Is Federal Regulation Coming to the Texas Power Grid? || Peter Zeihan

[@garylrau]

Speaking as an engineer with45 years in the electric utility sector: ERCOT already has 3 DC interconnects with NERC and another AC interconnect that has only been used once. The biggest lesson from the big freeze was the imperative for multiple technologies and energy sources.

[@scottmcmullen6782]

Thank you for an informed comment!

[@vmlinuxz]

I'm just glad I'm in West Texas not on garbage ercot

[@signelengis]

Yes. Multiple sources that are not dependent on wind or sun. I’m not saying those are bad; It’s just that we need a solid alternative. The obvious issue is money/ownership. If you follow the money all the way to Washington, you know why we don’t have that solid alternative still….

[@carlthor91]

@@signelengis Yep, no other jurisdiction relies solely on renewables, so that is a nonissue. The money/ownership thing is a local money thing. The whole ball of wax, reminds me of lyrics from a Tom Waits song, 'independent as a hog on ice'.

[@DrockTheClock]

This.

[@Krieghandt]

The best example of peaker plants is in Phoenix. They had to pump the natural gas lines for residential use every fall, because for some reason, no one ran their heaters in the summer. And the stove use was not enough to keep the gas from going stale. This was a big cost and headache for the gas utilities. then some smart guy stuck a natural gas peaker plant at the end of a gas main. Now the gas remains fresh as the powerplants use the old gas during the peak of summer instead of letting it sit and go stale.

[@FloydThePink]

How did the gas not go stale sitting underground for millions of years?

[@glike2]

​@@FloydThePink yes I am curious about the chemical formula for methane going stale 😅😅😅

[@glike2]

​@@FloydThePinksounds like companies excuses to rip off the public

[@guydreamr]

@@FloydThePink Great question - underground, natural gas is stored in depleted reservoirs, aquifers, or salt caverns. These environments are relatively stable and isolated, which helps preserve the gas's quality over long periods. The lack of oxygen and the stable geological conditions prevent the gas from reacting with other substances that could degrade it. That's from "The Basics of Underground Natural Gas Storage," EIA.

[@FloydThePink]

@@guydreamr You need a chemical reaction, heat, oxygen and fuel to cause a fire or explosion (non-nuclear). For example, gasoline doesn't give off flammable vapors under negative 45 degrees F. How does O2 get in a gas pipe? As glike2 said , what is the chemical formula for natural gas and stale natural gas?

[@jimindripsprings2059]

Peter is not an expert on the TX wholesale power market - he gets several items wrong, specifically about the capacity markets (or lack there of in Texas). As others have stated the rapid expansion in battery storage in Texas is already making peaker gas plants uneconomic as ancillary services (a.k.a. capacity) prices are trending to near $0. The main problem Texas faces is the interference of politicians in forcing ERCOT administrators to procure excess ancillary services during non-critical times when the excess provides no or little value but costs rate payers billions and hurts the economic rationale for industry to move to Texas. Despite the inaccuracies - I still enjoy watching Peter's videos and reading the comments.

[@gredw6733]

I'll believe your BS excuses when the brown and blackouts end!

[@jjggbbjunk]

I don't know much about ERCOT commercial markets, but I have grown very skeptical of ANYTHING that Peter says about the grid. To my knowledge, ERCOT is not exempt from the same NERC regulations that the rest of the nation is subject to.

[@FelixLlevada]

Yes, indeed! Battery based peaker plants are the way of the future and Texas is leading the way with about 11 GWh of grid-attached batteries capable of peaker ancillary services and more coming. Tesla started a few years ago with 200 MWh in Angleton TX. Too bad that where the Co-ops are established in TX there is no free electric market. Peter knows how much solar electricity TX generates,, though somehow he's not aquainted with how batteries allow solar to be used 24/7 to displace natural gas, all the time. Batteries, at $100 per kWh cost, which are easy to find today, amortize to about 5 cents per kWh over 5 years and LiFePO4 batteries will last much longer. Therefore, solar plus batteries are now cheaper than natural gas based electric power. Must be why XON is now investing in Li mining. Already in China, battery prices have dropped to near$50 per kWh. My 40 y.o. house (3000 sqft) in N Florida is net zero energy thanks to good external insulation and 10 kW of solar. The solar is from 8 years ago and the insulation original to the house, i.e. 40 y.o. No need for gas. When in N Texas all I see are plenty of flues sticking up the roof tops. Must be that people in TX these days are just used to burning Nat. gas when it's not needed anymore. Heat pumps can last 15 years or more, which is perhaps just a little less than a Nat. gas furnace, but they displace the need for a separate A/C unit. It may be that Peter is going to hop over to Australia to see first hand the success of Neoen et. al. at using batteries to stabilize solar and wind power as well as how much the Aussies are building up their grid to be 100% renewable energy. Looking forward to his report from the Land Down Under next to NZ.

[@samhancock542]

This guy gets it. Still love Peter but pretend he is saying energy market instead of capacity market.

[@tallshort1849]

Peter is an expert at everything until he talks about something you know about ...then he's absolutely not an expert

[@TikiLoungeZombie]

Acquaintance of mine sold power utility equipment for five years in Texas. He said no one ever bought the weather hardening for it. Peak hardening would have added 7% to the cost. No regulation required it, so no one invested. Deregulation for the down.

[@robwatson3600]

Peter, ERCOT has no capacity market. It is an energy only market. That is the problem. It needs a capacity market as well as interties and integration with neighboring markets such as the southwest Power Pool. Terminology is very important in the power sector.

[@littlerainyone]

What's the difference between capacity & energy only?

[@coonazz98]

Gotta keep some separation incase we have to go our own way.

[@kq2799]

@@coonazz98 Is that U, Daniel boone? Is that true the bear was bigger?

[@coonazz98]

@kq2799 yes and yes

[@magellannh645]

@@coonazz98 - Grids with capacity markets have a second mechanism aside from just their real time power market to reward power plants for promising to be ready to run when they're needed. These capacity payments are paid by grid operators (and ratepayers) to power plants regardless of whether or not they are actually called on to run. The way it works is that grid operators decide how much capacity they need each month and then seek "bids" from generators willing to guarantee they'll be ready to run if they're needed. The grid operators figure out how much they have to pay by selecting power plant capacity commitments from bidders from lowest to highest until they have enough powerplants committed to provide the power they need to handle their expected peak. This capacity mechanism is totally independent from the mechanism grid operators use to select which power plants are actually running and powering the grid at any given moment. That's determined by "energy" or supply markets where powerplant owners bid in real time to supply the power that will be needed on the grid during the next "time slice" (say the next 15 minutes or the next hour).

[@txdba]

My family lives north of Houston. About a decade ago, my wife thought I was crazy when I installed a backup generator. 2 hurricanes and the Texas deep freeze of 2021 have proved otherwise. My buddy has gas and solar backups. His wife is not questioning his sanity any longer, either.

[@TheMrgoodmanners]

As a texan i no longer see any benefits to deregulation. We're paying more for electricity now than even chicago is. This has been happening for abt three yrs now. The avg tdu charge now comprises more than half my elec bill.

[@pilotusa]

Enjoy!

[@dlkramer88]

It's interesting that that seems to vary by location. East of Houston, 40% Centerpoint. Given that they've blown off ROW clearance for 10 years, I guess that's OK.

[@magellannh645]

How much do you pay per kwh for electricity?

[@Bayard1503]

Isolationism does that... it means there are no alternatives, no backup.... And guess what? That's Trump's America...

