Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to the Texas Tribune, the state government has not done enough to secure the supply of gas against another winter deep freeze.

“People should probably be worried”: Texas hasn’t done enough to prevent another winter blackout, experts say

Mitchell Ferman and Jon SchuppeTexas Tribune and NBC News

MIDLOTHIAN — After last winter’s freeze hamstrung power giant Vistra Corp.’s ability to keep electricity flowing for its millions of customers, CEO Curt Morgan said he’d never seen anything like it in his 40 years in the energy industry.

During the peak days of the storm, Vistra, Texas’ largest power generator, sent as much energy as it could to power the state’s failing grid, “often at the expense of making money,” he told lawmakers shortly after the storm.

But it wasn’t enough. The state’s grid neared complete collapse, millions lost power for days in subfreezing temperatures and more than 200 people died.

…

No matter what Morgan does, though, it won’t be enough to prevent another disaster if there is another severe freeze, he said.

That’s because the state still hasn’t fixed the critical problem that paralyzed his plants: maintaining a sufficient supply of natural gas, Morgan said.

…

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/29/texas-power-grid-winter-storm/

If only there was a cheap, readily available power station fuel which could be stockpiled in a large heap using a bulldozer, which didn’t need expensive containment measures like enormous gas cylinders, or government intervention in the supply chain to secure supply, so even if extraction and shipping breaks down due to weather, power stations would have enough fuel onsite to keep operating until the crisis passed.

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