Western Railroad Discussion > Vestas trimming jobs in colo

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/wind-turbine-company-cuts-450-jobs-in-plants-across-colorado?fbclid=IwAR3NK8h2pgJFMxgCywvwWV05MBi3sqmcdla_TDKdSVcLjCMHwp_G-X05gAM

brighton plant  closed?   had not heard that   The UP was considering putting in a yard there a few years ago



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/21 07:15 by dan.

Vestas, Siemens, and GE are among the big players in wind turbines.  I don't know if any of them  handle post installation winterizing packages.

I figured Vestas had at least some of the huge wind project Phil Anschutz is building in Wyoming

Hmmmmm   there goes the jobs for those laid off pipeline workers.

According to a fellow I sold two airplanes to about 15yrs ago they provide very good job security in fixing them.  He held a contract in WA for them said it took lots of work to keep them running.

I have a friends son who works at one of the wind turbine farms.   He is busy everyday doing simple things like taking care of the lubrication and oil changes and oiling of the different parts of a turbine.    That is just his job, they have other people who work at similar jobs in different parts of the turbines that are just as busy.

During my time in exile in the Midwest our Sioux City office got many pricing requests for the bearing sets and other maintenance items for the
wind turbines. A front bearing set was over $54,000 and the replacement interval which was to be 36 months was in some cases now 24. One
would hope that the generational changes in the turbines would improve such things but I'm hearing that it's better but not much. The crane
rentals to perform the work make the bearings look cheap.

Out 

Renewable energy supports around 600-700 good jobs in the Mojave - Tehachapi area, some of them second-generation for an industry that
has been here since the early 1980s, paying taxes, salaries, and buying stuff! Our county requires that they
make every effort to buy that stuff locally so the sales taxes are paid here!

For example, they pay our airport-spaceport district rent on rails on our land on which they transload and store blades, mast sections, hubs, etc.
That equipment is unloaded on airport rails that connect with the Trona (Jawbone) branch which added a siding.

In Texas' behalf, I doubt that anyone could have predicted the kind of weather they have been having when those turbines went up...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

The turbine's failure in Texas, was only part of the icing on the cake.  Texas has shuttered numerous coal plants in the last several years preferring to go to wind farms for excess capacity.  This does not make that necessarily look like a good decision, however, the major failure was on the part of the utilities themselves to properly prepare their other plants for this sort of arctic air mass, when they had quite a few days to do so.    The  grid that covers 70% of the state,  ERCOT has a board of governors, most of which don't even live in Texas (isn't that interesting) and most of them have had their jobs for more than 20 years.  The Utilities and ERCOT basically failed to properly prepare and get winterization of much of the controls in place, and when the controls froze, everything stopped.   Where I live, we are on the MISO grid (which goes from East Texas, through Louisiana and Arkansas, all the way to Hudson's Bay, but our local utility did not fare any better.  MISO was advising them that due to events in Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, that we, being on the far end of the system were going to be in trouble, and to get ready.  Monday morning, three local generating units (all gas powered) went down because their controls froze and shut off gas to the plants.    The answer was "we did not know that it was going to get this cold".  Not really acceptable when you have that much warning.

We were extremely lucky in that we were only out for 12 hours, and during the coldest night on Tuesday, our neighborhood was an island of power in a sea of no power.  My son and daughter in law stayed with us until yesterday afternoon before they got power back, and they only live 2 miles away.   The people in Austin and Houston had it much worse.  Friends of mine in Houston were out 44 hours, and my son in Austin was out for 76 hours, but still has no water.  They were thawing snow and boiling it, setting it back outside to get cold, for drinking water until this morning (and I have not heard since). 
 

Yes. Failing to prepare is not an excuse for gas generators, wind, or water.

But failing to understand the lessons of the 1989 and 2011 power collapses makes it worse.

Posted from Android

What are you talking about? Haven't we been assured that such weather wouldn't happen and that the issue was out
of season heat?

Out 

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What are you talking about? Haven't we been
> assured that such weather wouldn't happen and that
> the issue was out
> of season heat?
>
> Out 

This might not sound related, but politics can't change the freezing temperature of 32°F (or 0°C) for water. A few might understand what I'm getting at here.

That's what happens while you're off making other plans.

Out 

This is what happens when a State behaves arrogantly, and has mayors and Senators who say "don't expect us to help you--the strong will survive!"  Oh, and they're not part of the national power grid, and don't meet its standards.

