61–70 of 462 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's wrong with below-ground power distribution for metropolitan areas?
Houston is gigantic. Maintaining underground infrastructure can be very difficult. https://practical.engineering/blog/2021/9/16/repairing-under...
Houston Is on a Path to an All-Out Power Crisis
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This wasn't a "grid issue." It is a last-mile issue. It's specifically an issue with the sheer amount of above ground power lines and population density. There is no easy fix, preparation, or practically anything else that can be done to prevent something like this. Plus, what causes the same amount of power outages (wind damage) isn't going to be different between 90mph winds and 150 mph winds. The effects are going…
What's wrong with below-ground power distribution for metropolitan areas?
Centerpoint, the physical electricity provider in Houston, has said it would cost $2.5M per square mile. Houston is 640 square miles. Regulations allow them to claw back costs on the bills. (For example, repairs from past storms are often paid for over the course of several years in the form of a bond that is applied to customers as surcharges)
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/cen...
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I was there last weekend & for the day of the hurricane. This was just a cat 1 hurricane at the time it passed through Houston, and there was SO much damage. I can't imagine the city is remotely prepared for (god forbid, and idk how likely it is that far inland anyway) a cat 4 or 5. We were staying in a hotel that had a backup generator, but every single other building that was visible from our hotel had lost power d…
It's obvious that everyone wants to blame it on their favorite villain, whatever that is. A more rational approach would be to look at comparable cities and see how they cope with big storms, whatever the storms' cat numbers. My guess is, no matter what comparables you pick, Houston comes out on the bottom. Maybe it IS deregulation! You can be in favor of it in general, and still admit, "OK, maybe in this instance it…
Houston Is on a Path to an All-Out Power Crisis - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40951647 - July 2024 (68 comments)
I was there last weekend & for the day of the hurricane. This was just a cat 1 hurricane at the time it passed through Houston, and there was SO much damage. I can't imagine the city is remotely prepared for (god forbid, and idk how likely it is that far inland anyway) a cat 4 or 5. We were staying in a hotel that had a backup generator, but every single other building that was visible from our hotel had lost power d…
It's obvious that everyone wants to blame it on their favorite villain, whatever that is. A more rational approach would be to look at comparable cities and see how they cope with big storms, whatever the storms' cat numbers. My guess is, no matter what comparables you pick, Houston comes out on the bottom. Maybe it IS deregulation! You can be in favor of it in general, and still admit, "OK, maybe in this instance it…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Notice the deflection by the Lt Governor: “People have a right to be extremely frustrated with CenterPoint. People are suffering through terribly oppressive heat, a lack of food and gasoline availability, debris everywhere, and much more,” Patrick said. “The poor and most vulnerable are suffering the most.” Not, “People have a right to be frustrated with the government,”
What is going on over there? Seems like crazy town. With the geriatrics and corruption, good god it looks dystopian from a rando aussie pov.
From the outside, your own country seems to have a dystopian liking for government control of speech and the internet.
If your daily experience does not align with this perception, consider that Texans might be in exactly the same boat as you, perception-vs-reality-wise.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This wasn't a "grid issue." It is a last-mile issue. It's specifically an issue with the sheer amount of above ground power lines and population density. There is no easy fix, preparation, or practically anything else that can be done to prevent something like this. Plus, what causes the same amount of power outages (wind damage) isn't going to be different between 90mph winds and 150 mph winds. The effects are going…
What's wrong with below-ground power distribution for metropolitan areas?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Houston is gigantic. Maintaining underground infrastructure can be very difficult. https://practical.engineering/blog/2021/9/16/repairing-under...
Berlin, 3.645M citizen, everything underground. Houston, 2.302M citizen, ... "gigantic"