Good morning!!!!

[buckeyefarmer]

My wife just got back from Costco, using the membership rebate check we recently received.

Got my rebate check this week. Don’t know how many of those I probably threw away over the years because it comes in an envelope marked membership renewal, and since mine auto renews, I usually toss that envelope, until I recently discovered a rebate inside.

 

[txdon]

Let me reconstruct what I said in a form that may be somewhat more understandable:



Does that clear anything up as far as what I originally said/meant/intended ?

"Personally, I'd guess, at this point, how any debt burden (due to those unforeseen price spikes) is going to play out is probably unclear for many Texas energy providers - not just Georgetown (Electric) - regardless of whether they (the Texas energy producers referred to previously in this sentence) source the energy they sell from renewable "green" sources ... or fossil fuels."

Absolutely not. I was giving number and facts and actual bills and bond amounts. With the words, "Personally, I'd guess, probably unclear," you are giving an opinion.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I found this interesting

Luck, foresight and science: How an unheralded team developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time

Credit for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine belongs in part to discoveries dating back 15 years. The team behind it was inspired by two infant deaths.

www.usatoday.com

This is a pretty awesome article. Amazing that the gov't forwarded nearly a billion to Moderna to kick it in high gear.

From the article:.......Makes me wonder if they'll pay the tax payers back anything???

Goldman Sachs estimates that Moderna will make $13.2 billion in revenue this year from the vaccine.

 

[rswyan]

“Texas lost 46,000 megawatts in the early days of the storm—roughly enough to power 9.2 million homes. Texas has a small interconnect, only about 600 megawatts, with the grid that serves most of the western U.S., but no power was coming across that line. With most of the country also facing bitterly cold temperatures, the rest of the U.S. wouldn’t have had much to spare anyway, said Bill White, the former Houston mayor and former deputy U.S. energy secretary who also once served on the board of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a nonprofit that oversees grid reliability and security for the United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico.”

Interesting take - here's the link to the whole article:

Texas’s Independence Didn’t Cause the Power Crisis

If you're a fan of the author's writing (Loren Steffy) here's a link to some of his other work for Texas Monthly:

ARTICLES BY LOREN STEFFY

I found this one to be of some interest, in terms of understanding what might be yet to come:

Despite Losing Power for Days, Texans Will Pay Higher Power Bills—Perhaps for Decades to Come

From that particular article:

Paula Gold-Williams, CEO of CPS Energy, the San Antonio–owned municipal utility, which supplies both electricity and gas for heating, said the impact of skyrocketing prices is “going to be huge.” Typically, customers would pay for higher wholesale costs through adjustment charges that would hit their bills in 45 to 60 days, but given the size of the potential fees, they could be spread out over ten years or more, she said. (Some Californians are still paying extra on their electricity bills for an Enron-inspired crisis there two decades ago.)

Kinda sounds in line with what Don reported about his own power provider's situation ... and what I was saying earlier:

It's currently unclear what the ultimate financial fallout will be for Texas energy providers and consequently, Texas consumers.

 

[Buppies]

Very windy today and cool too high in 40s better tomorrow

 

[3Ts]

Dang, you guys write a lot. I'm going to have a hard time keeping up with the posts.

An update on the concrete. The forms are all done, the rebar is installed and he's ready to pour. He has a source for the concrete and has 80 yards ordered. They'll be here with a pump truck (with a 90' boom) first thing Monday morning. Early being 3 am. He's also brought a mobile light tower. I checked with others in town about personality conflicts and it's been confirmed by multiple persons that have been here longer than I have that this is not the first time this has happened between the supplier and various contractors. I was told one story that the contractor could not get concrete so he had the owner order the concrete. The supplier told his driver that if ____ was on site, to turn around and bring the load back to the plant. Interesting stories in small towns.

We live in East Texas and our power is provided by a co-op. Our cost for electricity for Feb was $160.00 which is a 60% increase over the $100 bill in January. I am not adverse to "alternative" energy, but no one has yet shown me how it can provide power 24/7/365.