[@Dularr]

​@@Bayard1503 Texas has a separate grid for a long time.

[@caleb7475]

Just got through the snow storm with zero outages in Texas

[@scottlindquist8417]

You’re lucky, you made it, this time.🥶 Greetings from snowy NH.

[@lookatchoo247]

@@caleb7475 No snow in Houston

[@pindapoy1596]

@@lookatchoo247 What does that prove? Twenty years ago (roughly) there were no fires in LA

[@lookatchoo247]

@pindapoy1596 Did you not read the OP? The claim was made that Texas got through the snowstorm. That's not correct because Houston is part of Texas, and there wasn't snow in Houston. Also, why are you imagining that I was trying to prove something? Any evidence to support your premise?

[@IL2TXGunslinger]

@@lookatchoo247and no ice in Austin. February is approaching though :)

[@blinkingmanchannel]

… “Texas is a country where…” 🤪😵‍💫

[@ah9580]

IN THE HEART OF OF EVERY TRUE BLOODED TEXAN AND AMERICAN GO LONGHORNS

[@mattmatthewm2489]

I remember when Jimmy Carter nationalized the natural gas in the Texas pipelines that we purchased at $1.30 and sent it to Pennsylvania for 45 cents during his failed re-election campaign. That is why the Texas grid was physically disconnected. So, Texas resources could not be taken from Texans and given to other states.

[@gregshan]

@@mattmatthewm2489 and Lone Star Gas still made money at 45 cents-havent had an account but last I did you had to pay $17 a month just to receive any gas

[@blinkingmanchannel]

Hook ‘em! …I just want us to articulate these ideas without freaking out. There can’t be us vs them if we want to give our kids a better world. Unless you’re saying you put that oil under there yourself? “They” can’t choose their parents and neither can “we.” Luck is a factor worth considering, I’d say, because someday the shoe will be on the other foot.

[@jeanlamb5026]

They don't believe in the federal government till they need help from it.

[@jaybo2099]

Lol! 😂 Ok, you got me with that Oklahoma line. That was perfect!

[@f_lawless7689]

You called Texas a country:)

[@cdevidal]

"I'm from Texas. Which nation are y'all from?"

[@MROJPC]

Lol, yes, caught that too. I mean, well, yeah that pretty much tips the hat to our mindset.

[@xgford94]

Yep a straight up statement of mindset😂

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

It's the one-star republic, never forget.

[@TheVoiceofTheProphetElizer]

And not just any country, a Gulf country. When I wave a flag, I make sure to also wave a flag with Sheikh Greg al bin Abbott on it as well.

[@mcgregorpiper]

The power outage in Houston had less to do with capacity and more to do with downed power lines. Even with all the contractors coming to the area, repairing the power lines is a major undertaking.

[@erikkovacs3097]

Peter is wrong. You can increase the interconnectedness of the Texas grid with neighboring grids with variable frequency transformers. It's a relatively new invention and allows interconnectedness between asynchronous AC grids.

[@krisspkriss]

Are there power or pricing limits on the technology? How well does it actually scale?

[@dustinstorey6779]

@@erikkovacs3097 you could have just stopped at Peter is wrong. He is either intentionally trying to mislead people about energy for $ or he’s inexcusably ignorant about energy in general and renewables specifically!

[@anotheruser676]

Key word, 'can'. Depends on how ERCOT and your electricity provider feels about it.

[@kq2799]

@@anotheruser676 U never, ever, question someone expertise who has a cig hanging from their mouf !!!

[@jjggbbjunk]

I talked to a guy that worked with the variable frequency transformers that GE installed there. He advised me that they were a maintenance headache and he would have just preferred a back-to-back HVDC station.

[@josephcavanaugh4859]

Peter, I'm from Houston. We did lose power for a few days during the hurricane but nothing like you said. We'll be alright. We're cowboys here and will be ok. We know how to weather the storm.

[@Why_ask_]

Normally you research stuff. This one you did not. ERCOT has deficiencies, but they have nothing to do with peaking capacity You are totally ignoring the 10 GIGA-WATTS (GW) peak output battery storage capacity that is online NOW. Those are the ultimate peaking plants as it is available nearly instantaneously. There is also nearly 70 GW of natural gas plants, although many of these are combined cycle, a large number are straight gas turbines that can ramp as fast as a jet engine, because they basically are. That is 80 GW of peaking capacity - which is bigger than the total load of California. Regarding stability, that may be an issue as it has more inverter based generation than any other grid - by far- as inverters do not have mass, they have no inertia, which is not good for stability. Furthermore, unlike the FERC regulated Northeast where most power lines are sitting on rusting metal lattice towers, Texas utility operators and the state have spent massive amounts of money both standardizing and re-building large portions of the transmission system. True there were power outages of several weeks after a major hurricane. But you ignore the fact that FERC regulated utilities also have even larger Blackouts. For example, in the FERC regulated Eastern Grid, the power is still out in parts of North Carolina. Granted that was after receiving 15 -20 inches of rain - but obviously you forgot that the Houston Area has taken storms with 50 inches of precipitation - and restored power in weeks (not months). In the Northwest, the so called “superstorm” Sandy which I believe was not even CAT 1 at landfall - put out power for months in parts of Long Island. Even a sewage treatment plant (which should have a high priority in power restoration) was knocked out for one month. True, the infamous 2021 outages in Texas caused 4.5 million to loose power. But you seem develop amnesia concerning FERC regulated California’s 8 outages since 2000 involving over 1 million customers including one affecting 2.6 million due mainly to resource inadequacy during a winter storm (as opposed to a greater than 100 year weather event that broke records going back 120 years). You also very conveniently forget the 2003 blackout affecting the North East US affected 55 million (10 times the size of the Texas outage) and all because of failed inter-state transmission infrastructure (WHICH THE FERC REGULATES) That fact is that none of the nations grids are healthy, and the one you single out may very well be the most healthy - which granted is not saying much. But FERC clearly does not equal healthy grid, and that is the math you are selling.

[@Stash186]

Texas also now has a few gigawatts of Bitcoin mining that can be ramped down as needed

[@GregTrickey]

Here's my recollection from the 2021 ice storm in Texas. I don't have any particular political slant. All I know is that when the storm hit, I lost power. I was out in the country in Navarro County, TX. That's near Corsicana, TX. We lived out at Richland-Chambers Reservoir. The electric company was Navarro County Electric Co-Op. Navarro County Electric Co-op (NCEC) is wonderful. I can give you a million reasons they are great, as I had to work with them on numerous projects. But, since this is the interwebs/youtube, let's just say they are great and leave it at that. The lead man, Johnny, and I literally had each others phone numbers. There's 50k people in Navarro County. In any case, when the storm hit, I think we lost power for about 24 hours. It came back on sometime on Monday. Pretty quickly it went to the 45 minutes on/off for the next few days until Thursday. For us, overall, it wasn't the end of the world. It was a bit of a pain, but my ex-wife and I had had fun planning cooking and showers. Overall, since we were retired, we kind of had some fun with it. Running around, boiling water, jumping in for a 10-minute shower, etc. However, the whole thing stank. Yes, I used the word "stank". From what I can tell, the bad storm in 2011 (remember the debacle that was the Superbowl in Dallas in 2011?) was supposed to fix all these problems. On a side note, I was working that week/weekend in 2011 as a police sergeant. Pretty much everyone that worked that week got hurt by sliding on ice. I *MIGHT* have fallen while in the middle of relieving myself at the police unit door... Anyway, as far as I can tell, nothing actually got fixed. 10 years later, all those billions of dollars couldn't be found. A few people got fired, but overall nothing really changed. All I know is I got an $800 bill for February. Normally, it was about $200. Apparently, we had to pay for no power. Brazos Co-Op filed bankruptcy to save their down-tier consumers (Navarro County Co-Op), but we still had to pony up the money.

