“On Monday, wind was functioning at 8 percent, which is not unheard of,” so it was weird to be called out in the press release, because it’s something that we know happens so we should be ready for that sort of thing.” – Joshua Rhodes, Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. July 15, 2022

[Electricity] anxiety, coupled with misleading claims about the role of renewable energy in power outages, may also leave Texans disillusioned about the future of clean energy. – ICN, below)

We will see if Texas’s wounded electricity grid escapes conservation alerts and rolling blackouts in the next month. But a false narrative has been set: it is fossil fuels plants that are unreliable, since everyone knows that wind and solar are intermittent and will not show up at times.…

“While solar power is generally reaching near-full generation capacity, wind generation is currently generating significantly less than what it historically generated in this time period. Current projections show wind generation coming in less than 10 percent of its capacity.” (ERCOT, below)

“The saga is not over but will likely get worse. Wind and solar are still being added to the grid, and the politicians and regulators will have to resort to more and more intervention to keep the lights on over time.” (RLB, below)

The Sunday announcement was for yesterday: a conservation alert between 2 pm and 8 pm because of disappearing wind power:

ERCOT Issues Conservation Appeal to Texans and Texas Businesses

Appeal Effective Monday, July 11, 2022

With extreme hot weather driving record power demand across Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is issuing a Conservation Appeal, asking Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity, Monday, July 11 between 2-8 p.m.…

“Thanks Rob Bradley for coming here to confirm Exxon’s (and by extension your) lies.” (Gunnar Schade, Texas A&M University)

“Enron was the bad firm; ExxonMobil under Lee Raymond was the good firm. Energy affordability matters! Happy to debate this with you at Texas A&M!” (Bradley, below)

On social media, Goran Janjic, self-described “Head of Sustainability | Business Strategist | Managing Director | Corporate and Government Affairs Leader,” shared a recent article (Tracing Big Oil’s PR War to Delay Action on Climate Change” Harvard Gazette) and stated:

ExxonMobil has misled the public about #climatechange by telling the public one thing and then saying and doing the opposite behind closed doors.

The latest work shows that while their tactics have evolved from outright, blatant climate denial to more subtle forms of #lobbying and propaganda, their end goal remains the same.

Ed. Note: This post from 12 years ago recounts the political origins of the Texas wind power boom. It is also the prehistory of the Great Texas Blackout of February 2021. Note that critics of Texas’s intervention warned of reliability problems.

“Texas is the nation’s leader in wind energy thanks to our long-term commitment to bolstering renewable energy sources and diversifying the state’s energy portfolio.”

– Rick Perry, Texas Governor

“Our representatives [in the Texas Legislature] now have less than six weeks to pass the best of nearly 100 bills that have been introduced on clean power and green jobs. These energy efficiency and renewable energy bills set the stage for rebuilding, repowering and renewing our state’s economy during tough times. They will build a sustainable future for Texas.”

– Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen, April 2009

As reported by Russell Gold in the Wall Street Journal, (April 23, 2009), Texas, which has the strictest renewable energy mandate in the country, is about to increase its quota for the third time.…