this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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United States | News & Politics

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  • Kellee Speakman, a conservative elementary school teacher, moved from California to Texas in 2022 but returned after four and a half months due to Texas's political obsession and unexpected living costs.
  • Speakman found Texas to be not much cheaper than California, with high property taxes, expensive services, and lower wages, which contributed to her dissatisfaction.
  • She returned to California, appreciating its lifestyle, public lands, and better teacher benefits, realizing that her idea of freedom involved peace and everyday adventures rather than political rhetoric.
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[–] [email protected] 130 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The idea of having to deal with Texas’s power grid scares me

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, people call us the Texas of Canada but we've had no power interruptions during those -40 and below cold snaps. Part of that has to do with natural gas being our heat, of course. But if you've ever been outside in -40... I'll take the natural gas over that. It's cold like you've never felt it before.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Much of the US, even Texas uses natural gas for heating. Houses in much of the southern US aren't designed for cold weather so people add space heaters. Plus if I remember correctly the cold shut down the natural gas providers in Texas so that wasn't even working.

[–] baldingpudenda 15 points 3 months ago

Yup, I believe ten years prior the federal government told them that the gas plants were susceptible to freezing pipes of incoming gas. Since texas grid is independent, they couldn't force the plants to winterize. After the shit show, the governor blamed windmills, even though they over produced, because a few windmills stopped working.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It's awful. We lose power if it's too hot, we lose power if it's too cold.

[–] normanwall 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

On the plus side, Ted Cruz leaves if it gets too cold

[–] AquaTofana 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Vote him out! Now's your chance!

[–] AquaTofana 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Big Allred fan here! Im not squandering my chance to get Cruz out! <3

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Thanks! It's past time for that soulless motherfucker to go.

[–] Resonosity 4 points 3 months ago

Fucking utilities man. ERCOT has made so many recommendations over the years for the regional utilities to make changes and strengthen their grids, but short-term profit motive gets in the way of stability of an essential service. Why we privatized the grids in this country is beyond me

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If I'm not mistaken, the thing that contributes to our instability is also what caused Texas to be at the front of renewables (for a while). What I've been told is that Texas' power grid is pretty loosely regulated, which was why renewables took off here; it was really easy for anyone to start their own power company so small companies were able to spring up and contribute solar, wind, etc.

This was great and fine so long as we weren't getting extreme, once-in-100-year weather every year. Thanks big oil and climate change. Anyway, now we need regulation to make power companies start planning for things they previously only needed to plan for every 100 years.

[–] toasteecup 35 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Texas

Regulation

Good fucking luck.