Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Who knew this cold weather was coming?

And what was the cause behind today's rolling blackouts in Texas? A frozen pipe and a busted pipe at two coal-fired power plants took some 7,000 megawatts off the grid this morning. Compounding the problem were pressure drops in natural gas lines due to the freezing temperatures.

A frozen pipe and a broken pipe. Just think about that for a second. The utility companies are swimming in cash but couldn't be bothered with insulating their pipes? The freezing weather wasn't a surprise - we all knew it was coming.

And here's something for all of y'all who had to deal with periodic blackouts -- Jerry World (otherwise known as Cowboys Stadium) was not affected by the blackout order.
One of the state's largest utility providers said rolling statewide electrical outages that started Wednesday in response to high demand from a rare ice storm will not affect Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington. But Oncor spokeswoman Jeamy Molina said other Super Bowl facilities, such as team hotels, were not exempt.
So not only do the owners of sports franchises receive public money to build their money-making monuments to wastefulness, they are also exempt from the blackouts that other residents of Texas have had to endure today. Public expenditures for private gain. That, apparently, is the capitalist creed these days.

Think about that while you're watching the millionaires' ball Sunday evening.

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