Most days, following the energy news flow is a bit like swimming in a huge septic tank and doing it willingly for reasons of a highly selective kind of insanity. But there are some days when the tank stops stinking so much because Mistress Hard Reality has paid it a visit with a strong disinfectant.
So I saw the title and it had to be my first read of the morning. Then it had to be a listening session with my coffee and my cat, who turns down a cat who will be 21 in 2 days, you don't say no to that!
Thanks for the info on Texas, better reality than Mr. Lewin's crowing on his renewables saving the day and how well they have worked.... all heat off and windows wide open type weather.. so yes there is no need for extra generation , but solar will do it anyway whether you need it or not....when the sun shines..... then there's that pesky curtailment factor.
You rather made my day after finding out last night that there will be 4 - 5 battery storage facilities making a move on our county. Spent some time with politicians.... so needed a pick me up today - thanks.
and who doesn't love those "I told you so" days.....!!!
Fantastic summation, Irina. You almost make watching the destruction of the Enlightenment by the well-coiffed nincompoops fun. They have the answer to that septic tank problem, though. They'll simply ban bleach.
"If something can't go on forever, it won't." The questions, then, are how long until "Mistress Hard Reality" pays a visit, how much strong disinfectant she'll bring, and how much it will sting when she applies it.
"Total wind power output for the year came in at 4,500 GW..."
Irina, this number you quoted from Reuters doesn't seem to make any sense. First of all it's in units of power and not energy. Secondly a quick internet search reveals that the installed capacity for wind power in Texas is roughly 40,000 MW or 40 GW.
I have always loved Mistress Hard Reality. Especially the hip-high patent leather boots beneath the heels of which she squelches fairy tales like the Westchester Bartender Sandy's Green New Socialist Grift.
Another great article. I love how you combine the technical with the humorous. The opening paragraph is as good as it gets. I'm reminded of PJ O'Rourke & Hunter S Thompson. When a day without a smile or laughter, is not a day, thank goodness we can always rely on Irina.
Irina, great article! In the context of your article, I just finished watching this video with Michael Shellenberger and Sam Vaknin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS2ihUxMur0). I thought that this video would provide a psychological perspective on climate alarmist!
If it makes you feel better, a lot of American states are passing energy mandates that will damage the US economy as bad as Europe's. Not just California and New York, but recently Michigan as well.
Irina, we always like to get what you call 'good news'. But you may have underestimated the situation - "In the meantime, because New York is very firm in its net-zero goals, it is paying utilities $200 million in credit for the more than 8 million New Yorkers who pay through the nose for their electricity." 8 million is the population of NY City, but the entire state is over 20 million. I expect that it's the 20 million that will all have higher rates, but a distribution of $200 million would only give each resident about $10 of relief, if my math is correct...and then they'd have to pay the $200 million back in taxes anyway!
It gets better and better! A year or so ago I got very tired of the jousting match (cue scenes from A Knight's Tale) that is the so called Energy Transition debate and predicted the general public's excitement about green energy would start to wane once our utility bills started rising to pay for our neighbor's Tesla chargers and low and behold! Natural gas is apparently so abundant now that if we're still allowed to use it in our power plants the cost of electricity should be quite reasonable here in Texas. The last time it was around $2 (back during COVID), I was able to lock in a very nice price for my power on a 3 years contract. I had to renew it last year and it wasn't as nice. Imagine my excitement when gas hit lows I haven't seen since the 90s. I rushed to my computer to look for a new power deal. But, these rates are still 20% higher than I got last year. Gee, could it be the grid expansion/tie in costs ERCOT's tacked on to connect more renewables? Or possibly the guaranteed return to gas fired power plant operators who will have to fill in for renewables during off peak hours at lower rates? Or the payments to the bitcoin miners who've generously stepped up to use the "excess" renewable power during other times and get paid peak rates when they turn it off?
Where did the "affordable" part of wind and sun go? I can't even get to Dallas on a charge in the EV Hertz wanted to rent me, and I don't have an extra hour to search for a working plug and wait.
The fun's just beginning. The next round of inflation is coming and it will be quite the budget ripper since it'll be energy this time. "Drill Baby Drill" won't do much when gas prices are already below rock bottom. What's the next idea?
Here is a document prepared by the orwellian wef and visual capitalist. It contains a map of the United States that shows wind power generation per state. In spite of the source the numbers look approximately correct for anyone interested in a rough idea of the order of magnitude of energy production from wind. Values are in TWh.
