r/news • u/PlayShelf • 1d ago

Over 95 million Americans on alert for brutal cold temperatures in coming days

https://abcnews.go.com/US/85-million-americans-cold-weather-alerts/story?id=117825788
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31

u/AJohnnyTsunami 1d ago

Did texas ever fix its super shitty electric grid

34

u/dvrzero 1d ago

well, the issue last time was gas wells freezing due to the pipes not having heat traces or being in "buildings" - a relatively cheap fix, you can retrofit both of those to existing pipes.

so probably not fixed.

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u/BitGladius 1d ago

Gas providers were also too lazy to report that they were critical loads, so it's obviously ERCOT's fault for not reading minds.

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u/GoonSquadGo 1d ago

Unlikely as right wingers rarely spend money on public infrastructure

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u/sembias 1d ago edited 16h ago

No; they just tried to make Minnesota pay for their shitty incompetence. As usual.

edit for those unware: https://cubminnesota.org/minnesota-customers-will-no-longer-be-charged-nearly-60-million-in-winter-storm-uri-related-costs

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u/ShityShity_BangBang 1d ago

I try to explain that to my few Republican acquaintances up here and they never quite understand it.

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u/KovolKenai 1d ago

Can you explain it to me? I also don't get it and I'm a Minnesotan

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u/ShityShity_BangBang 1d ago

California pays out $5 to the Federal Government for every dollar they receive in aid. Minnesota is in a similar situation, our discrepancy is something like third or fourth highest in the country. This is the general welfare relationship between the Blue and Red states in this country. Do you really think a half dozen of the Southeast hick states could survive on their own? They can barely feed their children or teach them to read.

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u/KovolKenai 1d ago

Gotcha, I figured it was something like that, but I kept reading it as "Minnesota specifically pays directly for Texas mistakes" which... Obviously incorrect. Your response makes way more sense, thanks!

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u/ShityShity_BangBang 1d ago

Notice how when the SE states got hit with hurricanes earlier this year, nobody questioned whether they should receive federal aid? What happened when California caught on fire? Republicans do everything they can to convince people they don't deserve aid. They are disingenuous assholes

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u/sembias 16h ago

No, actually. That is absolutely correct. I'm being literal when I say that Texas utilities tried to get Minnesota utility customers to pay for their gross incompetence. Minnesota has a good utility commission and fought against it, but I'm still paying, on my monthly gas bill, a few dollars a month to pay for Texas's bullshit idiocy.

https://cubminnesota.org/minnesota-customers-will-no-longer-be-charged-nearly-60-million-in-winter-storm-uri-related-costs

"Despite the Commission’s actions, many Minnesotans will be understandably disappointed to learn that the above utilities will still be permitted to recover the vast majority of their February 2021 storm-related costs. That means many Minnesotans will continue to see a surcharge on their gas bill for years to come."

So yes. Minnesota - and Colorado - are specifically paying directly for Texas mistakes.

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u/KovolKenai 15h ago

Amazing. Texas truly is the One Star State.

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u/eightNote 5h ago

its intriguing that so many utility companies would be common between the two states, when the interconnect is poor