[@rykbrown1893]

We moved to Texas in 2017. We've had more power outages in the 7 years we've been here than I had my entire 57 years in CA. Because of this, we installed a whole-home generator, and plan to install both solar and a battery wall. (In case the natural gas also fails.) ERCOT is a joke. Still, I much prefer TX over CA. Our daughter is living in a 700sqft apartment in San Diego and is paying as much for gas and electricity as we pay for a 2700sqft home in the DFW area. (Not to mention $2/gal more for gas.)

[@TheVoiceofTheProphetElizer]

I'm in DFW (have been here since 1987) as well and I can say that I don't remember having black/brown outs like I've experienced since 2015. I feel like I go through one at least once a year and it lasts for several hours at a minimum. I don't quite know what changed but they used to never happen and then within the last decade they've become once a year or more events.

[@greghight954]

I’m in the DFW area and it is super rare that we lose power at all. Outages have been very short when they did happen.

[@TheVoiceofTheProphetElizer]

@@greghight954 Which part of DFW are you in, if you feel comfortable sharing? I'm in the suburbs north/northeast of downtown Fort Worth - west of DFW airport.

[@greghight954]

@ wylie, just east of Plano.

[@CalebKennizzite]

Hilarious closing!😂

[@ugiswrong]

Guys this is what the 90s looked like

[@jerryrichardson2799]

Truer than anyone else wants to acknowledge.

[@RockingRobby505]

It is becoming a thing where we listen to what Peter says and then read the comments to see what people who actually know about the subject think

[@donaldjohnson-y6n]

Can make a whole list of jokes about Oklahoma. Such as "what do you call an employed Oklahoman?" "One who moved to North Texas after college and found a job"

[@gregdavis7643]

I used to trade electricity in ERCOT years ago. The only problem with importing power from the other interconnections is that the ties are small and only a small amount, relatively, of electricity can be imported in. They would have to beef up the ties with the few outside utilities that they have.

[@vmlinuxz]

There's no problem with power out here on the Great plains. Because we aren't on ercot in Amarillo, we have lots of green power in wind, and we export our energy.

[@DarceyBaron]

Yes….because ERCOT is the Texas grid which is independent. You are not familiar with the grid system in Texas. Just like Peter….the blind leading the blind!!😂😂😂😂

[@PandorasFolly]

​@@DarceyBaron damn AI trash responses

[@vmlinuxz]

@@DarceyBaron AMARILLO IS IN TEXAS YOU REGARD. JFK the imbeciles are out today. Not all of TX is on Ercot, just the shitty parts.

[@tbled52]

@@DarceyBaron And what flows over their DC ties?

[@cuatro336]

The only thing worse than the management of the Texas power grid, would be federal management of the Texas power grid.

[@houstonisnotmyhome]

Any evidence to support your claim?

[@Thirdwardwolf]

@@houstonisnotmyhomethere’s no evidence. He’s a stubborn Texan who will never hold his own state officials accountable.

[@jimmorrison3740]

FEMA, USPS, FBI, IRS, etc.

[@vmlinuxz]

I'm in West Texas and our power grid is amazing. Ercot is trash, The federal power grid is pretty amazing. So I'd say you're probably full of garbage.

[@richlancaster8336]

Oh of course, Texas is so special and those oil men destroying the future of all children are the only ones who know how chit works....ffs...Texas is the problem...

[@seergroupslc]

Knock knock: “hello, we are from the federal government and we are here to help you!” Texas: “ oh like the boarder?! We will pass!”

[@massengineer7582]

@@seergroupslc knock knock: I'm Donald Trump and only I can fix all problems. Border Patrol: then why did you kill the Senate's bipartisan border bill 9 months ago?, It would have solved most of the problems permanently, by law, not with some transient executive orders. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[@bwbw3647]

@@massengineer7582 you mean the pork barrel bill? yeah try again

[@thecustodian1023]

@@massengineer7582 What do you all imagine you are gaining by lying about everything now?

[@thecustodian1023]

@@bwbw3647 They so love to lie by omission and false narrative, don't they. 😁

[@flubby1982]

@@bwbw3647 Come on bro.....lets no stoop to the level of an idiot. The entire GOP was for the bill until Trump didn't want it because it would have made Biden look good. Trump even said that. Heck the GOP co-sponsor on the bill is a huge Trump supporter from OK. It gave huge amounts of support to the border and was endorsed by the Boarder Patrol themselves. Jesus.....man...talk about a bad faith comment.

[@HalfAssedRanching]

People really don't understand 2021 or the reason why ERCOT is so amazing. The Freeze several years ago would have been fine without excessive demand - if you review ERCOT's contingency plans, which they release every year, they list out presumed maximum demand and proven backups. People fixate on the natural gas plants that failed due to frozen pipes, but they fail to realize that a certain percentage of ALL forms of power are expected to fail under extreme circumstances. 10% of coal plants failed because the wheeled loaders couldn't dig the mounds of coal that had frozen solid, and one of our nuclear reactors failed because the sensor detected ice in the water; it happens. The key is that all forms of power failed at rates within expectation; what was not within expectation was demand, which was 20% higher. Let's examine why. Texas had grown much larger than ERCOT had originally forecasted, yes, but the main demand was from refineries on the gulf coast. The refineries on the gulf coast are normally what keeps Texas power so cheap, which is why ERCOT is special; however, during the freeze their boilers failed which turned MANY normally net producers of several megawatts of power each into huge consumers. These plants cannot simply be turned off either; there's a 3-4 day process to shut them down safely. The economic impact to Texas from an immediate blackout to these plants would be more than a year's worth of GDP lost and capital flight for a decade. The major fix for this was two-fold; ERCOT expanded the number of natural gas fired reserve plants to accommodate increased demand, and they now have a mandate for the refineries to shut down when multiple days of freezes below 20F are expected. We have had freezing weather since - not quite as bad but definitely no cake walk - and the system has run flawlessly with one of the cheapest rates of power in the country. In so far as solar, Solar creates a peak demand spike unlike anything else on the market; it makes sense to minimalize it so as to maintain efficiency of the other forms of production. They can't stop you from putting panels on your house, as I have, but they can obviously minimize the degree to which the grid subsidizes your decision making.

[@gredw6733]

It's far simpler than that bag of BS. It's a matter of what the voters of Texas are willing to put up with!!!

[@HalfAssedRanching]

@@gredw6733 What I wrote is not complicated. It's fairly easy to understand. I think we will continue to demand cheap energy... not sure why cheap energy is hard to put up with exactly.

[@Why_ask_]

@@gredw6733 It is a bit funny reading comments from people who seem to believe that nobody in Texas understands anything related to the production of energy and that all of our voters are stupid. This despite the fact that Texas has the highest amount of renewables, the newest power lines, the newest generators and some of the lowest electric rates in the country. All despite having a basically a flat state with essentially no hydroelectric potential. Yep, Texas is doing everything wrong.

