So, I haven’t quite shaken the aftereffects of Winnie the Flu; possibly not even WuFlu itself. I tested at the beginning of the month, expecting to be cleared, but no. I was still positive. Extremely tired; no energy, slightest effort left me gasping for breath and my chest hurting. But everything was looking up by the weekend…
Then the cold snap from hell hit. Let me make this perfectly clear: the problem is ERCOT, the Electricity (UN)Reliability Council Of Texas. It’s an association of producers, consumers, and others (mostly producers) that manages the state power grid. Unlike the other 47 lower states, Texas has kept it’s grid free from Federal regulation by making it Texas-only. Which
, thanks to the issues of regulatory capture, means that the LAST time this happened, ten years ago, the state legislature declined to make any requirements for winterizing the plants mandatory. ERCOT make big balley-hoo over their recommended changes…which weren’t implemented. And over-reliance on green energy meant the wind turbines in west Texas froze up. Meanwhile, plants that were designed for use during summer demand were not prepped; sitting there in cold oil and with frozen cooling pipes.
But hey, global warming is going to take care of all that, right? Assuming the Maunder Minimum doesn’t get us with the glaciers I was assured (as a kid) that would cover the US down to Missouri.
I may have to take up politics again. Dammit. Oh, and I seem to be relapsing from the lack of power (temporarily alleviated), stress, and work to deal with frozen pipes
, no water, etc.