Well done. Truth hurts sometimes! 🤣🤣🤣
Spending other people’s money is easy, until you’ve spent it all.
So I saw the title and it had to be my first read of the morning. Then it had to be a listening session with my coffee and my cat, who turns down a cat who will be 21 in 2 days, you don't say no to that!
Thanks for the info on Texas, better reality than Mr. Lewin's crowing on his renewables saving the day and how well they have worked.... all heat off and windows wide open type weather.. so yes there is no need for extra generation , but solar will do it anyway whether you need it or not....when the sun shines..... then there's that pesky curtailment factor.
You rather made my day after finding out last night that there will be 4 - 5 battery storage facilities making a move on our county. Spent some time with politicians.... so needed a pick me up today - thanks.
and who doesn't love those "I told you so" days.....!!!
Fantastic summation, Irina. You almost make watching the destruction of the Enlightenment by the well-coiffed nincompoops fun. They have the answer to that septic tank problem, though. They'll simply ban bleach.
"If something can't go on forever, it won't." The questions, then, are how long until "Mistress Hard Reality" pays a visit, how much strong disinfectant she'll bring, and how much it will sting when she applies it.
Well done!
Another morning of smiles, I should have read this first thing! Thanks
"Total wind power output for the year came in at 4,500 GW..."
Irina, this number you quoted from Reuters doesn't seem to make any sense. First of all it's in units of power and not energy. Secondly a quick internet search reveals that the installed capacity for wind power in Texas is roughly 40,000 MW or 40 GW.
I have always loved Mistress Hard Reality. Especially the hip-high patent leather boots beneath the heels of which she squelches fairy tales like the Westchester Bartender Sandy's Green New Socialist Grift.
Great report! Love "Mistress Hard Reality"!
Another great article. I love how you combine the technical with the humorous. The opening paragraph is as good as it gets. I'm reminded of PJ O'Rourke & Hunter S Thompson. When a day without a smile or laughter, is not a day, thank goodness we can always rely on Irina.
Irina, great article! In the context of your article, I just finished watching this video with Michael Shellenberger and Sam Vaknin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS2ihUxMur0). I thought that this video would provide a psychological perspective on climate alarmist!
If it makes you feel better, a lot of American states are passing energy mandates that will damage the US economy as bad as Europe's. Not just California and New York, but recently Michigan as well.
Irina, we always like to get what you call 'good news'. But you may have underestimated the situation - "In the meantime, because New York is very firm in its net-zero goals, it is paying utilities $200 million in credit for the more than 8 million New Yorkers who pay through the nose for their electricity." 8 million is the population of NY City, but the entire state is over 20 million. I expect that it's the 20 million that will all have higher rates, but a distribution of $200 million would only give each resident about $10 of relief, if my math is correct...and then they'd have to pay the $200 million back in taxes anyway!
It gets better and better! A year or so ago I got very tired of the jousting match (cue scenes from A Knight's Tale) that is the so called Energy Transition debate and predicted the general public's excitement about green energy would start to wane once our utility bills started rising to pay for our neighbor's Tesla chargers and low and behold! Natural gas is apparently so abundant now that if we're still allowed to use it in our power plants the cost of electricity should be quite reasonable here in Texas. The last time it was around $2 (back during COVID), I was able to lock in a very nice price for my power on a 3 years contract. I had to renew it last year and it wasn't as nice. Imagine my excitement when gas hit lows I haven't seen since the 90s. I rushed to my computer to look for a new power deal. But, these rates are still 20% higher than I got last year. Gee, could it be the grid expansion/tie in costs ERCOT's tacked on to connect more renewables? Or possibly the guaranteed return to gas fired power plant operators who will have to fill in for renewables during off peak hours at lower rates? Or the payments to the bitcoin miners who've generously stepped up to use the "excess" renewable power during other times and get paid peak rates when they turn it off?
Where did the "affordable" part of wind and sun go? I can't even get to Dallas on a charge in the EV Hertz wanted to rent me, and I don't have an extra hour to search for a working plug and wait.
The fun's just beginning. The next round of inflation is coming and it will be quite the budget ripper since it'll be energy this time. "Drill Baby Drill" won't do much when gas prices are already below rock bottom. What's the next idea?
Here is a document prepared by the orwellian wef and visual capitalist. It contains a map of the United States that shows wind power generation per state. In spite of the source the numbers look approximately correct for anyone interested in a rough idea of the order of magnitude of energy production from wind. Values are in TWh.
I hope this helps.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/04/us-wind-electricity-generation-renewable-energy/