[@lobster-music]

You have to watch it with your thumbnails, the wide angle lens makes your eyes look like Marty Feldman sometimes

[@SignalCorps1]

That’s a name I haven’t heard in a bit. Thanks for resurfacing that from the depths of my fading memories.

[@kq2799]

@@SignalCorps1 Abby... Normal.

[@JaimeOrtega-i5r]

It should especially after the rolling blackouts during the summer and the freeze back in 2020. Texas ERCOT energy grid based "just in time system" really is what any JIT system is - "Just in time to fail." There are long overdue upgrades to the system that have never been implemented and curiously none of these problems exist in El Paso, Tx which is not a part of this grid.

[@kenergixllc527]

The northern suburbs of Houston as well as to Huntsville eastward to include Beaumont/Port Arthur/ Orange, are all on Entergy, formerly Gulf States Utilities which is connected to Louisiana. That is where the two weeks of outage after the recent hurricane were. Try harder, you are wrong wayyyyy to often.

[@obriets]

I live south of you, in Houston, in ERCOT, in Reliant, and we lost power for a long time too. Far longer, by what my best friend in Conroe reported. Same in the Big Freeze. I’d say the best way to deal with it is to start by dumping Gov. Abbot, who has been in the utilities’ pocket for years, and the ERCOT board of directors who are suborning him. We don’t need Washington, we just need to clean the corruption at the state level. What happened in both those cases could have been largely avoided with proper management of the grid and resources to protect it.

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

@@Thirdwardwolf No one has every accused a Texan of being smart, nor cooperative.

[@ldubya4612]

@@Thirdwardwolf Entergy Texas serves all or portions of 27 counties in SE Texas. We are connected to MISO not ERCOT.

[@massengineer7582]

The outage in Houston was not the main point of Peter's video.

[@MichaelGamber]

@@Thirdwardwolf Montgomery county here. We get it from SHECO. Not bordering. Maybe you need to know more before speaking.

[@kenth151]

Peter I live in Texas and my rates are very reasonable compared to California and Germany. We have a pro free market and are growing like crazy. No state tax and a surplus state budget. The last freeze problem was caused by 100 year or more cold front. You are fun to listen too.. but with a huge grain of salt.

[@jackassrower]

He’s gotten very wild and inaccurate with his predictions ever since he got TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)

[@kellrik66]

Peter tends to give the worst case scenario if nothing is done to correct the problem. Sometimes it happens, usually when ideologs ignore reality, like California.

[@fenderblue9485]

​@@jackassroweronly ones with TDS are the ones like you bring it up😂

[@kenth151]

@kellrik66 good point.

[@nihil8607]

I had more power outages living in texas for 4 years than living in california for 20+ I'll gladly pay a bit extra for reliable power

[@ChrisKlink56]

Wow! As a life-long Texas resident, Peter gets it so wrong!!

[@bluestar9486]

Explain please

[@ChrisKlink56]

@ The grid did not fail during the Texas freeze. It was mismanagement. Gas generators run at idle all summer in case of the immediate need in case of a heat wave. During winter the gas generators were turned completely off with no expectation of a deep freeze. Uh oh! Deep freeze came and froze the windmills, shutting them down. It takes several days to start up the gas generators from a total cold start. It all worked quite well, but it took a while - all due to the bad decision to depend totally on windmills during winter. Lesson learned!! The gas generators never get shut down during risky weather now.

[@Dularr]

NEVER. It's batteries. Texas will continue to build battery farms. Let's see if they can get to three days worth of battery power.

[@bsmithhammer]

One of several inherent problems that people on the "pro-renewable" side of the argument typically refuse to acknowledge.

[@HablaCarnage63]

Just what I came to say

[@pindapoy1596]

@Dularr Sure, a battery farm that needs land space of about the size of a small city will do it.

[@Dularr]

@pindapoy1596 one possible solution to include home based battery packs. During peak power consumption the grid will pull power from residential packs. Then recharge the batteries from solar and wind farms.

[@bsmithhammer]

@@Dularr Someone seriously needs to do a rigorous study on the total carbon footprint of mass deployment of Li-Ion batteries before we go too far down the road of thinking we are "helping the environment" with this approach.

[@OwenRoberts-ls4se]

I live in North Texas and a couple months on sunny day around 9-9:30AM I was w/o power for an 1 1/2 and it was only in the low 70’s. Now, they’re building a huge plant for Texas Instruments and another huge building for something, plus all the new houses apartment to logically house the new influx of workers. The grid is overwhelmed already, and this will do exactly what you said. So, the Republicans that ridicule California, like Ted Cruz will have the same issue with rolling brown outs as you said.

[@Why_ask_]

@@OwenRoberts-ls4se The grid is not overwhelmed as you say. At the moment - during a cold snap with high demand - the grid is operating with a reserve capacity equivalent to 17 large nuclear power plants. Having a power outage at your house does not mean the grid is down nor is it evidence of grid level problems. It means the distribution line to your house went down. These local distribution lines are not what ERCOT regulates - they regulate the big stuff.

[@rigelthurstonmusic]

“Asking help from Oklahoma“ will take prayer and fasting. You know us too well!

[@alrivas1477]

OK you’re wrong again on multiple levels. Again, if you’re this wrong about US and Texas, realizing you’re likely wrong about foreign countries.

[@zill0678]

Peter what are you talking about? Texas has already pass laws in 2023 for overhauling and modernizing the grid, a constitutional amendment to change funding laws to support more grid improvements and a mix of regulatory and deregulatory measures on generators to benefit the consumer. Texas is not joining the eastern or western federal interconnections or going to be in some long term energy apocalypses. in fact compared to California's electric problems Texas has been peachy even with that winter fiasco a few years ago in 2021 which has also been addressed.

[@Stash186]

Also has a few gigawatts of Bitcoin mining that can be ramped down as needed

[@gregshan]

it was far from what needed to be done industry got its wants in the overhaul included

[@Krieghandt]

You need to stop huffing copium, it's affecting your skepticism of government officials. They did pass a law, but Abbot promptly gutted the most important (expensive) parts. Yes, I live in Texas, but I have Lamar Electric co-op power. It never went down for a minute during the big freeze. It is also owned by the users, unlike most Texas utilities, which have to answer to stockholders.

[@nlabanok]

Now I'm not gonna call you a fool....but anyone who swallows without relatively deep skepticism when elected officials in Texas tells them "all is well, nothing to see here anymore" is in fact a fool.

[@mickjayplays]

Have you even seen how they "fixed" the situation after the 2021 freeze? Plants were putting up wood and plastic frames around junctions and heating them with friggin oversized space heaters....and that was "good enough" for the new "regulations". That's how they "winterized" and "modernized". And don't get me started on the Abbott Tax where we got f***ed for several years paying for service that we never got while people DIED during that freeze.

[@axlslak]

That "from Oklahoma" felt very personal :))

[@TheAmericanPrometheus]

He said it just as I read your comment lol

[@sifu64]

@axlslak in his intermittent snarky tone. Probably wishes the Dems ran Newsom really needs to cut that man bun

[@jackdetweiler3442]

Poor Oklahoma 😂. Even Arkansas picks on them.

[@johnleeinslc]

BESS not only firms up renewable energy, it is removing the ability of peaker plants to bid. Competition from renewable energy and batteries is destroying the business case for peaker plants.

[@bsmithhammer]

It might do so in the future. It is hardly doing that at the moment, in a broad sense. There are also robust debates still to be had about which approach is actually better, environmentally. If one cares to actually delve into both physical and carbon footprints.