BTW - any activity (like shutting down coal plants) does have a ripple effect and unintended consequences. For example, Fly ash is considered a "green material" and is used in concrete to slow curing and improve hardness and it's cheaper than cement and replaces some of the cement needed. Fly ash is produced as a by-product from burning coal.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 38F for the start, clear, breezy. Windy (less than yesterday), mostly clear, and high temp was 64F. Slow start this morning, relubed Trek chain, found rubbing brake pad, and removed gear indicator from Trek no longer works. Bike ride went better than yesterday but will take a while to relearn shifting on this bike. All three bikes have different shifters, makes the transition from bike to bike easier. On the Trek shifting has changed, but shifter sill the same
Covid update: Cooke 3099 confirmed cases, 29 active cases, Montague 1726 confirmed cases , 9 active cases, Grayson 10972 confirmed cases, 36 active cases, local 0 active case.
Roy glad roads were dry
Luther nice rain, hope you get your list done
Ron sounds like you had virga, rain evaporated before hitting ground. Glad Sassy not blown away. It is frustrating after 20 years of shifting in one direction to now have to change directions to shift
Drew hope you enjoyed dinner out. What kind of guarantee the painter give?
Buppies glad you got your rain.
Eric sorry about the need to change service provider, Welsh does not appear to resemble English or American glad Sat Nav language not changed! Good point on not having to become fixed gear
Bill good luck with basement, always a challenge to regain control
Randy sorry about UTV, hope you can get a good deal elsewhere.
Dennis glad you got rain, still windy here.
Thomas to much wind for that cold
Billy sorry about file size, any possibility you can shrink them.
Don sorry you are so dry. Nor much rain here either. We have to wait outside for haircuts here. BTW have over 1K miles on the bike
Paul any idea which one is closer to the actual amount? I am appalled at how short wipe blades last considering their cost
RNG glad you got the check, not heard on mine yet. Hope you get more rain
Don no letter yet
Rick did not realize cedar works on scorpions also.
Newbury I miss the refills also
Billy thanks for the wiper review. I will try then if I can remember that long.
RS have fun with grapple repair and cold saw unboxing
Don my electric bill was 180 for cold snap Pentex(energy coop) not reporting any unpaid bills to date.
Drew glad fence up and charging. I had parts store replace blades once.
Paul I felt like fever sick from shot #2
prayers for all, especially Jay/Peg, Kyle's daughter/sister & family Covid/friend's grand baby/son&wife Covid, David(moss)/remodel/divorce, Ron/hearing/son/aunt, Phil/reflux/wife's eyes, Dennis/older brother/son, Grev/wife's eye, Randy/family, Bill/DIL, Ted/knee recovery, Buppies/cancer surgery, Doug and wife/health issues/nerve and pain, and Country.
stay safe and healthy you all.

 

[rswyan]

"Personally, I'd guess, at this point, how any debt burden (due to those unforeseen price spikes) is going to play out is probably unclear for many Texas energy providers - not just Georgetown (Electric) - regardless of whether they (the Texas energy producers referred to previously in this sentence) source the energy they sell from renewable "green" sources ... or fossil fuels."

Absolutely not.

Absolutely not ... what ?

That the rewording didn't provide further clarity as to what I was saying/intending/etc. ?

Do you really seriously think that substantially increased costs for fossil fuels to Texas power providers will have no financial consequences ?

To anyone ?

I was giving number and facts and actual bills and bond amounts. With the words, "Personally, I'd guess, probably unclear," you are giving an opinion.

Yes ... and no.

Macro vs. micro.

I certainly did express an opinion - which was based on certain facts.

You seem to want to limit the fact set being examined to recent power bills you or others have received, and a bond offering your electric provider elected to make, to cover the shortfall to provide power to their customers.

I think the fact set that will be determinative as to the outcome off this situation is a lot larger than that.

Bills that folks are getting in the immediate aftermath of this calamity may not represent the ultimate outcome (see the quote from Paula Gold-Williams, CEO of CPS Energy, the San Antonio–owned municipal utility in my reply to toppop)

Here's a couple more quotes from that article ... and link to the article (again):

But the financial reckoning is only getting started. One week after the storms, the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which collects payments from retailers and makes sure they get to the proper electricity sellers, was short about $1.3 billion in payments, stoking concerns about the liquidity of the power market and the possibility that many retail electricity providers will file for bankruptcy. Money is running tight all across the system, raising the prospect that much of the cost for the lack of winter storm preparation will ultimately fall to consumers.

