๐๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
Aโ๏ธ449-wordโ๏ธ2.5-minuteโ๏ธread
As with many of these types of stories, an article highlighted in todayโs ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น top headlines had me shaking my head.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐: Data centers could strain Texas' grid and raise power bills. Here's a fix for both problems.
Before pouring cold water on the fix, let me preface my remarks by saying I couldnโt agree more with the philosophy. The problem is that it canโt possibly solve the cited problem in a timely fashion.
What is the article proposing?
A renewed emphasis on energy efficiency.
Bravo!
Iโve only been saying the same thing for years. The world would be well served to place a greater emphasis on energy conservation and efficiency. However, any such effort would undoubtedly take decades to yield significant results.
Specific to Texas, the article points out that if Texas homes had better insulation and more efficient heaters when the 2021 freeze occurred, demand would have been reduced by 15 gigawatts. That would have avoided the near meltdown.
That thought process reminds me of a saying Iโm fond of: if the queen had testicles, sheโd be king.
If, if, ifโฆ
The real world doesnโt work on ifs. It works on the reality of logistics.
According to AI, there are 10.7 households and more than 8.1 million housing units in Texas. Not all these homes need energy upgrades, but I suspect millions do.
How long do you think it would take to retrofit millions of homes?
More time than to upgrade substations and build additional gas-powered plants?
Undoubtedly.
As a comp, I queried the progress of the Massachusetts Mass Save program. I consider that program one of the more successful state-sponsored energy efficient efforts.
It has taken 12 years to weatherize 350,000 homes. Thatโs a yearly average of about 30,000. I should point out that the query indicated 55,000 homes received weatherization services in 2024 which suggests the pace of adoption has accelerated.
Mass Save was created in 2008. As of early 2024, nearly 1 million households have leveraged the no-cost energy assessments.
Think about that.
It cost the consumer nothing, yet on an annual basis only about 60,000 households took advantage of it. And donโt forget Massachusetts has some of the highest electric rates in the nation. And New England is slightly colder than Texas.
The world should absolutely put a full-court press on its efficiency and conservation efforts. It only makes sense.
However, climate advocates should stop positioning such efforts as potential solutions to immediate problems. Doing so isnโt just plain stupid, it risks the loss of credibility, which has, in my opinion, already significantly damaged climate efforts. ย
#energyefficiency #MassSave #energyconservation #texasenergy