[@muskepticsometimes9133]

Renewable increases needs for peaker plants as renewable is intermittent. Batteries can replace peakers but depends on duration needed

[@karunama3771]

@@muskepticsometimes9133 Sure, but solar with massive battery farms is effectively no different (for the end user) from a peaker plant itself.

[@johnleeinslc]

@@muskepticsometimes9133 , batteries are already reducing the capacity factor of peaker plants making them even less affordable.

[@johnleeinslc]

@ , yesterday batteries supplied 6GW for four hours in California. Texas can supply 2GW of battery storage to the grid. BESS resources grew by nearly 100% last year. Don’t let yesterday’s information get in the way of today’s solutions.

[@Stash186]

You should recap the effect of Bitcoin mining on the ercot grid

[@joshuaweaver5284]

I’m in Houston we have so much faith in ERCOT my backup generator has a backup- not kidding.

[@625ozy]

Electricity also costs twice as much in LA than Austin... Texas has room to expand grid and Texans have room to pay for it

[@gregshan]

lol Texas just needs to build more plants and by our standards deregulation got power costs way up-we think we pay too much-but you live in a mid climate and dont use power per capita like we do either

[@625ozy]

@gregshan Texas has greater temperature extremes than California, and is half the price...

[@chrishooge3442]

But the for profit generators don't want the extra expense...it squeezes their profit margins. And with the regulators and govt captured by the industry...generators get what they want.

[@twoolivetreesarise]

You're in all these amazing places and hiking up the side of mountains and then, out of the blue, you're in Texas? What gives! My friend! Is Texas home base? If so high-five! Impressed either way. Arg! ask for help from OK? Freezing is a preferred option.

[@bonanzatime]

He's good at 'sounding' like he knows what he's talking about. And that's a compliment. Kind of.

[@sifu64]

@@bonanzatime it's a neat trick

[@bonanzatime]

@sifu64 Yes, he reminds me of a certain guy in high school. I'm sure every high school class had at least one of these shyster know-it-all clowns.. The guy I'm thinking of always had a way of avoiding certain death by murder by all the people he bullshitted and pissed off.😆

[@digisensei3357]

He may not but he gives people pointers to do their own research. Don't believe before you verify

[@bonanzatime]

@@digisensei3357 That's true, believing this guy is a big mistake.😂

[@devalapar7878]

That's the most stupidest thing I have ever heard. He provides information which you can check! And his material explanation makes sense. Stop commenting if you were a school drop out! Do us that favor please.

[@prozombie6768]

Were you forced to make this video cuz you critiqued California or something?

[@travisexperience]

Can you do a video on battery tech, supply, and scale, based on national regional returns, and renewable resources?

[@justforthehackofit]

Battery storage, Australia shows, is the much more economic alternative to peaker plants. And the lone star state gets to keep its independence. So I'd bet my money on huge battery investments. Because these peak tarrris are just sweeeet.

[@shepherdsknoll]

Peter does not really understand the importance of battery storage.

[@tarazieminek1947]

Batteries are great for shorter-term issues, but what about a serious problem that lasts longer - peaker plants can keep going as long as they have fuel

[@muskepticsometimes9133]

Australia has very hogh prices plus still needs foxsil generation

[@gagenater]

Battery storage is under construction on a large scale in Texas, and are already in use for grid stabilization purposes.

[@gravitaslost]

Australia does not show that at all, it still needs all the peaker plants they just don't have to be ramped up quite as often.

[@American_Energy]

When Peter understands batteries, his whole world view will change.

[@joehowe9532]

EV owners can sign up for a program in Texas that allows their electric vehicle to be used as a collective “Peaker plant“. on days where energy usage is very high, electricity is pulled from the charged up batteries of EV owners who have signed up for the program and is used to smooth out the grid during these high usage days. The owners who have signed up for the program control how many kilowatts will be pulled from their battery. In one article I read a Tesla owner made almost $1100 last year in this program. A program like this is also available in other states like Massachusetts and I believe California. One Tesla owner in Massachusetts made close to $2000, allowing his Tesla vehicle to be used as a collective “peaker plant”. Also, large mega pack batteries are being built out in Texas, California, and other states which helped to balance out the grid during high usage days. At least two peaker plants have been decommissioned as a result.

[@landontesar3070]

Like that Peter has upgraded Texas to the status of Country

[@ryanviningtube]

Press X to doubt

[@corradoalamanni179]

X

[@johnparnell9488]

Texas Derangement Syndrome? 🤔

[@w8stral]

***X***

[@ryanviningtube]

@@johnparnell9488 Texas is far from perfect, but thinking the Feds are going to be able to solve a problem than the Texans can't solve for themselves is insanity. If we start getting California style brown outs, you can better believe that shit will get fixed, and actually fixed, not California fixed

[@coryg1109]

So what you are telling me is that ERCOT has not interests in making money? That's seems a little odd. And I can remember when I lived there that storm came through, took out the electricity and we were up in a few days. Now, taking electricity out in Houston, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, is like taking electricity out in NYC area (A nice little stupper storm Sandy). That took a long while for that area, with it's great electrical system, weeks to repair. Note, that was a "Super Storm" whereas Houston area gets whacked with actually Hurricanes.

[@Tootsie806]

Why is it that Texas always gets flack for their energy, but states that also have blackouts due to weather events are never discussed?

[@jamesyoung187]

Because Texas has an independent power grid and the socialists/communists/democrats hate that. If it came down to applying pressure on a state to kow-tow to unconstitutional federal gov't actions, don't think for a second that they wouldn't use cutting power to the state as leverage.

[@w8stral]

Look WHO is doing the talking. Corrupt Leftists.

[@massengineer7582]

That's not the principal topic of Peter's video. He says Texas' regulatory model has led to not enough peaker plants to handle the highest demand.

[@FloofyGaming]

There are two different kinds of power failures. The major storms we had through the Dallas area in May 2024 are not ERCOT's fault. We got hit by such powerful winds that much of our physical infrastructure was damaged - in terms of poles, lines etc. This is the kind of stuff that happens in other states. However, what happened in the 2021 winter storm was ABSOLUTELY ERCOT's fault, because they did not have properly winterized equipment. I don't think a *state wide* storm was ever in the books, but we DO get localized storms in some part of the state every year. To add to that, we have had issues where ERCOT wasn't generating enough power during the summer, and we've had regular threats of brownouts during the hottest time of the year, which should be standard practice since it does get hot in the state and always has. Even if there was no precedent for the winter storm, there is always a precedent that should be taken as a gold standard with our summers. ERCOT deserves all the flack they get. Especially because they're supposed to be for Texas and in the interest of Texans, yet most of their board until a year or two ago, wasn't even IN Texas to begin with.

[@jamesyoung187]

Texas has an independent electrical grid. That is not liked by the socialists/communists/democrats due to it's independence. Power on a Federal grid can be turned off to a state if the federal gov't wants to apply pressure/leverage to force the state to accept unconstitutional mandates.

