Texas ratepayers saddled with $38B in excess costs, public nat gas, the joy of birdbaths

Jun 11, 2021

My Forbes piece on the cost of the ERCOT disaster, public gas utilities are "under attack like never before," and bird bathers

Summer has arrived in Austin. It's hot and muggy and thanks to one of the wettest Mays in recent history, the yard is green, green, green. Plus, after getting flooded a few days ago, Barton Springs Pool is open again, starting today. So yes, life is good. Four items today:

Texas ratepayers facing $38B in excess costs
Dave Schryver, CEO of the American Public Gas Association on the podcast
Media hits
The joy of birdbaths (Photo above is a Crimson Rosella in a birdbath in Canberra, Australia.)

This morning, I published a piece in Forbes that explains how Texas ratepayers are being slammed with higher energy prices after the February storm. I wrote:

Now, as the dust is settling and the Texas Legislature has adjourned after passing several bills that aimed to fix the state’s fragile electric grid, three truths have become clear: the state’s policymakers have not done enough to ensure the resilience and reliability of the grid, the February 16 PUC order kept electricity prices far too high for far too long, and Texas ratepayers will ultimately be saddled with about $37.7 billion in excess energy costs. Before going further, I should also note that the death toll from the storm keeps climbing. In the weeks after the storm, official reports put the number of Texans killed at about 100. An April investigation by reporters at the Houston Chronicle found that the deadly storm likely killed at least 200 Texans. On May 26, an analysis published by BuzzFeed News said the actual death toll, when including the medically vulnerable who perished due to storm-related disruptions, could be as high as 700.

The piece explains that the bulk of the $38 billion in costs was incurred due to the inattention or incompetence of officials at the Texas PUC and ERCOT.

On June 1, just after the Texas Legislature adjourned, a study done by London Economics International was released. The study, which was paid for by Vistra Corp., one of the state’s biggest electricity generators, found that ERCOT kept its $9,000 per megawatt-hour price in place for too long during the week of the storm. It concluded that the wholesale price was $6,578 per megawatt-hour too high and it stayed too high for about 80 hours. Furthermore, keeping the price at $9,000 did not bring any more electricity supply onto the grid, a point that former ERCOT CEO Bill Magness made during a February 24 “urgent board of directors meeting.” Although the LEI report does not provide a total cost estimate, calculating the excess cost to ratepayers for the overpriced electricity is straightforward. Over that 80-hour time period, electricity demand in Texas was about 50,000 megawatts. Thus, a bit of simple multiplication — $6,578 x 80 hours x 50,000 MW — shows that Texas consumers were overcharged by roughly $26.3 billion due to the inattention or incompetence of officials at the PUC and ERCOT.

I concluded by writing,

As I explained in a February 28 article in these pages, it has been clear since the end of the storm that Texas ratepayers – and in particular low- and middle-income consumers — would ultimately be forced to pay the biggest costs after the storm. It is also increasingly clear that the deregulation of the Texas electricity market has been a mixed bag for consumers. Yes, deregulation may have resulted in lower electricity prices in the state for a few years. But now, much of those savings are being erased. As one longtime Austin lobbyist told me yesterday, “cheap energy that isn’t reliable, isn’t cheap.”

Here’s a link to the piece. Please share it.

Dave Schryver on the podcast talking about the benefits of natural gas

On this week’s Power Hungry Podcast, I interviewed Dave Schryver, the CEO of the American Public Gas Association, which represents about 1,000 municipally and publicly-owned natural gas distribution systems. It was a good follow up to my April interview with Joy Ditto, the CEO of the American Public Power Association. In looking back on those interviews, it’s remarkable to note the huge number of publicly owned energy providers. When you add the 1,000 publicly owned gas utilities, 2,000 publicly owned electric utilities, and 900 electric cooperatives, it becomes clear that when it comes to energy and power, the US has the world’s most-diffused ownership system. While some might contend that diffused ownership is not as efficient as a system that is more tightly controlled by a handful of corporations, the American system has also resulted in a diffusion of political and economic power that assures a certain level of stability. It also gives more people an ownership stake in their energy and power providers that isn’t seen in other countries.

