Who should manage and be accountable for electricity in Texas? Politicians and bureaucrats with special interests everywhere? Or corporations with their own capital on the line?
In light of the second anniversary of the Texas Power Crisis of February 2021 (see yesterday), the answer would seem obvious. Grade A corporations, with the legal responsibility to customers, not politicians.
I was reminded of this when I read a Fox News story (February 7, 2023), “Texas State Senator Arrested for Drunk Driving.” Charles Schwertner, a Republican, “was set to preside over a Senate committee meeting at 11 a.m. regarding Texas’ power grid and recent winter outages.”
Another news account stated:
… Continue ReadingSchwertner, who leads the Senate’s Business and Commerce Committee, was expected at the Capitol at 11 a.m.
“So here is the study that PUCT, FERC, Rice, UT, etc. do not want to do. It is very politically incorrect. Without wind and solar forcing, what would the wholesale margins have been, and how much thermal capacity would there have been? The study could do runs of wind/solar at 90% of the-then level … 75% …. 50% …. 25%.”
This exchange concerns a new University of Texas summary, “Two years after its historic deep freeze, Texas is increasingly vulnerable to cold snaps – and there are more solutions than just building power plants.” My interpretation—and policy recommendations—are exactly opposite of the UTA op-ed (see here), so I responded and was pleased to get some pushback from Professor Webber.
On LinkedIn, Webber wrote: “You might find our latest article to be of interest.…
Continue Reading“Forcibly moving the market via equipment costs is a typical DOE strategy. And then they say, ‘let the market decide’.”
On January 30, 2023, National Public Radio (NPR) published an episode, How Worried Should You Be About Your Gas Stove? On February 4, NPR released a follow up: Gas stove makers have a pollution solution. They’re just not using it. Listen to both audio clips.
NPR’s advocates are part of a choir trying to justify ending natural gas combustion, starting with gas stoves. They are just as purposefully misleading as the rest of the choir.
Policy Concern
The concern should not be about gas stove usage but the public policy of The Biden Administrative State to wean consumers off the direct use of natural gas and propane and on to electric appliances, ASAP. …
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