“The predictable but inevitable intermittency of renewable energy had created a grid emergency that would not exist on a grid that operated without renewables…. natural gas peaker plants would have handled the load at peak demand, the riskiest time for a normally functioning grid.”

“Governor Greg Abbot should declare an energy emergency and call the Texas Legislature into special session and keep them there until they eliminate all Texas subsidies for renewable energy and force renewable generators to pay for the costs they have imposed on Texas consumers.”

As many renewable advocates like to point out, solar often provides good performance during periods of high temperature. Leaving aside for the moment the performance of solar compared to installed capacity, at 5 p.m. solar came close to its expected output of 12,636 MW.…

Editor Note: This study by the Energy Alliance of the Texas Business Coalition is in two parts, with Part II tomorrow. MasterResource appreciates the opportunity for publication.

“Where only a few years ago modern natural gas peaker plants would have been called on to meet peak demand at 5:55 pm on September 6, unreliable solar generation is now filling much of that role.”

“The Texas grid almost failed because $29 billion of federal, state, and local subsidies over the last 18 years have left Texans relying on renewable energy sources that cannot generate electricity when it is most needed.”

When the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the operator of most of the Texas electric grid, declared an Energy Emergency Alert 2 on September 6 for the first time since Winter Storm Uri, it exposed how renewable energy and renewable energy subsidies are rapidly undermining the reliability of the Texas electric grid.…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** New Wind Energy Costs Blow the Doors Off Projections
*** Electricity from wind isn’t cheap and it never will be
*** Another fairy tale about the levelized cost of renewables
Wind farms gaming system to inflate millions earned when asked to halt production
Support for offshore wind sinks as costs soar
Low Interest Shown in US’ First Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind Auction

Unreliables: Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
Cobalt Carnage, Child Labor, and Ecological Destruction

Unreliables (General):
*** The US is facing a blackout ‘crisis’ – thanks to green energy
*** Why wind and solar power are running out of juice
California’s planning a renewable energy project at a scale never before attempted in the world
Maine town in path of proposed power corridor approves moratorium on utility lines
In Blow to Renewables, Ninth Circuit Mostly Upholds FERC’s PURPA Reforms

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Offshore wind project will damage ocean ecosystem with no environmental benefit
*** Offshore wind projects may be cancelled in NJ, according to report
*** This board advises RI on offshore wind’s impacts on fisheries: they all just resigned
Wind Industry Money Behind Media Misinformation about Whale Deaths
U.S.…

“If you had to take a life-saving medication that had to be refrigerated, would you want the energy source to be reliable fossil fuels or literally leave it to the wind and the sun?” – LTE, below

Don’t expect the Houston Chronicle editorial team, much less the conflicted, climate-religionist business editorialist Chris Tomlinson, to forthrightly explain how a once reliable grid in the Lone Start State became wounded. They will blame it on the weather (too cold, too hot). But the real story is wind and solar reliance at the expense of thermal generation, as well as central planning of the wholesale grid by regulators/politicians (ERCOT/PUCT).

I have long complained about how Houston’s newspaper of record went from biased to uber-biased on many things political, particularly climate change/forced energy transformation.…