Downside of living in a state that denies climate change: we don't prepare our infrastructure to operate in a changing climate.

TX is the energy capital of the world but cannot keep lights on or homes heated.

T&D lines down b/c of ice/wind + huge outages at thermal plants. https://twitter.com/joshdr83/status/1361676365649633285

Recipe for an energy crisis:

Natgas system can't deliver enough gas for heating & power plants b/c of high demand + freezeoffs (when water freezes & clogs gas wells)

Coal + nuke failures b/c of cold temps

Wind outages b/c of ice on blades

Solar problems b/c of snow on panels

In addition to massive outages at thermal plants and despite overperforming forecasts the last few days, wind is lagging behind forecasts right now.

Snow covered rooftop solar panels also struggle to produce even on a sunny day (NOTE: less of an issue for utility-scale facilities b/c they can easily clean panels). Here's my rooftop 10 kW array generating about 65 W despite full sun!