[@jwarmstrong]

My company gets the memo to winterize piping before the freeze since none of us wants to work outside in temperatures lower than 30 F - Many substations have 2 megawatt gas fired generations for peak loads even though our grid is connected to other States that seem to fail too often -

[@WilliamF-o4w]

In every country and every locality that has gone heavily into renewables, the cost of electricity has doubled or more, Just like in CA. This is because renewables need a backup system when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. Grid level batteries are extremely expensive and offer very little energy backup. We are all paying for a dual generation system, one renewable and one fossil. The capital costs for renewables are quite high on a $/MWH basis. What makes renewables slightly cheaper overall is the fuel cost is zero, so operating costs are less than fossil, however, when the necessary backup power is added in, renewables are more expensive. Think about a future grid which might be 40% solar, 40% wind, and 20% other. Every night 40% of the whole grids generating capacity stops across the whole of the country for 12 hours. If the wind doesn’t blow much in a wind heavy area like West Texas you may lose an additional 20% generating capacity for a 60% total decrease. There is no interconnect that is going to make up for this manmade disaster. There aren’t enough batteries on the planet to make up for this either. Way too little reality and way too much Hopium.This is the problem with politicians that try to do engineering.

[@rickwierzbicki2400]

Hydro electric generation is renewable and it runs all the time.

[@massengineer7582]

As you say solar is regularly unavailable. Wind is intermittently unavailable. If some place needs 10 gigawatts from wind, they're going to have to install 15 or 20 or maybe 30 gigawatts of peak theoretical wind capacity, in geographically separated areas, to handle lulls in wind. But have to do it if you want, for example, Phoenix to be livable for maybe another 40 years instead of only 20. Look up the number of days they had over 100° in 2024, or over 110°.

[@massengineer7582]

@@rickwierzbicki2400 hydro has always been pretty great, so much so that, and here's the big downside, almost all the feasible hydro has been built already. Also in a few cases like the Hoover dam or lake Meade, rainfall has decreased so much the hydro generation may stop.

[@benf1111]

Or deregulation...just like in California. ENRON is the gift that keeps on giving.

[@MrDael01]

​@@rickwierzbicki2400not in west Texas which is flat

[@neilwani1178]

I live in Texas. I just installed ground mount solar panels. I dont want solar panels on my roof. Its so easy to work on the panels with a ground mount. Im still tied to the grid with my 4 ton and 5 ton ac units. My solar goes into an inverted that feeds 3 minisplits. And I have a propane generator in case the inverter battery gets to low or the grid goes down. I think the future is solar and an inverter with a propane generator. So you dont have to depend on the grid. And so you dont pay a huge bill in the summer months.

[@Halbared]

Or Texans could improve their infrastructure and build plants?

[@dirtydish6642]

Only if the investing class sees a profit to be had.

[@jimmorrison3740]

The Texans in my neighborhood-in Texas- ALL got backup generators after the 2020 “Snowpocolypse.” Whole-home backup batteries are also growing in popularity. We hope to add that this year. Texans seem to prefer ro fix their own situations, rather than have big brother “fix” them. At least those of us outside of metro. Also, Texas can change their regulations to make NEEDED infrastructure changes economically viable. Don’t need the Fed. Don’t need Not-Texas.

[@lookatchoo247]

The owners like to keep demand high and supply low. Works better for their bottom line.

[@dirtydish6642]

​@@jimmorrison3740 Good for you and your neighbors. Most, though, cannot afford the same.

[@Hawtload]

yeah we had a week with small periods of power while the lakes were completely frozen over, but the grid has been fine where I'm at since then.

[@Erik_Ice_Fang]

Texas doesn't have the biggest swings of temperature low to high. Just in northern Illinois the normal difference from highest to lowest temprature over a year is about 120 degrees. During my five years in Texas, I saw an average of 95 degree differences. The plains and midwest are far more brutal, as well as some mountain areas and the Great Lakes border

[@pilotusa]

I think Zeihan was considering the swings on a statewide basis and not comparing them to portions of states.

[@cantrell0817]

He might've been referring to high/low pressure differences. Ever heard of the West Texas winds?

[@MrNicoJac]

He said swings in consumer demand, not just temperature, iirc?

[@Erik_Ice_Fang]

@@MrNicoJac if he did, then I am mistaken here

[@Erik_Ice_Fang]

@@cantrell0817 I lived in both states for significant periods. Texas winds pale in conparison to Illinois

[@Puzekat2]

In Florida, Tampa Electric has added extra fees into our bill and residential is charged a flat rate per day whether we use electricity or not. The electric bill taxes-fees, have doubled in four years to be over 30% of cost. These old plants burn dirty coal.

[@HH-le1vi]

If you're getting your power from Big Bend Power Station, almost all of the coal power generation is clean coal. It's not like it was from the 70s.

[@magellannh645]

Peter missed the most important factor driving peaker plants off the grid. Gas peaker plants are all dead men walking in texas because of a mass deployment of battery storage (BESS), not because of deregulation or regulation or anything else. Peak load on the texas grid is 86 gw. Of that, about 50% comes from combined cycle natural gas plants. These are different from peaker plants. Next, wind provides about 20%, then coal about 18%. Nuclear provides 6% and solar provides 4%. The average retail cost per kwh in texas is 14 cents which is about 25% lower than the national average. Peaker plants in texas are being outcompeted by battery storage systems (BESS) because they're cheaper to build and operate. Texas currently has 6 gw of BESS capacity and growing versus only 2 gw of peaker capacity and shrinking. Based on the interconnection queue in Texas, batteries are on track to grow to 20-40 gw in the next couple of years. Batteries charge when there's lots of extra power and power costs are low and discharge when power costs rise. They basically make their money on the spread between the high and the low price. Peakers can only survive if real time prices swing wildly during periods of excess demand and all the new battery systems have seriously reduced those wild price swings. This means lower overall power prices for consumers as these price swings are minimized by batteries. Batteries also provide microsecond response times during a grid emergency, so they help stabilize the grid compared to a peaker plant that takes at least several minutes to ramp up.

[@Drmcclung]

Batteries.. lol. Just, lol.

[@copperdragon9041]

Batteries do not help peak load draw, they stabilise the micro market pricing. You are typical smoke and mirror word smithing. The Texas grid has been a shithole compared to othe states reliability and safety.

[@erikkovacs3097]

Battery storage is literally the most expensive energy storage system. Pumped hydro is the cheapest. I'm not sure you can compare it to peaker plants because peaker plants are not energy storage. Both serve different purposes.

[@magellannh645]

@@erikkovacs3097 It comes down to whether you need more generation or whether you just need to smooth the generation you already have. Texas has plenty of generation, it's just that demand is really lumpy. CC natural gas plants in texas ran at an average capacity factor of 41% in 2024. That means Texas could get 2.5 times more energy out of these plants without even building anything new. Batteries on the texas grid are causing higher utilization of assets that have already been paid for by moving some of their output to different times of day when that output is needed. Instead of ramping down gas plants or curtailing wind output and throwing it away, the output goes into batteries when it can be used later when it's really needed.

[@CESmith]

6gw/86gw or 7% of peak capacity. Others are correct in that it is expensive to install. Maybe you'll be correct and they'll make the needed investments, but it is the most price sensitive market.

[@djdraper2164]

"...from Oklahoma!" As an okie, I'm sure my first reaction should be to take some kind of offense. But all I can do is laugh! Peter said in a previous episode a few months back that our best bet economically was to "feed the beast". We'll be here when you need us. We give each other a lot of shit, but we make great neighbors.

[@gshann73]

No. Texas is fine. They had one unexpected storm back in 2021 that they’ve since made adjustments from. The biggest problem that Texas has right now is keeping up with the influx of people running for their lives from Democrat-run states like California. A state which has FREQUENT problems that are so common that they can be forecasted, yet they’ve seemed to learn nothing. Trump has no interest in controlling Texas’ power grid. But California? Yeah, if they want Federal funding I think they give up control of their water and their forests as an opening offer. They’ve proven that they cannot manage it on their own.