During my discussion with Schryver, he explained that the gas business is “under attack like never before” from climate activists who are eager to stop the use of natural gas in homes and businesses. Publicly owned utilities like Philadelphia Gas Works (formed in 1836!) have been under particular scrutiny because climate activists are able to use public records to find out how those utilities are – horror of horrors! – promoting the use of natural gas. As I have pointed out in several articles these natural gas bans are a form of regressive energy taxation and they are drawing fire from minority leaders. Schryver also talked at length about how the gas grid contributes to energy reliability and efficiency. He also said the APGA will “never be embarrassed” to talk about the benefits of the direct use of natural gas. Here’s a link to the podcast. Please share it.

Two media hits

On Sunday, I talked again with my friend, Greg Groogan, a reporter for Fox 26 in Houston, on his show “What’s your Point?” to talk about the bills passed during the Texas legislative session that aimed to solve the many problems with the state electric grid. You can watch it here.

I was also on Plain Talk Live, a podcast hosted by Rob Port, a journalist in North Dakota. We talked about the Not In Our Backyard report. We spent a lot of time talking about the problem of noise pollution and wind turbines. Here’s a link.

The joy of birdbaths

Birds tend to be exuberant bathers. No matter how many times I watch them wiggle and dunk themselves in our birdbaths, I don’t get tired of it. There’s something about the joy with which they approach the water that reminds me of how young children react to water. (The photo above is from the birdbaths on my porch. A Northern Cardinal and a White-winged Dove came for visit at the same time.)

We have five commercially made birdbaths in our yard and another half dozen or so bowls, platters, and dog dishes that will fill with water. The Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Lesser Goldfinches, and White-winged Doves that frequent our yard use all of them. But they are particularly attracted to the birdbaths that are commercially made. Yes, they will perch on the lip of the dog dish and terra cotta platters and grab a drink of water. But they prefer the commercially made ones. They like basins that have a lip on which they can perch, that are not too wide, and not too deep.

The Cardinals are particularly exuberant in the water. They seem to like the full Baptist-like immersion. The Doves are more cautious. Some of them seem to prefer dunking the tips of their tails in the water before doing an about-face to get a sip.

A few years ago, the proprietor of a Wild Birds Unlimited store in Dripping Springs told me that birdbaths can attract as many birds as feeders do. I was a bit skeptical when he told me that, but now I’m convinced. Maintaining birdbaths is not difficult, but they do require attention, particularly during the summer. The water needs to be changed every day or two to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs. Plus the algae must be removed on a regular basis. But given that I work at home, those maintenance chores aren’t a problem. In addition to changing the water and keeping the birdbaths clean, I have learned a few other things that may be of interest.

Birdbaths are a cheap way to attract birds and other wildlife. After you buy a birdbath (assuming you don’t try the make-do method with a dog bowl) you don’t need to spend any more money. Providing water is a lot cheaper than buying bird food.

Second, it’s okay to experiment with the location. We have one birdbath in the front yard that rarely attracts any birds. Meanwhile, the birdbaths in the backyard that are near our feeders -- and where there are more trees and places to perch -- are constantly getting visitors.

Third, having more than one birdbath seems to add to the attraction. On the porch outside my office, I have two baths next to each other and that proximity has a magnetic effect. Diseems to bring in more than the single baths.

Finally, adding movement to the water really attracts birds. We have had good luck with a product called a Water Wiggler that uses a small solar panel and motor that spins a small spindle. It sits in the birdbath and even on cloudy days, it keeps the water moving. If you have a yard and space for a birdbath, I highly recommend getting one. They are an excellent (and low-cost) way to attract birds.

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I have been pleased with the response to my recent report about land-use conflicts and renewables. "Not In Our Backyard," was published on April 21 by the Center of the American Experiment. The center is also the home of the Renewable Energy Rejection Database, which includes details on the roughly 300 times that local or regional governments have rejected or restricted wind-energy projects. Please share both of them. The only way to bring sanity to the decisions being made by policymakers is to relentlessly pound the facts. Here's a link to the full report. Please share it.

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