I’m curious about this too, @joebuck20. It’s kind of like choosing television. It’s the ONE cable company, or dish or Internet.
For me on power, it’s either LA DWP, or generators plus rainwater collectors with solar panels and I suppose a place to compost.
I think they have an “:energy pool” that they all dump into. Each company is responsible for producing how much energy their customers use.
There’s one entity in each region that manages the physical lines and delivery of electricity. You pay them a flat rate, as mentioned above. Then there are companies that buy the electricity and sell it to you. It’s sorta kinda like multiple ISPs over the same phone lines, back in the day.
It is supossed to create the Benefits of Free Market for us all. In reality, it means you have to manage your bill because if your contract ends, they will triple your rates.
I’ve been wondering, mainly because I’ve been watching Young Sheldon reruns on Nick every night, about Texas chauvinism. Is it really so powerful, do it really exist, more than it does in other states, and to what degree is it media-fed? And I mean non-Texas generated media.
People in Indiana are definitely not chauvinistic about being Hoosiers, and not Hoosiers before they are Americans, but the stereotype of Texans that we receive (or, that I perceive, anyway) is certainly that they think of themselves as Texans first, and Americans second.
I do think that there is chauvinism among people from New York City, definitely over other people from the state, and a little over people from other where in the country, but I don’t think a New Yorker would ever say they are a New Yorker first, and an American second. I also don’t think at all that there is chauvinism among people born in the state but not the city.
So, did Texas chauvinism exist spring up organically, did the media invent it and Texans embraced it, or it is a myth?
By the next election, this current situation will be forgotten. Besides, Hillary did it.
In an attempt to defend Ted Cruz…
Don Junior may have an excuse. If he has been watching Fox, they may have been identifying him as Greg Abbott (D-TX).
During their last meeting ahead of the winter storm that left millions of Texans without electricity and potable water for days on end, top officials at the state electric grid operator spent less than one minute discussing the impending storm and whether the state was prepared.
Bill Magness, president and chief executive officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, spoke briefly about the winter weather during his report to the board at the Feb. 9 meeting, the only mention of the incoming storm during the public portion of the virtual meeting, which spanned two hours, 28 minutes.
Magness spoke about the approaching cold front for about 40 seconds:
“It is actually going to be winter here pretty soon. As those of you in Texas know, we do have a cold front coming this way. We’ll probably see our winter peak later this week or in the very early part of next week. And Operations has issued an operating condition notice just to make sure everyone is up to speed with their winterization and we’re ready for the several days of pretty frigid temperatures to come our way.
…
My bold.
“Don, Jr. and his paramour, Ms. Guilfoyle, have reportedly been watching the scenes of Texas blanketed in rare snow, and aggressively trying to snort their flat-screen televisions.”
/s
Exactly.
What was discussed during the rest of he meeting – how to properly cook barbecue?
Dopers might be interested in how their own states rank in level of preparedness for disasters.
Here’s the latest National Health Security Preparedness Index (2020). It evaluates how well states can respond to various types of natural disasters including severe storms, flooding and fires, as well as disease outbreaks and other health threats.
Lagging behind in preparedness were states in the upper Mountain West, Pacific Coast, Midwest and south central. Texas actually improved from below average to average in the past year. Below average states included Louisiana and Florida (not good, considering susceptibility to hurricane/tropical storm impacts), California and Washington.
I recently moved from a subpar response state (Ohio) to one that’s rated average (Kentucky). Despite the onslaught in the last two weeks of bitter cold (for us) and three winter storms, two of which featured significant ice deposition, the power has stayed on for all but 45 minutes, tap water continues flowing and snow removal has kept our road clear even though we’re out in the hinterlands. Must be because we have a Democratic governor. Or because there’s a Republican-controlled legislature. Anyway, good work so far.
Hmmm. Texas meets the national average?
Indiana is below the national average, but I didn’t lose heat (gas), power, water, or even tv/internet, not even for just a few minutes, and even the mid-use streets were kept pretty clear. My landlord did a good job of keeping the parking lot clear.
Maybe Indianapolis is ahead of the rest of the state, or maybe my suburb, Speedway, just is. I live in the water and power subsection that supports the racetrack, so we have a lot more pressure and wattage than we need when there’s no race happening. And I actually live very close to the track (walking distance), so I may even be served by the cable substation that serves the track.
Yup. If I’m going to have to chip in to bail them out, then I want a say in how they do things going forward. Don’t want the federal government telling you how to set up your utilities? Tough shit, either freeze to death or take the money and the regulations.
They want your federal money, AND they don’t want any of your stupid regulations because FREEDOM. Plus, they want to retain the right to blame you for anything that goes wrong due to lack of regulations. Also, they get to change the party designation of any politician they don’t like (see Trump Jr. calling the governor of Texas a Democrat).
It is health and security - so its rated against “can you respond to health events” - i.e. 911 call centers, bed tracking…not necessarily “how well does your power grid hold up.”
I’m another person who spent time in this industry - and it put me into a padded room with anxiety - I haven’t worked a full time job since. The state of our grid is NOT good nationwide. There are a lot of checkboxes in a regulatory audit “do you have this process in place?” But no “is this process actually followed, provide data to prove it” - having written the process, you are GOLDEN!
Bush won Texas in 2000 and 2004 by 21.1% and 22.9%, respectively.
Obama lost Texas in 2008 and 2012 by 11.8% and 15.7%, respectively.
Trump won Texas in 2016 and 2020 by 9.0% and 5.6%, respectively.
That doesn’t guarantee that the Dems will turn Texas blue in 2022 or 2024, but the Dems would be foolish to give up on Texas.
Agreed. I think Texas may very well turn purple and even possibly blue in a decade. It probably won’t be reliably blue in my lifetime, more like AZ and GA. But blue enough to reject the nuttery that is today’s GOP.
As one might have expected, they mostly discussed money and their own bureaucracy:
During the meeting, members approved minor consent agenda items and heard reports from ERCOT’s Finance and Audit Committee and the Human Resources and Governance Committee, in addition to remarks by Magness.
It also included nominations and elections of a new chair and vice chair for the ERCOT Board of Directors.
Sure, there are many sane, decent folk in Texan. It is just that there are so many loud assholes, that it makes it easy to overlook you. Just last night we watched Young Sheldon, in which one character said, “Remember, you are a Texan, which means you are better than everyone else!” Reminded me of what they taught the kids in Catholic school in Chicago back in the 60s. And a while back, I started thread after a trip to Austin, in which I asked what other location expressed “pride” in self as much as Texans.
Then you’ve got the whole hypocrisy aspect, where so many Texans claim to have no use for government - until they feel themselves in need and have no hesitation sticking out their hands. You don’t want strong building codes or regulatory oversight? Fine. Then don’t bitch about it when you get chilly.
Yeah, I wouldn’t find Texan secession any loss at all.