Electricity Scare in Texas: Interview

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 19, 2021 No Comments

“ERCOT asks residents, businesses to conserve electricity over potential lack of generating power … The April surprise served as a reminder to Texans that they’re not clear of the vulnerability that brought the state to a standstill in February.” So read a headline in the Dallas Morning News (April 13, 2021) This event led to the interview, below.

“Texas has reached the limit of our renewable dependence. There certainly should not be any more wind or solar for the grid…. [Renewables] are turning an energy-rich state into an energy-poor state.” (Bradley)

According to a report from America’s Power, through 2018, renewable energy resources — primarily wind and solar — have received subsidies amounting to more than $100 billion. (Fairley)

The Houston Republic—a source of fair reporting for conservative, libertarian, and classical-liberal views— recently published a piece in which I was featured.…

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PUC/ERCOT: A Classic Hayekian Planning Failure

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 11, 2021 No Comments

Make no mistake: The Great Texas Blackout debacle was a failure of government planning, not the free market.

Here are some quotations in the press about a massive coordination failure of nonintegrated entities, one that could have been avoided with ‘natural gas majors’ and ‘electricity majors’ –vertically and horizontally integrated–coordinating in-house.

Some quotations serving as background for this revisionist perspective follow:

“The failure of gas and electric companies to communicate with each other–again–demonstrates how, just as Texas’ power grid is a complex web of producers, transporters, deliverers and regulators, its near-collapse last month, too, was an integrated failure spread throughout the system.”

“At the height of the ‘snowpocalypse,” social media teemed with pictures of the power have and have nots–prompting outrage that vacant downtown office buildings had electricity they didn’t need while average citizens endured teeth-chattering cold or worse.”

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Electricity Markets: Contrived/Distorted vs. Real (debating the Texas Blackout)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 8, 2021 3 Comments

“‘Unintended consequences of government intervention?’ Are you f***in’ kidding me? What just happened is a direct consequence of insufficient government intervention!” (Robert Borlick, energy consultant)

“No, with due respect. When the system loaded up on renewables, who would have known that low-to-negative marginal-cost pricing would have ruined the economics of baseload generators and natural gas peakers, existing and prospective. I was an adamant critic of windpower in the old days (1997) and just did not foresee this.” (Bradley, retort)

Many planners and regulators involved involved in the Great Texas Electricity Blackout have resigned or been fired. But their brethren, the experts behind the fallen PUCT/ERCOT model, are emotionally defending central planning and renewable energies by blaming the natural gas industry. “The CEOs of those gas companies should be criminally charged,” exclaims Robert Borlick, below).…

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The ‘Church of Climate’ Fights Back

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 6, 2021 No Comments

“Bradley is just an old fossil fool of the fossil fuel industry.” (critic, below)

“I am not a ‘troll’ but just believe I have a superior case: that the climate models and climate alarmists are exaggerating–and all of us can be more optimistic and don’t have to ruin our earth with wind turbines and solar panels.” (My Retort)

Last week, the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) published my piece, Inside the Church of Climate. It proved popular, being picked up at WUWT and generating almost one hundred comments.

I am interested in reaching new, even opposing, audiences. I like my arguments and offer a historical view unknown to many followers of the climate debate. I believe that in any fair debate format, the non-alarmists win hands down. And I think that the fossil fuels have a very bright future, the rhetoric and greenwashing aside.…

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Texas Blackout: Costs, Blame Mount

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 5, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading

Climate Dereg: ‘Energy Independence and Economic Growth’ (Trump’s EO of March 28, 2017)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 29, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading

Electricity Planning: Physical vs. Economic (an exchange with Eric Schubert)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 25, 2021 1 Comment Continue Reading

ERCOT “worked as designed” (architect Hogan gives no quarter)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 23, 2021 No Comments Continue Reading

Biden’s “Existential Threat” Climate Speech (January 27, 2021)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 19, 2021 2 Comments Continue Reading

ERCOT’s SNAFU: $16 Billion? $30 Billion? (perils of central planning)

By -- March 17, 2021 3 Comments Continue Reading