Need more electrictiy? Build a freaking power plant!
So I saw a thing about rolling blackouts in Texas on the news this morning, and they were making much of the whole “this is the warmest it has ever been this early” routine, and I got to thinking about how peculiar it is that we tend to regard our current infrastructure as a good barometer of the natural world, and how really, it goes further than that, and we tend to think of where we are now in general as some sort of definition of the possible and the reasonable, and thus judge reality against our development, rather than judging ourselves with respect to reality, hence the focus on driving our own evolution backward instead of forward that seems to be the mark of the thought of the time in so, so many circles.
Also, it’s the sort of thought that keeps protesting that such and so is illegal without ever considering that maybe the law itself is a problem. The tragedy isn’t the weather; the tragedy is that we haven’t built enough generating capacity to keep up with it. And if you truly believe that it’s the generating capacity fucking up the weather, then design something less polluting, already, and/or shut up.
As someone who is sitting in the DFW area (98 degrees as I type this), the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough generating plants. Or at least we usually DO have enough plants. It’s just that they don’t plan for it to be 102 in April, and they tend to take some of the plants offline for maintenance.
I tend to pay attention to the weather forecasts, and they didn’t start forecasting the scorcher we’re getting until a few days ago (before that they just thought it’d be hotter than usual). I suspect the power companies crapped themselves when they heard the revised forecast, since you can’t just spin up a quiescent power plant in a couple of minutes (especially if major bits of it are literally all over the floor).
I suppose one could take the view that there should always be sufficient backup to take the slack should there be an unexpected heat wave, but I’m not sure any of us could afford it (my summer power bills are already nearly $400/month). Power plants are expensive to build and maintain, not to mention the whole NIMBY thing. It’s likely not cost-effective to keep so much excess capacity sitting around.
Posted by Aubrey Turner on 04/18 at 06:14 PMThanks for the extra perspective and information. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way. Good points, all.
What this made me think about--and I veered off on a tangent and I don’t think I quite got there--was that they seemed to be saying something along the lines of “our power plants can’t handle it, therefore the apocalypse,” which struck me as silly. It’s not proof of global warming that our infrastructure isn’t up to an unusual situation, kwim? It just is what it is...and if it needs fixed, fix it…
Posted by Deb on 04/18 at 06:44 PMI see now. I didn’t get that message, but then I’ve only been watching the local news media. They’ve had interviews with the power company reps and with ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas). They’ve been sure to reiterate that it’s not going to be a problem in July/August and that it’s only a transient thing.
Posted by Aubrey Turner on 04/18 at 08:13 PMWell, I *am* up here in Massachusetts, where the emphasis is bound to be a little different.
I’m glad to hear that your local coverage has been sane.
I wish I’d made myself more clear, but I’m not surprised that I’m not making sense...it’s been a couple of months since I’ve had a full night of sleep. Heh.
Posted by Deb on 04/18 at 08:55 PM
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