is difficult, and that's even if you can find a shelter not full.

The drive there was crazy - spotty between areas with and without power. Magnolia proper was dark, Tomball had power in places but dark in others, and I saw tons of power poles snapped off at the bases, being held up by the wires themselves. Trees down in places - the closer to the city center I got the worse it looked.

I didn't want to do the stop and go nonsense at the non-working intersections, so I tried my luck coming up I-45 to 1488, there were less functional lights on 1488 and the drive home was no faster (but no slower) than the drive in. I did have to pucker my ass just a tad, because I wound up *not* stopping at one of the newer intersections on 1488 where the traffic light is fairly new. No cross traffic, but there was a damned Magnolia PD cruiser two cars ahead of me in the inside lane, I thought for sure I was gonna get stopped but thankfully not. I do kinda wonder why intersections on busy major roads don't have some sort of backups - battery, generator, solar - something to keep them going when regular grid power goes down.

I also wonder when, if ever, the power companies will realize that burying the damn power lines will be way better in the long run, and lead to less wide spread outages. They also wouldn't need to pay crews to come trim all the trees in the right of way if they did that.

 

[wbblazer90]

Ooh boy.

Yesterday I worked at one of the hospitals in NW Houston and its a shitshow. Tempers are usually short in that neighborhood, its a hospital located smack dab in the middle of the hood. Some of you could probably guess which one but to be nice to the locale, I'm not naming it. Everyone is on edge, everyone is pissed off, and a LOT of people suffer from entitlement mentality and a lack of preparation and personal responsibility. That's a bad combination and it doesn't take much to set them off like that. And honestly - I feel bad for most of them, especially the kids. It sucks when its 95+ degrees, power is out so you don't have AC, nothing is open, and if you don't have a car getting to the emergency shelters is difficult, and that's even if you can find a shelter not full.

The drive there was crazy - spotty between areas with and without power. Magnolia proper was dark, Tomball had power in places but dark in others, and I saw tons of power poles snapped off at the bases, being held up by the wires themselves. Trees down in places - the closer to the city center I got the worse it looked.

I didn't want to do the stop and go nonsense at the non-working intersections, so I tried my luck coming up I-45 to 1488, there were less functional lights on 1488 and the drive home was no faster (but no slower) than the drive in. I did have to pucker my ass just a tad, because I wound up *not* stopping at one of the newer intersections on 1488 where the traffic light is fairly new. No cross traffic, but there was a damned Magnolia PD cruiser two cars ahead of me in the inside lane, I thought for sure I was gonna get stopped but thankfully not. I do kinda wonder why intersections on busy major roads don't have some sort of backups - battery, generator, solar - something to keep them going when regular grid power goes down.

I also wonder when, if ever, the power companies will realize that burying the damn power lines will be way better in the long run, and lead to less wide spread outages. They also wouldn't need to pay crews to come trim all the trees in the right of way if they did that.

So that has come up several times in the past. Logistically burying our transmission lines would be a logistical nightmare. Especially those large multiline towers. You’d have to carve out a veritable canyon. But being on the coast, the biggest risk is flooding and the hazards to buried transmission lines is greater.

There’s a lot of frustration with centerpoint management right now. But they did attempt to weatherize some transmission hubs in I think the montrose area? The backlash from the citizens was immense and sudden.

 

[striker55]

I was stuck at a non functioning traffic light the other day. I was thinking what if an individual went into the intersection to direct traffic? Would people be courteous?

 

[Catherine1]

I did not read this entire thread yet.

How MANY power companies do you have in the ENTIRE state of TEXAS?

We have been praying for all of you down there and for the entire nation.

Blessings,

Old Lady Cate

 

[Rafe]

I was stuck at a non functioning traffic light the other day. I was thinking what if an individual went into the intersection to direct traffic? Would people be courteous?

I think I can answer that succinctly, and it wouldn't be with a "yes." Some of the intersections I've gone through the past three days, I think even a uniformed officer would be risking life and limb standing out in the middle of a total of 16 lanes of clueless traffic. I swear, if the drivers had to correctly answer questions about properly dealing with 4-way stops on their licensing exam, 90% of them have since forgotten or chosen to ignore what they once knew.

Potentially even more dangerous are the less-populated intersections with dead lights. Going by Bear Creek Park yesterday, I watched one car simply drive straight through two down lights in a row without ever even slowing. The speed limit there was 55, so if a vehicle happened to be coming from a cross street at the same time...

 

[Younggun]

I also wonder when, if ever, the power companies will realize that burying the damn power lines will be way better in the long run, and lead to less wide spread outages. They also wouldn't need to pay crews to come trim all the trees in the right of way if they did that.

The cost of burying all the old lines would be astronomical. On top of that I still see issues with material shortages and back orders just for new construction and current projects. Add in the backlash from homeowners when their yards and fences are destroyed in the process and getting around the already buried utilities and it would be a total nightmare.

