ERCOT

The company that is failing Texas to supply electricity states supply and demand requires higher rates.

According to Reuters reporting on February 14, 2021 the cost of wholesale electricity spiked 10,000 percent. Pre-storm price was $30 per megawatt hour. It now sells the same commodity at $9000.

The PUC (Public Utility Commission) of Texas has a “UTILI-FACTS” page on “Charges on Your Electric Bill” that would give any accountant fainting spells. No wonder they have their own grid; it’s a racket and the federal system has no relationship.

PUC offers about five different types of rates. Sign onto a long term contract and a consumer won’t pay $9000/kilowatt hour. But, if a Texan felt lucky and opted for the wholesale price moment to moment they could see themselves on the hook for utility payments that will follow them to their grave. 

Why waste a good storm on cheap rates when ERCOT has to pay the lawsuits for the dead?

There needs to be a federal investigation into the state, ERCOT and their relationship to consumers. Before this storm there were some federal regulations that would apply like requesting ERCOT to maximize its output. Both Texas and the US Department of Energy asked ERCOT to maximize its output but with the infrastructure collapse there was no capacity to increase.

There is a lot wrong with this paradigm and it is not beneficial to Texans. Playing Russian Roulette with a Texan’s utility bill is a horrible policy, especially when the state government doesn’t even see this coming to warn consumers. Texas needs to formally recognize the climate crisis and prepare its infrastructure accordingly.

Livestock Pavilion

It is a little late in the game but better late than never. 

Livestock pavilions with a base for them to stand on will give them a slight advantage in strong winds. Standing on the pavilion will keep it from blowing away.

I was in northwest Michigan when the Arctic came during the winter of 2012-2013. It was cold and snowy beyond any winter before. My Jeep earned a place of honor that winter. It would crank up and roll through 3 feet of snow like it wasn’t even there.

It was bitter cold from end of December 2012 thru the second week of March. There was nothing but clouds for the entire time with an occasional blue patch to let you know there really was a sky up there. There was 220 inches of snow that fell and it was a constant chore to keep from being snowed in without access to the road.

I had a carport that was big enough to keep most of the snow from falling under the roof. I was volunteering at an art house that year and every show that was shown had a fresh batch of popcorn. It only makes sense that no one would buy hours old popcorn. So before the beginning of the next show the old popcorn was bagged to discard it. By the end of the evening there were several large bags of popcorn headed for the trash. So, instead I would put that popcorn in the Jeep to take it home.

Popcorn with butter was a perfect winter food for the wildlife. Lots of carbs in the popcorn and fat in the butter. All that equaled calories to burn for body heat. The problem was how to get the wildlife a reliable place to eat. Into the story comes the carport. I would leave the Jeep half out of the carport and use the front half to dump the popcorn. They found it and made it through a winter that would freeze a Wooly Mammoth.

Beef cows can grow a good coat given half a chance. But, it is the wind that will take their body heat. If they had a shelter near food and water they would probably figure out a way to huddle together to keep warm. Now, Texas ranchers know their livestock better than I, but, if they had some kind of wind break it would provide a better chance to them.

This entry is not to discourage anyone from vaccination.

I had my first dose of “Moderna” vaccine. I had no adverse reaction.

I did have a reaction to it about an hour after the injection. I felt fatigue in the way of needing rest. I think I dropped my blood pressure because immediately my heart started pounding in my chest. That pounding lasted 15 minutes. I had no chest pain. My heart never missed a beat. 

I think the body’s reaction to an mRNA vaccine is a brief sense of shock. The mRNA is a foreign body entering the body and ultimately the blood stream. Like, getting an infusion of the wrong blood type only far, far less severe. The human body can only react so many ways to day to day life and in this case a vaccine against a deadly virus. 

I never was worried that it was harming me. I recognized that my body was taking appropriate measures to identify and counter a strange substance that shouldn’t be there. No injection site inflammation or anything like that. Just a brief episode of what I believe was mild shock.

I am among the current population prioritized to receive the Moderna shot. I feel lucky today and know after six weeks from today and a second shot I will have achieved 95 percent immunity from SARS-CoV-2. 

If Ted Cruz is ever elected again...

 ...Texans should be ashamed of themselves. He went on a planned vacation when Texas has the worst catastrophe of it’s history.

President Biden is more worried about Texas than the state’s own Senator.