Is that this the way forward for electrical energy storage? (Picture by Invoice Pugliano/Getty Photos)
It was once a normal query I requested utility executives: What retains you awake at night time? That at all times elicited a normal reply: cyberattack.
Asking the identical query now, I get a distinct reply. After I requested it of David Naylor, president and CEO of Rayburn Nation Electrical Cooperative, Inc., his reply, which is now a normal one, was, “The climate.”
Rayburn is headquartered in Rockwall, northeast of Dallas. Its service space covers 16 counties, and it has been in a position to survive some extraordinary climate shocks.
The most important, after all, was Winter Storm Uri which devastated Texas on Feb. 13-17, 2021.
Whereas Rayburn weathered that extreme storm with out plunging its prospects into the darkish, it paid a excessive financial worth. Like different utilities in Texas, it racked up large debt for inflated gasoline costs throughout the emergency.
Rayburn, beneath Naylor, was the primary utility to monetize its debt: It issued a bond in order that the influence of the extraordinary fees could be borne by Rayburn prospects over a decade.
It was a daring, courageous transfer from a utility which has been in a position to be each forward-thinking in its planning and but conservative in its operations. The worldwide regulation agency Dentons suggested.
The wild swings in climate have develop into a brand new and constant concern to utilities, Naylor advised me. This winter’s climate — with heavy precipitation in California and Arctic temperatures within the South — has challenged the trade in new and generally catastrophic methods.
Within the current Ice Storm Mara, tons of of 1000’s of Texans misplaced energy. However Rayburn survived with out main load shedding; a few of its members had small, restricted outages as strains have been cleared and repaired. In contrast, many residents of Austin, the state capital, served by the municipally owned Austin Electrical, have been with out electrical energy for 5 days.
Nobody is gloating. Extreme climate is a brand new actuality which is unpredictable and will be devastating.
Rayburn’s Naylor defined, “Our load, which is generally residential, is about 1,200 megawatts. A 1-degree temperature change can change that load by 25 megawatts. Throughout Ice Storm Elliot final December, we had a leap of 400 megawatts.”
In all three winter storms, Rayburn was in a position to meet its load calls for. However the future is unknown.
Rayburn, which borders the Dallas metroplex, has been rising exponentially, as has a lot of Texas. Naylor mentioned the demand for brand new hookups and repair has been livid, resulting in load progress of between 8 and 10 % over the previous a number of years. “We’re anticipating progress of between 3 and 4 % going ahead,” he mentioned.
This comes at a time when nationwide coverage and native stress is aimed towards web zero emissions by 2050. Naylor mentioned “the engineer” in him says that this may’t be performed, however he’s hopeful that new know-how, and particularly enhancements in batteries, will come into play.
Notably, he’s hopeful that distributed power will play a giant half sooner or later, and his co-op has laid the groundwork for that. They’ve a posh rebate construction to encourage the usage of electrical energy in off-peak hours.
“Going ahead, we’re going to be companions with our prospects,” Naylor mentioned. That may require subtle communications and an interdependence.
As electrical automobiles take over, they have to be thought-about as a capital addition to the utility system, as companions within the enterprise. In the identical manner that Uber
UBER
Within the progress predicament, this future shock, Naylor and Rayburn are in the identical place as different utilities, huge and small: load rising and stress on fossil fuels rising.
Nonetheless Naylor is negotiating for extra pure gasoline possession and, like different utilities, he sees gasoline because the bridge, the dispatchable gas it doesn’t matter what.
Regardless of its place because the fossil gas capital of america, Naylor famous that Texas has extra put in renewable capability than some other state and is forging forward not solely with new wind and photo voltaic, but additionally with gasoline.
For Rayburn, photo voltaic has been the popular renewable possibility. “With a largely residential load, photo voltaic suits the form of our load,” Naylor advised me.
He mentioned Winter Storm Uri — the largest climate occasion so far — was a wake-up name for Texans. This led to many installations which may have a task in a distributed technology, from energy partitions to dwelling turbines to extra rooftop photo voltaic. As well as the Texas grid, operated by ERCOT, is present process a redesign, Naylor mentioned.
