John Foote + 1,135 JF July 25, 2020 You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas. Most famously stated by Davy Crockett. And now Elon Musk. Tesla will be building there trucks maybe 15 minutes from my house. I wonder how many Toyota truck manufacturers they'll poach from San Antonio and the Toyota plant there. BTW, transplants from Michigan and California need not apply. FWIW the power plants nearest the site run off natural gas. Sometimes got to make the juice to charge those batteries. 1 1 3 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan Clemmensen + 1,011 July 25, 2020 25 minutes ago, John Foote said: You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas. Most famously stated by Davy Crockett. And now Elon Musk. Tesla will be building there trucks maybe 15 minutes from my house. I wonder how many Toyota truck manufacturers they'll poach from San Antonio and the Toyota plant there. BTW, transplants from Michigan and California need not apply. FWIW the power plants nearest the site run off natural gas. Sometimes got to make the juice to charge those batteries. Texas' Electricity is handled by ERCOT. In 2020 so far, NG has generated about 44% of the power. Wind has generated 26% of the power, which is more than coal and nuclear combined. Texas has far more wind-generated electricity than any other state. http://www.ercot.com/gridinfo/generation If you want to transfer from the Fremont plant to the Texas plant, you should probably go ahead and apply. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Foote + 1,135 JF July 26, 2020 20 hours ago, Dan Clemmensen said: Texas' Electricity is handled by ERCOT. In 2020 so far, NG has generated about 44% of the power. Wind has generated 26% of the power, which is more than coal and nuclear combined. Texas has far more wind-generated electricity than any other state. Texas has a unique advantage in ERCOT, and the blend of various power suppliers, and being the wind power capital of the US, helps. Thirty or so years ago ERCOT embarked on revitalizing the overall grid, it's ability to shift and adapt might be the best in the country. Power is generated mostly by commercial for profit wholesales, and various groups aggregrigate and sell resale. And for heavy industrial users, having their own power plant, with a grid tie in, is not unusual. It's a common negotiation tactic of large users for negotiating rates. Competition with many providers keeps the system honest, and the occasionally very high spot demand with very high spot buy wholesale power keeps the system with enough capacity. ERCOT facilities this model and was directed to embrace it probably twenty plus years ago, as opposed to the classic utility model focussed on power production. Commoditize production! The Tesla site itself is just about surrounded by gas electrical generation sites within a few miles, the wind corridor is far away, not unlike LA getting power from Hoover Dam. In Texas an entity like Tesla will in all probability contract for 100% clean energy, which is really a marketing scheme and they will pay a bit of a premium for it. More than a few organizations do that including my employer. I have the option even for my house, but won't pay the extra money to say I am 100% green. Of course that's a bit of misnomer since electricity is blended so to speak. And one of the largest coal generation facilities isn't that far away, and there is a nuclear facility feeding in as well. Every day is a elaborate bid process to provide power for the next day. Fremont/MUNI won't shut down because of Texas. The Central Texas site will take time to bring up and it will have serious ability to expand, which isn't an option in Fremont. Also close enough to San Antonio to leverage the supply chain infrastructure Toyota put in place for the their pickups. Far enough out of Austin to have access to relatively inexpensive housing, cost of living, and practicing sitting on two major highways. A logistal dream site. A big win for Central Texas. It is of the most balanced economic eco systems in the country. To your point, Texas, despite oil, gas, and coal interests some might say, is a leader in renewable energy, and it's driven by economics rather than politics. However it took politics to change the utility business model to commodize power generation with real competition. In parts of Texas the retail electrical grid is smart enough to where you rates are affected by time of consumption. So you electric car, cheap recharge while you sleep at night which helps the overall system. Technically speaking, you could sell electricity to the grid during peak times from your vehicle and charge at night. Nobody does, but folks thinking storage needs to be cheap as inexpensive production are wrong, you just need to make money on the filling the peak surge spot buy costs, which today is more about competing with diesel than gas. A ways to go, but it will get there. 2 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old-Ruffneck + 1,246 er July 27, 2020 On 7/25/2020 at 4:22 PM, John Foote said: BTW, transplants from Michigan and California need not apply. Left wing whackos are infiltrating Texas as a high rate. Sad!!! 