191–200 of 462 posts
Why is Texas infrastructure so brittle? It’s a wealthy, prosperous state unencumbered by regulation or legacy stuff that tends to cause issues in other states.
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Are you suggesting that the vast ghettoes and low-income areas in Houston all install solar panels and Tesla Powerwalls? Many people in hardest-hit areas struggle paycheck to paycheck- if they're working at all.
This is what financialization is for -- allowing homeowners to get "free" panels in exchange for paying back out of the savings over the years. Leasing panels is not uncommon. If these kinds of services don't exist in enough quantity, government subsidy could help.
They don't own the homes. They likely rent them.
> government subsidy could help.
More government money going directly over the people who most need it into the hands of the people who least need it. The property owner class redirects another crisis to their benefit.
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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…
I disagree, and I speak from experience. We've been repeatedly hit by climate-change induced typhoons here (near the SF Bay Area), and hurricane-force gusts hit both of the last two years. Our area looses a lot of roads to mudslides, and of course we have extended power outages. Having said that, the first year, PG&E only delivered one nine of availability last year, and this year, they're closer to two nines. The di…
In spite of (or perhaps because of) the constant repairs after a major storm every 10 to 15 years, Houston actually has one of the lowest energy costs in the United States: https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices... For some real numbers for Houston specifically in the middle of the hot summer months, input 77002 (a Houston metro zip code) into Texas govt's electricity provider search engine http…
does it matter how cheap it is if it’s not available?
WRT the local utility, I can appreciate that they have some hard choices ahead. There are two branches of possible futures: one where many more people are charging cars etc and require more power to domiciles; two where battery deployment at the edge bears the brunt of peak loads and requires a lower constant trickle or even nearly nothing as PV is more broadly deployed.
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"no easy fix, preparation, or practically anything else that can be done to prevent something like this" Regulations on the initial construction? In other words, plan ahead. But no, I must have my 'Freeeeedooooommmmm'. You can't force me to prepare.
Yeah, well what about existing infrastructure? Most new construction already buries the last mile of power. But if you do have above ground power lines feeding your house, how likely would it be that you'd be in favor of having your entire backyard dug up for a couple weeks while they implemented this huge public works project? How likely would you be willing to shoulder the cost burden? And of course, it's just as s…
Why is Texas infrastructure so brittle? It’s a wealthy, prosperous state unencumbered by regulation or legacy stuff that tends to cause issues in other states.
Are you judging it to be "brittle" based upon popular headlines or some insider information?
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You lost me at “climate change induced typhoon”. Comparing an “Bay Area typhoon” (very hilly) to low and flat Houston with a direct hit is disingenuous at best.
Don't worry, he saw a clogged storm drain in Pac Heights once, he's got this.
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Houston actually has relatively low population density compared to other metro areas with only 3,842 people per square mile, and across the MSA (Houston is extremely spread out), that number is much lower. (Compare to, for example, Union City, NJ, with 54,138 persons/sq mile.) There are some 7.5 million people spread out across more than 10,000 square miles across the greater Houston area. Also, the water table is ve…
TLDR Texas is hosed as climate change accelerates and there is no will to pay to build resilient infra. Godspeed y’all.
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What's wrong with below-ground power distribution for metropolitan areas?
New Orleans and Houston are basically built on swamps. In New Orleans, you can’t even bury people below ground, so I doubt you can do much with power lines underground.