.

 

[Rafe]

Live interview now on KPRC with CenterPoint SVP of Operations. Current projections--due partly to the thunderstorms yesterday and the prediction of another round today--is that power will be restored to 80% of their outage customers by the end of the day Sunday. That leaves almost 500,000 without power until next Monday or later, over one week after Cat 1 Beryl's landfall.

 

[benenglish]

...if the drivers had to correctly answer questions about properly dealing with 4-way stops...

On my way to HEB this morning, I stopped at an intersection to make a left. When it was my turn, I proceeded. Just as I cleared the intersection, a car flew through behind me doing, I dunno, maybe 60?

 

[benenglish]

Oh, and on the subject of HEB, y'know how we learned to use alternate measures to gauge the outage, like the map of closed Whataburgers? Well, my HEB has raised the limit on ice purchases from two bags to four.

That's a new measure and a hopeful sign.

 

[Brains]

You mean towards Madisonville where they need help too?

Hopefully so. I think the biggest two letdowns in this whole event have been 1. Lack of (reliable) information and 2. Broken promises or outright lies from the people at the top ranks of Centerpoint.

We know there's people out there working, we can see the trucks. What we seemingly can't do in this information age, is get information.

 

[Grumps21]

On my way to HEB this morning, I stopped at an intersection to make a left. When it was my turn, I proceeded. Just as I cleared the intersection, a car flew through behind me doing, I dunno, maybe 60?

I did have to pucker my ass just a tad, because I wound up *not* stopping at one of the newer intersections on 1488 where the traffic light is fairly new. No cross traffic, but there was a damned Magnolia PD cruiser two cars ahead of me in the inside lane, I thought for sure I was gonna get stopped but thankfully not.

I’ll let you guys sort it out

 

[oldag]

FWIW

In 2019, Centerpoint told regulators a substantial amount of work would be necessary to inspect the system, harden it against storms and make replacements as old wooden poles and other aging equipment became more likely to fail.

Between 2019 and 2023, it spent $1.49 billion on system resiliency, including transmission upgrades, substation protection and pole replacements. Much of the work was focused on strengthening the distribution system, the network of lower-voltage wires that largely failed Beryl’s stress test.

But the company has also spent heavily to strengthen and expand its system to support an influx of new residents and businesses. Between 2019 and 2023, it added about 300,000 new customers in the Houston area.

Though the company has been making larger capital investments in the distribution system, it has been scaling back spending on day-to-day maintenance and operations programs such as routine inspections and repairs.


And, of course, they are trying to blame things on global warming. For crying out loud, this was a small Cat 1 hurricane.

 

[Moonpie]

FWIW

In 2019, Centerpoint told regulators a substantial amount of work would be necessary to inspect the system, harden it against storms and make replacements as old wooden poles and other aging equipment became more likely to fail.

Between 2019 and 2023, it spent $1.49 billion on system resiliency, including transmission upgrades, substation protection and pole replacements. Much of the work was focused on strengthening the distribution system, the network of lower-voltage wires that largely failed Beryl’s stress test.

But the company has also spent heavily to strengthen and expand its system to support an influx of new residents and businesses. Between 2019 and 2023, it added about 300,000 new customers in the Houston area.

Though the company has been making larger capital investments in the distribution system, it has been scaling back spending on day-to-day maintenance and operations programs such as routine inspections and repairs.


And, of course, they are trying to blame things on global warming. For crying out loud, this was a small Cat 1 hurricane.

Typical American management. Pass the buck onto the next guy. Well this time the next guy got gored by Beryl.

 

[Catherine1]

Just my opinion, but I think that every one of the bigwigs at ercot, along with every state representative and senator, should roast in hell for doing nothing about keeping power available and reliable. 2024 in the United States of America, the wealthiest and most advanced country on the planet, and we can’t keep the lights on.

This!

They have U.S. TAX DOLLAR MONEY going to ONE of the most corrupt nations in the world - Ukraine and their dirty ILK in Ukraine - FACT not fiction and even the whiney @@@ liberals and warmongering R wing/Lwing neo CONS ala PNAC called Ukraine THAT in the past, more $$$ and goods NON STOP to Israel and to way more than 100 hundred countries worldwide yet they can't FIX the infrastructure.

THEY (Biden, Trump, etc.) ALL TALK A GOOD GAME - BS CON GAME with smoke and mirrors coming from their Left and Right wings while they gaslight AMERICANS some more with more LIES and promises.

PRIVATE homeowners, rental companies - apartments, all kinds of businesses and POWER COMPANIES need to WORK together and with the .gov folks to get their dung together in fixing the infrastructure ALL ACROSS this nation.

I have lived and grown up in hurricane AND snowstorm country - I was East Coast born and raised, I lived in SEVERE blizzard country - ice storms - high winds and BIG SNOW DRIFTS in the boonies - Great Lakes region where my husband grew up and where I moved to with him after his USN time and now I live in snow/ice and forest fire country here in Western Montana.