[@richdurbin6146]

This assumes Texas just lets problems continue with no response. It’s well within Texas’ ability to incentivize building additional capacity, or peakers, battery farms or whatever else is necessary.

[@MchaelHowell]

Ercot killed hundreds during the last big freeze.

[@cuatro336]

And they create a Soviet-style model for buying and selling electricity.

[@mrocean8139]

Yeet yeet, no lights on my street.

[@Brent-z2s]

Why have your own grid if you are going to follow the same stupid policy as the other grids. Pushing green.

[@marianneb.7112]

You are free to fail. Again.

[@glike2]

Good news but they could build massive battery storage also

[@rjkennett934]

1. Hook up a bunch of exercise bikes and treadmills to generate electricity. 2. Place them in a location where there are a lot of people with little to do. Say, the Texas prison system. 3. ??? 4. Profit!

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

3. Hook up a row of grafix cards in series to mine the BitterCoin.

[@notatheory4488]

They do this in Japan in high traffic areas. It’s part of their sidewalks

[@kq2799]

America is WALL-E- now, good luck...

[@man_at_the_end_of_time]

Naw hook the generators to flywheels driven by oars to celebrate to practice of using slaves and prisoners to drive ships.

[@ChrisBBozeman]

That just sounds like slavery with extra steps.

[@garyfoster738]

I don't know if it's true today but back in the 90s when I lived in West Texas I never seen an AC unit attached to a residential home. You could not afford electricity to run the AC unit. Everybody ran swamp coolers on their roofs and they were most efficient

[@deahelkcunklaer2180]

Cheaper and cheaper battery costs will make solar and wind a more stable constant supply of power. How is this not mentioned?

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

@deahelkcunklaer2180-- It is still too expensive and at best the panels are only collecting about 30 percent of the time. It is impossible as a sole source of dependable energy in most places.

[@Alexadria205]

​@@JohnSmith-ti2kpYou are pulling that 30% number out of your a$$. Solar+batteries is already the most economical power source in all of the southwest. The only thing stopping the buildout is politics.

[@Bigmojojo]

Solar is cheaper because 97% of it is made in China. Both solar and wind suck as base load power suppliers and neither can handle peak demands even with batteries. They also take up more land to be used then other sources. Nuclear is King of badeload, natural gas is best for peak load, and solar and wind are still just best for adding extra power to the grind.

[@SolAce-nw2hf]

Exactly. If there is anything that runs well on solar it is airconditioning. Add some home batteries and you're done.

[@intrude6014]

I broke down and purchased a whole home generator . I was tired of blackouts break down in the local grid that takes days to fix. The problem is kickbacks to the people running our state gov. that let ERCOT not modernize their grid

[@garybennett8880]

Hell no.Texas must stay independent whenever possible.

[@chrishooge3442]

independence? even when the lights go out?

[@hydroac9387]

Asking for help...from Oklahoma!! Great ending! ;) I will be looking forward to the failure both deregulation in Texas and overregulation in California. But both of these important states will probably defend their position till their dying breath because of idiotic ideology. There has to be a middle ground between deregulated Texas and overregulated California.

[@jamesyoung187]

Yes, Federal regulation did so well for the California Power Grid................. SMH There are those in the Federal gov't that hate that Texas has an independent power grid.

[@Migolcow]

I don't live there anymore, but a big part of the problem back then was the power companies colluding to create even bigger problems to make more money, IE the "Death Star and other scams. Then when they were caught...they ended up not really paying due to congress. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Star_%28business%29 for some details and easily searched in other places if you don't like wikipedia.

[@jradzm9025]

Yes California has gone well. Might change in the future because electric cars

[@ronclark9724]

If the feds regulation is working so great in California, why are there so many ROLLING BLACKOUTS? Duh...

[@thecustodian1023]

@@jradzm9025 How do you get power out of your EV when you never had it available to put in in the first place?

[@thecustodian1023]

@@ronclark9724 Everyone is equal at the bottom. Remember?

[@davechapman6609]

There is a third option: Build, baby, build. Of course, this will require allowing people to build . It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[@ryanwschneeberger]

Tesla Megapacks.

[@dennisclapp7527]

Thanks Peter

[@Squad23jta]

Oklahoma, oh no! Texans would rather die than admit they need help from the Sooner state.

[@cjude0444]

Wannabe Texans

[@george2113]

​​@@cjude0444No, they could move across the common border if they wanted to be Texans

[@bonanzatime]

Damn MAGA!😂

[@bill8985]

I think the song goes, "Oklahoma, O K"

[@jimmorrison3740]

Texas is not in need of assistance from Not-Texas.

[@jonesfromindiana5692]

How does the northeastern section of texas that falls within the MISO grid do?

[@sephiroth7464]

They wanted independence so bad, I say leave them to their fate.

[@pilotusa]

Looks like the only way we can get Cancun Ted out of the senate is for Texas to secede. I say: "Stop the incessant, annoying threats and GO FOR IT!"

[@bobgriffith1810]

There is no serious movement to secede here in Texas.

[@generybarczyk6993]

Lately I've been wondering if we're building the wall along the wrong Texas border.

[@bobgriffith1810]

@@pilotusa You can’t win a senate seat in Texas when your hero is a supporter of Mayorkas and his version of border control,, Cruz won because his opponent was terrible and his brain was on permanent vacation.

[@generybarczyk6993]

@@pilotusa Rather than get into that whole secession hassle again, how about instead a Constitutional amendment that makes Texas a territory. Or, failing that, a president could declare Texas a national monument, and we could hand management over to the the National Park Service---with all its rules. I'd suggest just a court action finding the entire population incompetent by reason of insanity, but then we'd have to do the same thing to Arizona---and that's where I live.

[@nyhammer1]

The modern ''peakers'' are called battery storage.

[@shodanxx]

The grid is designed in such heirloom antique way. Power a single grid in synchro is elegant use of transformers but a much more resonnable step would be to segment even the gigantic Texan grid into a large amount of small island that do out of sync energy conversion and to also do conversion between the west and east grids so they never have to sync.But that's going to take many funeral in the grid design philosophy until such a break with the past comes to pass.

[@paullangford8179]

Funny thing, Europe seems to manage, and that's definitely bigger than Texas.

[@scottlindquist8417]

@@paullangford8179 That’s right, Europe smart, Texas not so much.🤭

[@kayleigh2861]

Texas is too reliant on wind power, as evidenced by frozen windmills during the deep freeze a few years ago. I’m all for having multiple forms of energy, but we need a backup available for when the weather is bad.

[@lookatchoo247]

@kayleigh2861 Bless your heart... Why don't windmills freeze in the North Sea, in Indiana, or Minnesota? Hint: What cost cutting did TX allow that caused perfectly good windmills to freeze up? Think. I know it's hard. You can do it!

[@ACME18]

Dear Peter, can you tell us next week, what we already discussed this week? Cool, thanks Buddy! 😂

[@littlerainyone]

Great video, but I was left with a lot of questions. (1) Is there no way to tweak the capacity market model to incentivize the construction of peaker plants? (2) Why can't we incentivize that by simply allowing higher charges during peak hours? (3) What do you mean when you say that we discourage "adding to the grid" with solar because with intermittent supplies like solar that cannot supply day-to-day requirements around the clock, "the costs cannot be passed on to the consumer"? Perhaps this subject merits a longer video.

