Source: Bacon’s Rebellion (BR).

A WSJ article posted here a couple of days ago mentioned PJM, a regional organization to which Virginia’s electricity providers belong. WSJ made the point that Texas opted for a slightly different regulated market model for wholesale electricity than PJM’s. As WSJ noted, the main difference is PJM’s creation of a “capacity market,” a slightly more costly model that Texas chose not to pursue. BR explains how the capacity market in Virginia functions.

Continue reading “How Electricity “Capacity” Markets Work” →

Source: The Wall Street Journal (behind paywall).

My favorite WSJ writer, Holman Jenkins, captures a number of lessons to be learned from the Texas blackout.

Continue reading “Texas-Style Blackouts Are the Future” →

Source: Bacon’s Rebellion.

Having the state predict local and regional demand for healthcare services may sound useful for planning purposes, but it is at best merely a replacement for the empirical (or analog) demand measurement the marketplace naturally provides on its own. Other problems arise, too, like the one the writer describes.

Source: The Unz Review.

Ten perspectives on our justice system by a one-time police reporter. I find all of them compelling.

Overall, I don’t think the design of our justice system can be much improved and I suspect that outright corruption is a bigger problem than is generally appreciated. I think, too, that our public choices reflect a shifting mixture of wrong ideas about crime and criminals.

It certainly is…

Isn’t it?

Bad assumptions can drive out good comprehension. This notably applies to the Texas blackout.

Continue reading “In Texas, Electrical Balance More Significant Than Energy Sources” →

Source: The Wall Street Journal (behind paywall).

The writer, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloombeg School of Public health, writes, “Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we’d call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

Continue reading “We’ll Have Herd Immunity by April” →

Source: Karl Denninger.

Once you know that almost 50% of the Texas blackout consisted of shutdown renewable energy systems, it becomes easier to grasp the big picture of the event in semi-technical terms. Activist blogger and businessman Karl Denninger provides a colorful description:

Continue reading “Green Energy Can Kill” →

Source: National Review.

Kevin Williamson makes a crucial point succinctly: “It’s a complex issue, but when 7 percent of your expected power represents 40 percent of your lost power, that is a significant fact.”

Source: Newsweek.

I suspect most Americans are not well informed about continuity of government plans that are already in place. This Newsweek piece serves an educational purpose in that context.

Still, I can’t help noting an ambiguity. That is, the existing plans as described in the article could, conceivably, be implemented without public announcement. Martial Law could be in effect without anybody noticing.

I doubt such a wild improbability has occurred, but you never know. Have fun.