💬 Snow is reeking havoc in the SE. How's things in your neck of the woods?

[planomateo]

but waste is hazardous and has 1000 year or so half life...
But... living within just miles of several plants....in Tennessee valley...
Is cheaper...reliable..
All have pluses and minuses....

Navy has alot of nuclear powered ships

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Navy has alot of nuclear powered ships

Doesn’t negate the waste problems....

 

[Sid Youngleman]

Always kept vienna sausages...sardines...cans of tuna...etc. actually liked them..

Just be sure and keep the can so when you get home you can show it to your wife.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Just be sure and keep the can so when you get home you can show it to your wife.

no worry there.....the smell of sardines/tuna dont go away for awhile...Lol

 

[It Takes Eleven]

The windmills icing up and becoming inoperable were a part of it, but it got too cold for some natural gas and coal fired plants, too. Unprecedented demand and temp/wind chills not seen in about 75 years.

 

[TerryP]

The French figured out long ago that nuclear was the way to go as it is clean, reliable and not every plant was built like Three Mile Island or Chernobyl.

The windmills icing up and becoming inoperable were a part of it, but it got too cold for some natural gas and coal fired plants, too. Unprecedented demand and temp/wind chills not seen in about 75 years.

Along with what Greg said here...

I skimmed an article recently about the plants in France and how they were "mini-me" versions of the bigger nuc plants we've seen. The article mentioned how they hadn't had any disruptions due to inclement weather in quite some time.

 

[TerryP]

 

[PurlJam]

Natural gas is probably the best power generation as far as emmisions... burns clean...only hydro's tie on to the grid faster. The problem with wind is the fluctuations with the power. Generators in North America turn RPMs based on how many "poles" it has....a two pole generator tied to the grid turns 3600 rpm...this gives you the 60Hz frequency required. Wind turbines power output is restricted to the wind speed for that day...if wind were constant there would be no issue.

 

[PurlJam]

Coal fired plant issues in the extreme cold is the coal freezing and sliding back down the conveyor belts (been there, done that back in '93, had to spray the belt and coal down with diesel fuel to keep it from freezing), making it hard to fuel the plant. The problem with the natural gas plants in Texas is the gas supply...combustion turbines actually run better in cold weather.

 

[alabama mike]

We started out with sleet Monday evening, then a few inches of snow. Tuesday, more of the same. Weather was not bad on Wed, just cold. We have not been in the 30's in weeks so its not that big of a deal. Last night, we had about 4 inches of snow that fell. I had a 1/2 inch on my car when I was cleaning it off yesterday. I came into school today, main roads are in good shape. It looks like we will be on a two hour delay tomorrow if they can get the parking lots cleaned due to so much ice under the snow.

I feel sorry for the folks in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. When you do not have equipment to take care of the roads and people that do not know how to drive in it, its a double wammy. If you have to be out, drive SLOW, dont hit your brake, give yourself about 3x the amount of space needed to stop and accelerate easy. One more thing, dont ride peoples bumper.

 

[planomateo]

Driving in a few inches of slush is a challenge by itself, especially with people who don't drive in it regularly.

In my limited experience, slush is the worst. I've seen more cars in a ditch because of it.

 

[mando]

Where are you?

Hsv

 

[Rolltide24]

It's been colder than a brass monkey ball wind chime at the north pole here (Lentzville, between Athens and Rogersville, Alabama). Got down to 9 degrees at the beginning of the week with the high only reaching 18 Tuesday. I couldn't make it in to work Monday or Tuesday and waited to leave late yesterday.... now I wake up this a.m. to this.
View attachment 16878 My driveway is out there somewhere. Just started a new job (in Cherokee Alabama..60 miles away), last week and it looks like I'll miss 3 days this week due to the weather. The Shoals area got hammered pretty good.

Cherokee from Rogersville? Damn. I grew up in a house off 72 in Tuscumbia just behind that gas station/Burger King. You’ve got a heck of a commute.

 

[TerryP]

NSFW. At least she took the time to add a 'filter.'

 

[planomateo]

Bet she'll pour boiling water on it too...

 

[PurlJam]

Hsv

Yep...wife helps the economy in Madison..a lot...waiting on them to name something after her over there.

 

[PurlJam]

Cherokee from Rogersville? Damn. I grew up in a house off 72 in Tuscumbia just behind that gas station/Burger King. You’ve got a heck of a commute.

Know exactly where you're talking about...yeah, it's a good haul, trying to find a house and move closer...with the housing market right now I've got a better chance buying a case of toilet paper.

 

[Rolltide24]

Know exactly where you're talking about...yeah, it's a good haul, trying to find a house and move closer...with the housing market right now I've got a better chance buying a case of toilet paper.

LOL For real. We’re getting my dad’s house in Florence ready for the market. Estate sell in 3 weeks. Researching the values and it’s gone up almost $100k since they moved there from Tuscumbia in 2016. Nuts. Had people knocking on the door when we’re there on the weekends working, wanting to buy it. I did ask the estate sale group if I should leave the 12 pack of TP as an item to sell... might bring more than fine china.

 

[planomateo]

Wow, people are getting major bills for electricity, $5k - $17k based on reports. $9 kWh we a what the public utility commission set as the maximum and that's what's being charged. As a reference, we were paying just under $0.12 kWh for our power. We were in a co-op and couldn't change based on who had the lines at our house.

Realized these people signed up on these plans, but goodness this is outrageous. 5 of the ERCOT board members have resigned.

This power issue was the result of a perfect storm or series of events. Maintenance causing infrastructure offline, faults causing infrastructure offline, weather causing infrastructure offline and just poor planning.

Yesterday was a chore getting to the house due to the 45+ degree temps turning the steep logging roads that were snow to nasty slush. We got most of the roads plowed, but the freeze last night turned whatever wasn't plowed off the road to ice. Fun times.

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

@planomateo are you speaking of commercial or residential power bills being 5k-17k?