These additions imply extra distributed technology sources, extra of the burgeoning utility future so totally different from the previous.
He additionally mentioned information will play an even bigger function in the way forward for Rayburn and different utilities. “We’ve at all times had it, however we didn’t know what to do with it,” he mentioned. Now with detailed evaluation, information turns into a useful resource, and is a big assist in managing the load and in planning. For Rayburn, Naylor mentioned, information is a brand new useful resource and could be very promising.
The one factor which Naylor and different utility chiefs can’t anticipate with accuracy is the climate. However Rayburn, Naylor advised me, is as ready as it may be, and has averted main outages up up to now within the time of what quantities to the “new climate.”
SCHOOL: Texas
HEAD COACH: Steve Sarkisian (25-14, 4th year)
2023 RECORD: 12-1 overall, 8-1 (1st in Big 12)
RETURNING STARTERS: Offense – 5; Defense – 7, Special Teams – 1
PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Quinn Ewers, RB Jaydon Blue, WR Silas Bolden, WR Isaiah Bond, LT Kelvin Banks Jr., Edge Ethan Burke, LB Anthony Hill, S Andrew Mukuba
VERSUS GEORGIA: October 19 (Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium)
Last year’s Longhorn offense averaged 36 points. Can Texas keep that up in its first season in the SEC?
The fact quarterback Quinn Ewers is back after a year that saw him complete 69 percent of his passes for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns bodes well.
So does the fact Texas returns four of its starting offensive linemen.
The team has to replace Jonathan Brooks – the first running back taken in last April’s NFL Draft – but features some excellent returnees in CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue, who combined for 1,057 yards last season.
There are some questions at wide receiver, but only because so many are new to the program.
Otherwise, Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond, Houston transfer Matthew Golden, and Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden accounted for 140 receptions for 1,818 yards and 15 touchdowns combined for their former teams.
Gone are defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat, selected in the first and second rounds of the NFL Draft.
As they did at wide receiver, the Longhorns dipped into the transfer portal to hopefully fill the voids, adding former Georgia player (Bill Norton via Arizona), Tia Savea (Arizona), and Louisville flip Jermayne Lole.
The Longhorns also hope fifth-year player Alfred Collins will be able to make a jump, and if he can, then the unit may be able to do the job.
Still, it might be a bit unfair to expect the same production as Sweat and Murphy provided a season ago.
A Week Two trip to defending national champion Michigan will give the Longhorns an excellent early test before hosting Mississippi State in its first game as an SEC member on Sept. 28.
The two weeks that follow, however, will tell the tale.
Texas and fellow SEC newcomer Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 12, followed on the 19th by the highly-anticipated game with Georgia.
If the Longhorns can survive that, the rest of the conference schedule is certainly manageable.
Home games against Florida and Kentucky highlight the remaining part of the conference schedule, before closing at arch-rival Texas A&M on Nov. 30.
BALTIMORE — A philosophical question: If a closer doesn’t hit 100 mph, can he still get noticed? You know, kind of like a tree falling in the woods. If nobody sees it, did it actually happen?
We may get an answer to that question in the next week when All-Star rosters are revealed. Rangers closer Kirby Yates has seemingly done everything necessary to make the AL All-Star team, other than light up a radar gun.
As players wrap up their voting for the All-Star pitching staffs this weekend, choosing three relievers, it’s hard to make a convincing case against Yates reaching the medal stand. Unless, of course, you factor in his fastball. It doesn’t light up Statcast metrics. It’s only good for getting him ahead in counts and setting up his devastating forkball. Among qualified relievers, Yates’ 93.1 mph average fastball ranks only 60th in the AL. The guys getting all the national buzz are Oakland’s Mason Miller and his 100.8 mph fastball and AL saves leader Emmanuel Clase with his 99.8 mph heater.