While national headlines have focused on residential consumers stuck with five-figure electricity bills, those horror stories are limited to a single provider, Griddy. In competitive markets like Dallas and Houston, where customers can pick their electricity provider, most have fixed-rate contracts, which will mute the immediate impact. However, they may be forced to find new providers or accept more expensive contracts when they renew. And many of those providers may be forced out of business entirely as the costs of the outages ripple through the market.

Some reports put the number of potential defaults by retail providers, municipal utilities, and cooperatives at almost two dozen. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, one of the state’s largest co-ops, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, citing a $1.8 billion bill from ERCOT.

A year from now, it’s almost certain that Texans will have fewer electricity providers to choose from, and those that remain are more likely to be owed by companies with deep pockets, such as generators NRG (based in Houston), Vistra (based in Irving), and Chicago-based Exelon (which owns Maryland-based Constellation, which in turn owns Houston-based StarTex).

And there's a whole lot more in the article that is worth considering beyond just the above:

Despite Losing Power for Days, Texans Will Pay Higher Power Bills—Perhaps for Decades to Come

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Dang, you guys write a lot. I'm going to have a hard time keeping up with the posts.

An update on the concrete. The forms are all done, the rebar is installed and he's ready to pour. He has a source for the concrete and has 80 yards ordered. They'll be here with a pump truck (with a 90' boom) first thing Monday morning. Early being 3 am. He's also brought a mobile light tower. I checked with others in town about personality conflicts and it's been confirmed by multiple persons that have been here longer than I have that this is not the first time this has happened between the supplier and various contractors. I was told one story that the contractor could not get concrete so he had the owner order the concrete. The supplier told his driver that if ____ was on site, to turn around and bring the load back to the plant. Interesting stories in small towns.

We live in East Texas and our power is provided by a co-op. Our cost for electricity for Feb was $160.00 which is a 60% increase over the $100 bill in January. I am not adverse to "alternative" energy, but no one has yet shown me how it can provide power 24/7/365.

BTW - any activity (like shutting down coal plants) does have a ripple effect and unintended consequences. For example, Fly ash is considered a "green material" and is used in concrete to slow curing and improve hardness and it's cheaper than cement and replaces some of the cement needed. Fly ash is produced as a by-product from burning coal.

Cinders, it was used on all the roads in the winter.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Good morning, time for breakfast and a quick rest before I try and move some sheep over. Ewes will follow me anywhere at moment for food, lambs much more reluctant to be evicted from the field they think of as home.

Took my car in for a service yesterday. Previous dealership is no longer Subaru approved, so I opted for one just over an hours drive away, up in the hills in Wales. The scenery there is usually marvellous, unfortunately low cloud blotted out almost everything except the road. I had a four hour wait, which gave plenty of time to explore the area and discover a nice scorpion free walk by a fast flowing river. Lots of people in Wales still proudly use Welsh as their first language, the 12 month road worthy certificate was printed in Welsh, thankfully Sat Nav still talks to me in English.

View attachment 690774


Mostly, derailleur incompatibilities are a real pain - though anything is better than straining uphill on a fixed wheel

I'm looking for Bilbo and Frodo...or even Pippen. Did you wear your Gandolf hat over there?

Bet the foot bridge could tell some stories of years pass.

Ahhh ... well ok then.

Since you've already done the research, would you care to provide us with a comparative sampling of consumer power costs across Texas ?



If you are basing that on the bond (debt) your local provider had to issue, due to unforeseen energy market price spikes that they (and no one else apparently) predicted, it presumes Georgetown is/was able to source 100% of it's power needs from renewable "green" energy, then probably nope.

Personally, I'd guess, at this point, how any debt burden (due to those unforeseen price spikes) is going to play out is probably unclear for many Texas energy providers ... not just Georgetown.

Regardless of whether they source the energy they sell from renewable "green" sources ... or fossil fuels.

My electric bill did not have any surcharges, or bond debt repayment. And most Texans that I know, ignore Texas monthly...except maybe all the debutants in Houston baby.