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Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by cavisne on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:22PM (#26161863)
The heavy reliance on natural gas is not traditional. Its a side effect of 1)
Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by cromwellian on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:30PM (#26161922)
No, it's because natural gas got cheaper, and they switched to the cheaper source.

"The report also addresses the interdependency of the electric and natural gas industries. “Utilities are becoming increasingly reliant on gas-fired generation, in large part because shale production has dramatically reduced the cost of gas,”

In 2011 when this happened before, Texas had even less renewables. I realize you're trying to hard to sell an ideology to blame renewables for what is really, gross mismanagement of the Texas grid, including fossil and nuclear power, but the reality is much more complex than your simple narrative.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1361767999200317440

Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by hef19898 on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @02:24AM (#26163673)
Which fossil source is cheaper also largely depends on individual markets. The way carbon offset and carbon pricing is implemented in Germany for example, means coal got cheaper than natural gas for electricity. Despite being bad at ramping up quick and being really worse for the climate and environment. Gas would also be a good companion to renewables, simply because a gas turbine is very reactive, something a coal plant is not.
Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by makomk on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @07:05AM (#26165460)
Natural gas got cheaper if you don't include the cost of the power grid going down in the case of weather like this. I do wonder if it would still be cheaper if you do... it's not just the power plants that failed, apparently the pipelines and the natural gas production infrastructure couldn't cope either, and that sounds potentially really expensive to fix.
Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by ashtonkem on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:35PM (#26161959)
That doesn't explain why coal and nuclear plants failed. Or why gas power plants in other states are still running. All of which is in line with the 2011 report about TX not winterizing their power plants properly.

Frankly, it seems like you've decided that the issue is renewables and you're searching around for an argument to justify a conclusion you've already come to. Because what you're saying is simply not actually supported by the evidence or consistent with the current situation.