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Prometheus1354 + 178 July 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, Old-Ruffneck said: Left wing whackos are infiltrating Texas as a high rate. Sad!!! The DNC has had a Bullseye on Texas since the '14 midterms. They spent big $$$$$ tryin to flip Texas in '16. It will be even worse this yr. I'm lookin at movin from Commiefornia too Texas. I was there for my first Radar Tech school right after Bootcamp at Ft. Bliss in El Paso. I also worked in Texas on a cpl occasions while in the Defense Electronics industry after the Corps. Too the Good People of Texas; Don't worry about me if I do move there. I'm a Staunch Conservative. I won't be bringin any Libcrap baggage... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Foote + 1,135 JF August 2, 2020 On 7/27/2020 at 7:27 AM, Prometheus1354 said: The DNC has had a Bullseye on Texas since the '14 midterms. They spent big $$$$$ tryin to flip Texas in '16. It will be even worse this yr. Texas will flip if the RNC doesn't become more inclusive, it's a when, not an if. But I personally don't see the flip in 2020. Even the California libtards tend to cool their jets once they get here. Maybe it takes them a couple of years, but they leave the extremism behind. And it's not just Californians moving here. Folks come from just about everywhere. Two from Michigan in my workgroup. In Austin natives are practically unicorns. I don't work with any native Austinites, though a few of the immigrants from Houston, Dallas, and Waco. And personally, if you have urban property, Texas in not a good place to retire. Hellish real estate taxes. I'm in the odd nasty spot where the Trump tax reforms actually increased my income tax load by capping the real estate tax deduction. But Texas is a great place to live and work. Now rural land with an agriculture exemption, pretty darn sweet tax wise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Prometheus1354 + 178 August 2, 2020 1 hour ago, John Foote said: Texas will flip if the RNC doesn't become more inclusive, it's a when, not an if. But I personally don't see the flip in 2020. Even the California libtards tend to cool their jets once they get here. Maybe it takes them a couple of years, but they leave the extremism behind. And it's not just Californians moving here. Folks come from just about everywhere. Two from Michigan in my workgroup. In Austin natives are practically unicorns. I don't work with any native Austinites, though a few of the immigrants from Houston, Dallas, and Waco. And personally, if you have urban property, Texas in not a good place to retire. Hellish real estate taxes. I'm in the odd nasty spot where the Trump tax reforms actually increased my income tax load by capping the real estate tax deduction. But Texas is a great place to live and work. Now rural land with an agriculture exemption, pretty darn sweet tax wise. John; In what manner(s) do you feel the RNC needs to change?? I've heard that about the taxes. Not to mention the summers... lol Well if TX does flip, then I better get busy workin to flip CA back too the Reality side... once the Libturds are entrenched in TX it won't take 'em long to wilt in the summers there. We can use that wall y'all keep callin for too 'keep us in' too Keep them Out! We'll paint a big sign on the NV side sayin: "Libs NOT WELCOME!! All Normal people we'll see you at LAX"... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Foote + 1,135 JF August 2, 2020 The RNC does a horrible job at appealing to under 30 and minorities. Go read and listen to Karl Rove (who I met once in a local eater). He is a genius at politics. The RNC can't continue alienating 60% of the population that is growing as a proportion of the overall. Houston is the most diverse city in the nation. That you can find plenty of people of color supporting Trump is indisputable, but the overall numbers work against. There have been Republicans who did well with the hispanic community, but that's a Bush Republican, not a Trump one. My ex-neighbor wrote the concealed handgun law that Texas adopted and went on to be the Land Commissioner. Very conservative, but also very inclusive. That is missing today. The immigrants in Texas are here for opportunity and to work. Most that I know have a fantastic work ethic. IMHO Austin is actually less liberal than twenty years ago. Historically a college/government town. 250,000 people when I first moved here, now a metropolitan area population around 2 million, and increasing by 150 a day on average. The influence of the government workers and university types is much less. The land of cowboy hippies, cold beer, and cheap pot is now mostly just folklore and small enclaves. Still a lot a great free and cheap live music around. And when you are an hour from the cities in Texas it's an entirely different world. That is very conservative. As for the heat. After summers in Saudi Arabia a Texas summer feels downright chilly. I go for runs most days at some time between 11AM and 3PM. I refuse to allow my body to be an HVAC wimp. Sitting outside now on the porch, 95, slight breeze, shaded. Feels great. I am going to go grab a beer. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites