Shwisberg, Lauren, and Mark Dyson . “The Hidden Costs of Keeping Gas Plants Online in Texas and Beyond.” RMI, 3 Feb. 2022, https://rmi.org/the-hidden-costs-of-keeping-gas-plants-online-in-texas-and-beyond/.
Texas is about to undergo another cold snap, and with this comes the worry of power. Last year, the lack of power during this time led to death and economic destruction, and people are now trying to figure out how to avoid this. Texas power relies heavily on gas fired plants, and these are where the problems lie. Weatherization improvements have been made, but vulnerabilities in supply could prove all of this to be ineffective. These issues go against the arguments that have been made for fossil fuels over the years, how they’re so reliable and inexpensive compared to alternative fuel options. When examined by a recent RMI study, it was concluded that if gas plants had to pay operators to guarantee a reliable fuel supply, almost all proposed plants would be more expensive than clean energy. Now of course new energy sources cannot be constructed in time for the storms, leaving Texans in an extremely risky and uncertain situation. In Texas, individual plants can choose whether or not they want to take on the extra price for reliable fuel or not, and those who don’t may run out, causing chaos for many.
In my opinion, this is probably going to be a turning point for Texas. No matter the outcome these next few weeks, Texas will most likely start looking deeper into alternative energy, to prevent anything like 2021 happening again. I wouldn’t expect to hear an article from Texas seriously considering and vouching for clean energy, but I think it brings a problem to the table that many more of us will have to face in the future. Fossil fuels are not a renewable source of energy, meaning that eventually we are going to experience scarcity. When this happens, alternative energy fuels will be our only options. I think it is best that we start now, especially when also considering the amount of greenhouse gasses already in our atmosphere. It was also good to hear someone discrediting the reliability of fossil fuels, as many have used that as an argument to keep using them. Power plants are now having to choose whether or not to pay extra for this reliability, and if I know anything about big businesses it’s that they will do anything to save their money. For this reason, many Texans are probably worried for the near future, and hopefully that fear can reinstate change.
I agree, I also think it’s important to note the pre-existing conditions of an area and how they affect what types of energy sources can be used. Like you said we do not want the same conditions as we had in Texas last year. I think the best way to prevent this is to come up with types of energy that are both reliable in bad weather conditions and are efficient for our environment.
I totally agree, no one solution will work for every state or even every county. The surrounding environment does play a big role in these things, and can sometimes even complicate plans, and that is why Texas needs to start looking into new options as soon as possible.
I agree that Texas should look into renewable energy. Will renewable be more reliable under the cold conditions than gas-powered power plants? Will the government require power plants to keep enough gas in reserve to make renewables effectively cheaper?
I believe that certain types of renewables could be more efficient than coal in bad weather conditions, if the planning is done correctly. To do this, I do believe the government should require plants to keep enough gas in their reserves.