I hope Elon Musk is enjoying Texas right now.  It's very nice out here in California, the state he hates and wants to leave....

Anyways, back to trains....

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is what happens when a State behaves
> arrogantly, and has mayors and Senators who say
> "don't expect us to help you--the strong will
> survive!"  Oh, and they're not part of the
> national power grid, and don't meet its
> standards.

Do a research on the Pickens Plan. Good place to start is a 2013 wikipedia article. I remember very well his involvement (as an "oil man") to push for wind energy in Texas. Far better for understanding the issues than any of the media "narratives" that you're following.

As a Californian who witnessed the failures of energy "deregulation" two decades ago, and the current mismanagement of the grid within the state, I'm reluctant to criticize Texas and "praise" California. The issues are deeper.

The power industry is something that needs to be regulated by a PUC . Enron anyone?

Posted from iPhone

The railroad industry is also in need of some regulation.
Waiting for the unforseen event that will melt it down.
Bigger question is whether the public will even notice.

Drknow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The power industry is something that needs to be
> regulated by a PUC . Enron anyone?
>
> Posted from iPhone

The interstate power industry is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That's precisely why Texas wants to avoid outsiders messing with their profitable game.

The federal pipeline folks regulate interstate pipelines, but, again, many Tx pipes are not interstate.

(Agree entirely with the comments on Boone Pickens about wind and water. Visionary leader!)

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes. Failing to prepare is not an excuse for gas generators, wind, or water.
>
> But failing to understand the lessons of the 1989  and 2011 power collapses makes it worse.


PREACH, BROTHER PREACH  !!!!!!!

The statistic I've seen elsewhere is that it cost 5% extra for a wind turbine to be winterized.  That includes insulation and heat in the nacelle for the gearboxes, and a leading edge heater for the blades, similar in concept to what is on every airplane.  There are wind turbines spinning all over north of Texas -- even a super duper special one in  Antarctica.

 https://www.syracuse.com/business/2021/02/why-wind-turbines-in-new-york-state-keep-working-in-bitter-cold-weather-unlike-the-ones-in-texas.html

The gas wells that failed needed insulation for the above ground pipes and management / removal for the water vapor -- you know like every railroad train with air brakes.  There are Marcellus Shale gas wells all over Pennsylvania pumping out gas as we speak.

Some of the gas power plants ran out of gas for the above cause, others had freezing problems of their own.  Same with the coal plants knocked off line.

The nuclear plant that failed had it's cooling water freeze.  There are three nuclear plant complexes in Pennsylvania churning out the electrons now.  Must be magic.

One meme shows the report recommending weatherization from 1989 with the date scratched out to 2011 and again with the date scratched out to 2021.

My understanding is the the Texas State politicians recently filed to put succession from the USA on the ballot.  Have at it!

Brian



 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/21 07:03 by choodude.

I'm going to weigh into this as a person who has studied climatology since I was 10 years old, which was a long time ago.  Texas utilities were not prepared for the cold snap that just happened. It's important to understand, however, that these cold temperatures had not gone as low, extended so far (the whole state), or lasted so long since weather records have been maintained in Texas.  Now, putting on my business and economics cap for a minute, I wonder how the ratepayers and stockholders of the utillities would have felt if they were paying in advance for all of the expenditures necessary to protect the utility infrastructure from this kind of weather event that had never occurred before in something like 150 years, at least.  And, of course, that would have diverted capital away from other necessary expenditures over time, as well.  No, you won't hear the mainstream media hacks or political opportunists ask those kinds of questions.  They're either too dumb to ask them, or they're pushing some political agenda.

Of course, there are other things to think about, too.  For example, houses in Texas a generally poorly insulated against cold weather, water lines and plumbing are vulnerable to freezing, most homes don't have emergency power, many don't even have adequate heat systems for frigid temperatures, nor do most homeowners keep an emergency water supply.  Why?  Because homeowners may go decades without seeing such cold weather.  Now, using the "the utilities should have been better prepared" logic, why don't Texans put snow tires on their vehicles every winter, even though they might only need them for one day every 10 years or so?  Maybe Texas needs a law requiring snow tires every winter?

WW Wrote:

[snip]

It's like when you have repeatedly warned a toddler to not touch the hot wood stove.  Sure you really feel bad for them when the come crying to you with a burn,   OTOH you can be sure that toddler won't touch the wood stove again.

I do not have that confidence in the Lone Star State.

Brian