[@gregshan]

oh you expect the Ledge NOT to write law that's already pre-written by the power industry--these are the same clowns who signed up the pumping stations for gas in extreme cold to be offline under a federal program that gave them a subsidy so their own gas fired electrical plants went off line because they couldnt get any gas to burn

[@chuckcosby1681]

I was raised in Houston Texas. I am curious as to why you didn’t talk the massive battery backup used to store solar power. These batteries also act as peaker plants and have no greenhouse emissions.

[@motekm3]

It’s true that Texas has less regulations than other states, but it’s still heavily-regulated. It’s also true we have brown and blackouts, but Texans expect that since we have cheap power and we plan for emergencies with generators, powered by cheap gas, and support from our neighbors. While not an ideal system, having heavily regulated utilities provide power 99% of the time, and individuals and businesses responsible for the other 1%, is still a better system then asking utilities to provide 99.9999% uptime.

[@anthonykaiser974]

That's dumb. Except for storm damage, here in the Midwest, we don't have brown/blackouts. Maybe accept reasonable costs and regulation.

[@michaelmachiavelli]

As an Oklahoman: *Looks at Tx power grid*: hahahaha😆😆 *Looks at Texans electric bill*: HAHAHAHA😅😅 *Looks at Tx "regulations"*: bwahahaha😂😂 *Looks at Tx future where it depends on Oklahoma for water AND power* BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@mosw5]

Why not build nuclear plants?

[@FreDePeuter]

Nuclear power plants are baseload; the complete opposite of peaker plants

[@Alexadria205]

They take 10 to 20 years to build, cost 10s of billions to build, and people don't want to live near them. It doesn't jive well with the quick short term profits model.

[@Bigmojojo]

No one wants a nuclear shortage facility in their state, fears of a Chernobyl, and self illusion that solar and wind can power everything 24/7

[@lookatchoo247]

Didn't you learn about Three Mile Island? How about Chernobyl? How about the Fukushima Daiichi disaster?

[@curtiselmore727]

We should. They don't take 10-20 yrs to build. They take 2 yrs to build and 8-18 to regulate. Nobody died at 3-mile Island, Chernobyl was a soviet debacle using 50's technology, and Fukushima was a tsunami. China will pass us up in energy production if the ludite greenies who won in Germany win in the US

[@mickjayplays]

As a Texan...you nailed it. And the little end dig made me LOL FR. Damn good summary of the idiocy we have running this state.

[@inigoromon1937]

What passes for lack of regulation IS just slack and not listening to technicians and thinking that you are smarter than others. Rubbish.

[@lyndellucas161]

We didn't have this problem until they started closing Coal fired power plants but lets ignore that

[@chrishooge3442]

Who closed the coal fired plants? The regulators didn't force it. The generators like NG much better. They don't have to ship, store, and dispose of coal and it's ash. And the shale fields are generating plenty of cheap NG which would otherwise be flared off as a wastage. So as coal plants reach end of life they are being replaced by NG.

[@bill8985]

Congratulations! @1:40 - "...there's a little bit of an ideologic slant here..." win's this week's award for understatements! No peaker plants is the most stupid, er.. uh.. (coughTexas) thing I've ever heard.

[@brennus01]

TX has the most solar of any state in the Union. Also stoopit.

[@bill8985]

@@brennus01 Then why no peaker plants? If you look at a daily power consumption curve, it wriggles like a cottonmouth chasing your dog in a creek. Peaker plants are a low operational and capital cost option to handle the peaks. Texas probably also has the highest installation of wind farms, too. But they are also, like solar, intermittent. I love the renewables... So, get the politics out of the way, and lower conventional baseload production, have quick-to-spin-up peakers and maybe, some day, more energy storage to capture the excess power from renewables. Then, Texas can have a more robust grid, Ercot or not.

[@brennus01]

@@bill8985 There are between 5 and 6 dozen hydrocarbon-fueled peaker plants in TX. Depending on what you want to call a peaker plant. The decision to build NG peakers, battery, or solar is primarily impacted by federal incentives...not regional regulation.

[@ronmorrell9809]

Building molten sodium nuclear plants is an encouraging peaker option. It's being trialled by TerraPower in Wyoming. The generation capacity is larger than the nuclear capacity. During low demand, a tank of molten sodium metal is heated above 1000 deg. At peak, this stored heat is used to generate steam for maximum use of the generators. Nuclear plants work best at constant power, preferably full power. This allows variable electricity output without throttling the nuclear pile. The heat can be used directly for industrial purposes.

[@bill8985]

@@brennus01 I have to apologize... you are right. Then what the hell is Peter Zeihan talking about? I know a few years ago during the cold freeze that the grid failed - but now see it failed because the climate swings have changed and the under-regulated power agency (Ercot) did not bother to deal with preventing wet gas from condensing and freezing during an especially prolonged cold snap, causing a big loss of generation capacity when it was probably needed most. But Peter is also correct that when a commodity supplier of critical infrastructure is only constrained by a profit motive, things don't get built that should be built.

[@philipcaldwell3187]

Freeze a minuscule quarter inch pressure sensing line and down goes a 1,200 mw nuclear generation source, replicate this lack of mitigation across hundreds of smaller natural gas fired turbine “peaker” powered generation units and TX goes dark. Funny thing is this is “power plant reliability 101 mitigation” practice that has been around since Edison but running heat trace tape on all of those instrumentation lines cost a few extra bucks. Since the MBA thinking with a singular goal was supply and demand profit value creation those few bucks for freeze mitigation weren’t deemed necessary. Hence when He’ll did freeze over the design goals were achieved and He’ll froze, financial performance planning got an A+++++ (and huge bonuses to reward their genius).

[@carmenmccauley585]

Regulation is absolutely necessary to curb greed and consider consumers.

[@gagamba9198]

Choice is a better way to consider consumers because they can vote with their wallets. Monopolies, even those under the loving thumb of the Palace of Obedience, are the antithesis of choice. 'This is what you get.'

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

I don't think in Texas they teach that part of the Bible where greed is a sin/vice.

[@frenchydampier2209]

Giga battery parks will solve the problem of high demand periods. They can and will be recharged by solar and wind. Plus off peak generation of surplus power can easily be used to charge batteries for peak demand times.

[@TheatricsOfTheAbsurd]

Here come the Texans in the chat defending the shit show of a state Texas has become. How TEXANS FORGET about Anne Richard's contributions to the state.

[@kq2799]

It's all tribal now with sore winner mentality...

[@TheatricsOfTheAbsurd]

@kq2799 Facts.

[@Jakethebeard]

High im peter zeihan, and i just had 4 beers.

[@DB-nu8tr]

Texas EXPORTs power. Texas has power.

[@txhookey5608]

Texas has power but it doesn't have a reasonable grid management plan with keeping lines clear and updating "end of life" sections of the grid. The big freeze wasn't caused by a lack of power, it was caused by ERCOT purposefully waiting to buy Natural Gas after the price had peaked. There are many influential Texans with ownership stakes in Natural Gas companies and they all made billions of additional profits during that one week period. ERCOT needs to stop focusing on the needs of the ultra-wealthy and making reasonable efforts to manage and maintain our existing grid. Oklahoma power is more than welcome here in Texas. With the irresponsible level of over development that is currently going on in Texas, it's going to be needed. Disband ERCOT, they have proven multiple times they are not a reasonable solution.

[@SawseFaunce]

Nothing around resiliency programs going through the PUC right now?