Destructive storm leaves downed power transmission lines

Miya Shay was in west Harris County where storms struck with force Thursday evening.
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[@45035]

Been living down here in Texas all my 63 years of life. Don`t remember this ever happening. O my

[@edbouhl3100]

Another utility disaster brought to you by the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT). The same bunch who approved the standards that didn’t require winterization of power plants, allowing them to freeze and go offline in Feb. 2021. That board got the boot in mid-2021 when Texas laws were changed. Doesn’t look like the new board more directly controlled by the governor is doing much better. Texas has its own power grid, so no other state can be blamed for contributing to any problems.

[@Zeakthecat]

alright first of all, that winter storm in feburary of 2021 was a once in a 1000 year winter storm. obviously they didn't think it would go as far south as the equator and they could put off any serious winterization close enough to the equator. another thing about that power grid, was everything got froze, from gas lines to wind turbines, and finally the texas power grid can buy power from other states to help with demand, like from oklahoma, arkansas, and even new mexico, and that only goes so far.
another important thing to note was that lessons WERE learned from that, and winterization had began after that.
this is different from the winter event of feb 2021, those lines were taken down by high winds, and they are engineered for it because its basically hurricane central near Galveston but high enough winds can take down even the strongest of transmission lines, like what you see here. thats a engineering limitation that cannot be easily overcome. you can cry, bitch and moan all you damn well want but thats the reality of it, you simply cannot engineer against 100+ mph winds for a transmission line, that just cannot happen unless we start building carbon nanotubes that are supposed to be stronger than steel itself and lighter than aluminum.
so theres not much you can do about high wind/straight line wind damage like what you see there.
ERCOT is not responsible this time and this isn't some utility disaster, its just what happens when you have high enough winds.

[@edbouhl3100]

@@Zeakthecat The forensic engineering reports should make interesting reading.
“FERC does not have jurisdiction over the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the operator of the Texas grid.”
“In 2011, FERC probed ways to protect the Texas grid from power outages after a cold snap that was milder than the most recent one. Its recommendations included winterization of natural gas and other installations. Texas authorities never implemented those recommendations, leaving the state's grid vulnerable.”
‘Regulators issue standards to prevent another Texas grid freeze’, September 23, 2021, Reuters News

[@muhammadabdel1201]

According to Israel the storm was Hamas.

[@Lobonova]

Free snackbar at moohammad shack.

[@muhammadabdel1201]

@@Lobonova No way, I can't even cook food for myself right now and I only have 1 bag of baked sour cream and onion chips to snack on.

[@WiIdbiII]

It only stands to reason , if developers keep building and more people from other states keep moving here, the electric supply cannot keep up with the demand without updating and building New power generating plants.

[@mexidraw]

This is so bad…

[@OoSpellheartOo]

Texas has been getting pummeled.

[@bolanosdavid32]

What do scientists know about climate change.

[@edbouhl3100]

Since their decades old projections are appearing on schedule, clearly quite a bit.