Texas internet connectivity declining due to blackouts

Tue Feb 16 19:28:56 UTC 2021

On Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 04:17:15AM +0000, Robert Jacobs wrote:
> How about letting us Texans have more natural gas power plants or even
> let the gas be delivered to the plants we have so they can provide more
> power in an emergency.  Did not help that 20% of our power is now wind
> which of course in an ice storm like we are having is shut off... Lots
> of issues and plenty of politics involved here..

First, wind-generation-is-responsible-for-this is a canard that's
already been debunked elsewhere in this thread.

Second, wind generation works just fine all winter in places like
Quebec and the Alps because they design, build, and operate it to.
Various de-icing solutions have been available for years, and market
competition is continuously making them better and cheaper.

Third, trying to slap a fossil fuel band-aid on a problem whose root
cause is...wait for it...fossil fuels...while certainly a tempting option,
is not a viable long-term solution.

---rsk