The US Department of Energy (DOE) announces $1.5B for four transmission projects – including connecting the Texas grid to the rest of the US for the first time ever.

The projects, spanning multiple states, will add nearly 1,000 miles of new transmission lines and increase grid capacity by 7,100 megawatts (MW). They’ll boost grid reliability, lower energy costs, and support the clean energy transition.

  • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    I’m glad the non-assholes in Texas are going to see improvement from this, even if the Conservatives get to ride on their coattails.

    • ALQ@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I agree. As much as I’d love karmic retribution for the ones who deserve it, I don’t want it at the expense of the ones who don’t.

      • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        12 days ago

        I was going to make a joke about building a utility grid and making Texas pay for it, but I realized that telling those kinds of people that they’ll have heat and electricity in the winter and that their bill is going down thanks to big government and socialism is fitting punishment.

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I’m not, we’re bailing them out from their arrogant stupidity.

      They’re going to end up gaming us like Enron, selling power to us when it’s most expensive and taking it only when it’s free.

      Then eventually they’ll go back to playing games to make sure everyone in the country has brownouts they can profit off of.

      Never, EVER trust Texans in energy, they’re worse than the mafia.

      • mozingo@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        Okay, but I’d really like to not freeze to death this winter. I can’t afford to move right now.

        • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          Yeah but that’s always the way it is, and in the meantime everyone else suffers.

          I remember in 2006 when gas prices skyrocketed and there were Texas towns celebrating, I also remember enron fucking over California’s and bragging about how smart they were.

          I’d gladly donate to a fund to help people escape the south, it was brutal for me to get out and I had family, but they’re destroying the country.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Im from Texas and even die-hard Republicans hate ERCOT and the entire system. It’s one of the few areas where they aren’t brainwashed.

      When it gets cold, the power gets super expensive as they sit down plants. When it gets hot, the power gets super expensive as they shut down plants. If they’re anticipating a heat wane, they start shutting down plants for “maintenance” to drive up the price of power as demand peaks. They got too greedy in the last few years, and I think things may actually change.

      In Texas you can go attack women, LGBT folk, educators, non-Whites, Hispanics, Jews (but not Israel), children, and religous group that isn’t a hateful branch of Christianity. That’s all fine here.

      But don’t you fucking dare touch our air conditioning.

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    I don’t like saying this, but you reap what you sow. This is pretty on par with what all the Texans I know believe. Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. If your bootstraps are missing then it’s definitely someone else’s fault.

    • Adori@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Not everyone is ignorant in Texas, you blinded by hate smh. Over generalizing and wishing harm on your fellow man and even the innocent ones doesn’t make you better than them.

      • Stern@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        Not everyone is ignorant there, just enough of a voting majority to absolutely fuck themselves in a wide array of ways, and by extension, fuck up the rest of the country to a small extent.

        • thoeb@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          You are completely disregarding the amount of voter suppression that exists in Texas. Sure, the majority of folks that voted maybe wanted this, but that doesn’t mean the majority of Texans agree with it. Voter apathy is a thing, but there is nuance.

      • ThiccSemperTyrannis@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        What are you even talking about? Nobody insinuated any of the points in your comment. OP mentioned anecdotally that Texans they know present in a certain way. That certain way is basically co-opted by Republicans. Texas has a governor, two senators, and a 2-to-1 ratio of House reps that were VOTED IN BY TEXANS that are Republicans. The policy of energy independence pushed by these representatives elected by majorities has led to awful, yet predictable, outcomes. This is the very definition of the state reaping what it has sown.

    • cm0002@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I mean, it still could, there’s absolutely no way they’re (not for “just” 1.5b anyways) getting online with the rest of the grid in ~30 days

      • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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        12 days ago

        But they SAY they are. Then people vote for them again, they move the football out of the way, grandma freezes to death, and Charlie Brown falls on his ass.

  • redditron_2000_4@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Unfortunately this doesn’t say if they (Ercot) are going to comply with national regulations, which was apparently why they refused to connect in the first place.

    We Texans don’t need none of that safety or reliability forced down our throats! 🇵🇷the starts at night, are big and bright! 🇵🇷

    (I know that isn’t the Texas flag)

  • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    So another lose lose for the rest of us. Texas gets to mooch off of us when their third world grid can’t handle the load and tax payers have to pay for the connection.

  • emax_gomax@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    Isn’t it a bit late in the year to be doing this? Like is this because we all know there’s gonna be blackouts in the winter months. Will this be completed in time to prevent that?

      • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        The 2nd best time would have been 19 years, 11 months and 29 days ago.

    • someguy3@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Engineering and planning will probably take 2 years. Then years more for eminent domain and actual construction.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      12 days ago

      It’ll probably take years to actually action, it’s not like they can flip a switch, they need to build a ton of infrastructure on both sides to support this.

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    This improves all Americans access to energy. Texas can reroute power from the southeast sector if needed and vis versa. Ultimately this will save money and lives.