IT is the responsibility of homeowners, apartment owners, businesses AND power companies to keep their trees cut and trimmed on a regular basis or to CUT THEM DOWN!

And if it is NOT by the side of a township or super rural road or by a suburban/city street where the POWER COMPANY does NOT have the right to cut it down or even TRIM IT due to the LOCATION of said tree, etc. - it is UP TO THE OWNER of the property to do this.

Plus in FIRE COUNTRY especially out WEST, not only in hurricane or blizzard country = NORTH (The NORTH GETS BOTH and more types of storms especially in the NE and MID-ATLANTIC coastal regions.) or SOUTH - SE or GULF regions - there are MANY DUMB BUNNIES who don't bother to cut down or TRIM or do ANY FIRE MITIGATION even when it comes to weeds/brushy growth ON THEIR OWN LAND and then they COMPLAIN when brush or trees or stupid @@@ federal/state/county forest PLANNING/CUTTING does not work and flies over and IT HITS their own land!

YOU see/hear these types of people out west and in the news. CA, WA, OR, etc. Then they move to some Mountain States and they want to conserve but they do NOT do any REAL CONSERVATION with SANE, proper, healthy and ethical logging or keeping up their OWN LAND. Worse off federal, state, etc. land.

Plus you have HOME GROWN arsonists aka terrorists not just regular greenie weenies starting/setting fires AND I am sure there are SOME illegal aliens aka another type of CRIMINAL doing this too.

Plus throw in the BUMS aka 'transients' which do their arson work under and by BRIDGES and not just in the city or country or in the wilderness.

I have SEEN this crapola in person. WAY BACK towards one of the three rivers here in this college town.
Way, way, way behind my water rights ditch. I CALLED IT IN via my house telephone - landline and so did other people. Way down towards one river - the BUM FLED the scene, he was NEVER CAUGHT which is common around here, and the FIRE SPREAD. The FD was down there for a LONG TIME into the dark and it spread toward one of the lakes, stone area, towards the bridge, and further down towards the one CF River. ALL of that land is a NO BUILD ZONE. Lots of land there!

Plus another fire was started over by one side of my neighbors. They called it IN. SHE SAW IT get started.

The BUM arsonist fled and was NEVER CAUGHT. C screamed and her husband was home. They got the small fire out and called the police.

WE have reported crapola and don't get me started on FIRES BEING STARTED by VERY CARELESS idiots with firecrackers in or out of the city/county limits - too close to buildings/vehicles/barns and even houses being burned down or partially destroyed.

Plus by one area of one bridge alone not counting all of the other bridges. IN just a few months, there were OVER 29 CALLS of jack @@@es starting fires by the Reserve Street bridge and they tried to cover it up but the FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLS and other people reporting it did not lie. IT is all on record. GEE, that bridge which is considered a HUGE CONNECTION to all parts of this city/county/state is part of infrastructure!

TWO other bridges of MANY bridges were seriously in need of repair too. They were in the news and being FIXED. Another bridge was compromised and in the news. Too much to type there.

I wish you and your wife well.

Prayers said for you and for all other people in TEXAS and all across this nation.

Old Lady Cate
PS: Even some small towns in SUPER RURAL areas had the sheriff departments talking about ACTIVE former arsonists in and out of town and this was UP north in NW MT. In the news. This went on for a couple of years and I am not sure about this year.

Another town, up in NW MT close to Idaho, Noxon, got some of their 'downtown' burned down. Many residents say it was arson but so far it was NOT ruled arson but MANY residents say that it was. They have had OUT OF STATE greenie/weenies come into the area from CA, WA and OR and they don't want ANY houses/small businesses to interfere with the WILDERNESS and animals up there.

 

[kbaxter60]

I was stuck at a non functioning traffic light the other day. I was thinking what if an individual went into the intersection to direct traffic? Would people be courteous?

I don't live in/near Houston, but would suggest you hold off a bit or let someone else go first

 

[Catherine1]

Just my opinion, but I think that every one of the bigwigs at ercot, along with every state representative and senator, should roast in hell for doing nothing about keeping power available and reliable. 2024 in the United States of America, the wealthiest and most advanced country on the planet, and we can’t keep the lights on.

PS:

My husband just left for the rifle range with his brand new rifle and I am reading some of THIS thread to HIM out loud.

He said that he agrees with you too.

We have a small generator. He USES a breathing machine. He is on several Rx meds too. Etc.

He said that he will pray with me for you, your wife and for all of the other hurting people in TEXAS and across this nation.

Sincerely,

Catherine in Western Montana

 

[benenglish]

He USES a breathing machine.

Same here. I'm almost getting used to sleeping upright.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Same here. I'm almost getting used to sleeping upright.

Ben, do you not have a generator at the house?