“I know I don’t have a fastball that lights up the radar guns,” Yates said. “But the league is filled with stuff and guys who are throwers. Guys who pitch are the outliers. But if you pitch and execute your pitches, you can be successful. I don’t think that will ever go away.”
He has pitched exceptionally well. There is not a performance-based stat in which he is weak. He began Saturday perfect in his 11 save chances this year, the only AL reliever with at least 10 opportunities and no blown saves. His ERA (0.99) was second. His batting average allowed (.134) was second. He had a WHIP below 1.00 (0.95).
Put this another way. He is the only pitcher in baseball — regardless of league — to begin the statistical second-half of the season perfect on at least 10 save chances, with a WHIP and ERA both below 1.00. There is more. He’s averaging 12.07 strikeouts per nine innings thanks to a filthy splitter and hasn’t allowed a homer.
The closest comp to Yates from a year ago was Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran, who ended June with 11 saves in 13 chances, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.94 ERA. Perhaps, it’s not best to bring this up. Duran still didn’t make the All-Star team. There were six relievers either selected or named as replacements. It included each of the top five in saves and Baltimore’s Yennier Cano, who had a 1.14 ERA and 0.86 WHIP entering July. Moral of the story: Yates’ relatively low number of saves may work against him.
If other players rely on a singular number such as saves or WAR, Yates may get overlooked. He is tied for 11th in the AL in saves and is eighth in WAR among AL relievers at 1.0, though only three-tenths of a win separates him from the No. 2 spot, which belongs to Clase.
On the other hand, if AL manager Bruce Bochy has any input, Yates will get a firm endorsement. That doesn’t carry the weight it once did. Once upon a time, the manager had a big hand in selecting the pitching staff. Now, it’s almost entirely reliant on peer votes. Bochy said this week that he would heartily endorse Yates as a reliever.
So, too, will David Robertson, the AL’s senior reliever at age 39. Robertson was an All-Star in 2010 as a setup man with the New York Yankees.
“His case is great,” said Robertson, who has a pretty solid case of his own. “His WHIP is good. His strikeouts are high. If you aren’t giving up walks and hits and you are striking out guys, what else are you supposed to do? I hope he goes.”
Yates admits it, he’d like to. He’s been an All-Star before and was even named the NL’s closer in 2019. Only problem: NL didn’t have a lead. He didn’t pitch. Since then: He missed most of three seasons with elbow issues and eventually surgery.
“I think making the team would validate a lot of things,” Yates said. “I’d love a chance to pitch, but the fact that I was named the closer that year was a real sign of respect and I appreciated that. In a perfect world, you’d get a chance to do both.”
And if everybody sees it, well, then it definitely happened.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
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Two county jail guards have been indicted on murder charges for the asphyxiation death of an inmate in Texas.
The indictments, dated Tuesday, charge Joel Garcia, 48, and Rafael Moreno Jr., 37, in the April death of 31-year-old former Marine Anthony Johnson Jr. at the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth.
Attorneys for Garcia or Moreno did not immediately return phone calls and text messages for comment Friday.
Randy Moore, an attorney for Garcia, has previously said that Garcia’s role in the fight was limited and that the use of force was necessary.
“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement. “I said from the beginning that we hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death and we are doing that.”
Waybourn, who has said Moreno wrongly placed his knee on Johnson’s back after Johnson was handcuffed and that Garcia was the supervisor, initially fired the two, but both were reinstated and placed on paid leave because the sheriff’s office said the dismissals did not follow official protocol.
The force used in Johnson’s death is intended to stop and subdue people without killing them, yet increasingly it has come under scrutiny following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer restrained him face down on the ground for nine minutes and pinned a knee to the back of Floyd’s neck, an incident that sparked outrage nationwide.
The family of Johnson, who had been arrested two days before his death for allegedly using a knife to threaten the driver of a vehicle, has called for a federal investigation of the jail. The family has told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Johnson was suffering from a mental health crisis.
On Friday, four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder, and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter, in the December death of a Black man who was pepper-sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate.
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