/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/LWUT6WFG7FG3VDEQJKVV674QVI.jpg?ssl=1 "Plan to link Texas ERCOT electric grid to southeastern U.S. states is in the works")
Since forever, Texans have proudly proclaimed that our state electricity grid run by ERCOT did not need or want to connect to the national grids. We don’t want no stinkin’ federal regulators putting their noses into our business.
Quietly, though, behind the scenes, state regulators have worked for more than a decade with Pattern Energy, a private company, to create the “Southern Spirit Transmission.”
The goal is a 400-mile transmission line from the Texas/Louisiana border, through Louisiana and into Mississippi to connect with grids in the southeastern United States.
Power could flow into or out of Texas, depending on the need.
Federal regulators would have no jurisdiction over the project because of the way it’s set up. Also, the electricity flow would be direct current, not the usual alternating current.
In a local angle, Garland Power & Light is part of the plan because the lines would connect to Texas in a partnership with Garland. Garland announced its participation back in 2011. The utility would operate a substation on the Texas border and 30 miles of transmission lines leading to it.
Your cost? Consumers would not – repeat, not – pay for this $2.6 billion project.
A projected schedule shows construction could start in 2026 and end by 2029. Right-of-way work is being done now.
This project, a groundbreaking one if pieces fall into place, has received little public attention. The Watchdog learned about it after Watchdog Nation member Bill Loftin of Plano noticed its mention in a Louisiana parish newsletter he subscribes to.
According to the latest issue of the Red River Parish Journal, leaders in the northwest Louisiana community heard from a representative of Pattern asking for public support of 21 miles of transmission lines across the parish.
Residents asked about environmental impact and the effect on farmers, wildlife and others. At one point, the Pattern official threatened the use of eminent domain to seize needed land.
Residents also criticized the project for its lack of local benefits. No power would be used in Louisiana.
“There is no person in Louisiana to call if someone has a problem,” someone said. “There is no entity in Louisiana that has jurisdiction over this company.”
Others complained about the huge transmission towers, which plans show could go as high as 450 feet.
The parish postponed a decision.
Participating communities will benefit from creation of 3,000 construction jobs and millions of dollars in local impact, including property tax revenue, according to the company.
Pattern says its goal is to increase the diversity of its power sources “to help drive down rates for electricity customers, especially in times of high energy demand.”
Direct current, as opposed to alternating current, is more efficient, leaves a smaller footprint and involves fewer wires to transmit the same amount of power, the company states on its website.
In the meantime, Pattern is trying to build goodwill in pass-through communities. Headlines on its website announce “Southern Spirit is Supporting Local Food Bank” and “Giving Back is a Year-Long Commitment.”
Applications have been submitted to Louisiana and Mississippi regulators. The Texas Public Utility Commission has ordered ERCOT to present updates every six months.
Texas already has several small direct current connections with Mexico and the western and eastern U.S. grids, but nothing like this planned project.
The ERCOT grid is called an “electrical island” because of its independence from other grids. Since we don’t cross state lines, Texas utilities aren’t forced to deal with the feds.
In this case, federal involvement is limited because the company was able to “thread the needle of the federal requirements,” Pattern lobbyist Michael Jewell told Houston TV station KHOU in 2021.
Even with the Southern Spirit in operation, it would not have provided enough power to prevent blackouts during the 2021 ice storm catastrophe. But it would have provided power for a few hundred thousand homes.
In a November filing before the PUC, Pattern states that once the project comes online, total import capacity “would still be less than 4% of ERCOT’s current peak resource needs.”
ERCOT and the PUC have details to iron out. Approval is needed in Louisiana and Mississippi.
And then there are those communities that must be swayed. They don’t want no stinkin’ out-of-towners putting ugly towers across their land.
Who can blame them?
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The glam influencer who drowned during a Texas Ironman swim had been battling the flu – but ignored pals who begged her to pull out of the brutal endurance race, according to one friend.
“She was ill before the trip, she wasn’t okay,” Luis Taveira said of close friend Mara Flávia, 38, who died during Saturday’s race in The Woodlands.
“My wife and I spoke with her to say she was too weak for this race, although a couple of days ago when we talked to her, she insisted she was okay,” Taveira said of the Brazil-born influencer, according to sports website the Spun.
“I still cannot believe what’s happened. She was ill because of the flu.”
Flávia continued “training hard” even while “weakened” by her illness, the friend said.
Just two days before the competition, Flávia shared a picture of herself in a pink swimming costume and cap sitting by the edge of a pool.
“Just another day at work,” she wrote in Portuguese.
Her Instagram account was peppered with snaps, showing her working out in a gym, by the pool, or running outdoors.
“Not every victory is photogenic, not every growth is pretty to watch. Sometimes evolving is being silent, stepping back, saying no, crying in the background, and coming back the next day more aware,” she said in one motivational post.
In others, she said that skill “only develops with hours and hours of work” and sport is “the best tool for transformation.”
The Ironman Texas competition features three legs — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. The women’s event got underway just after 6:30 a.m. Saturday, with fire crews alerted around an hour later that there was a lost swimmer.
Flávia’s body was found around 9 a.m. in about 10 feet of water.
Officials have ruled her preliminary cause of death was drowning, and relatives have paid tribute.
Flávia’s sister, Melissa Araújo, said her sibling “lived life intensely” – and revealed a piece of her had vanished, People reported.
“You were always synonymous with determination, with courage — with a strength that seemed too vast to be contained within you,” she wrote on social media.
“You never did anything halfway; perhaps that is why you left such a profound mark on the lives of everyone who crossed your path.
“A piece of me is gone, and I will have to learn to live without it. And it hurts in a way I cannot even explain.
“It is a strange silence, a void I knew existed all along — as if the world itself had lost a little of its color.”
Flávia’s partner, Rodrigo Ferrari, described the swimmer as his “love” and said not waking up next to her was hard.
“Ursa, you were the best person I have ever met in my life,” he wrote in a note shared on social media.
A Brazilian fitness influencer has died after getting into difficulty during the swimming portion of an ironman event in Texas.
Mara Flavia Souza Araujo was reported as a “lost swimmer” around 7.30am at the Ironman Texas in Lake Woodlands near Houston on Saturday. According to KPRC 2 News, safety crews could not immediately locate Araujo. The 38-year-old’s body was discovered around 90 minutes later in 10ft of water by divers. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department confirmed her identity in a statement to NBC on Monday.
“MCSO can confirm that Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, of Brazil died while competing in the Ironman event in The Woodlands on Saturday,” the sheriff’s department told NBC News. “Preliminary investigations indicate she drowned during the swimming portion of the event.”
Araujo was an experienced triathlete and had completed at least nine ironman events since 2018. She had more than 60,000 followers on Instagram and had posted about the importance of making the most out of life in the days before her death.
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“Enjoy this ride on the bullet train that is life,” she wrote in Portuguese. “And even with the speed of the machine blurring the landscape, look out the window – for at any moment, the train will drop you off at the eternal station.”
Organizers of the race expressed their condolences on Saturday.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time,” race organizers said in a statement on Saturday. “Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance.”
A glamorous triathlete who drowned during an Ironman competition in Texas shared a photo from a swimming pool during a final training session just two days before the tragic race.
Brazilian influencer Mara Flávia, 38, shared the shot of her on the edge of a pool on Thursday — two days before she vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning.
“Just another day at work,” Flávia, 38, wrote in Portuguese alongside the pic of her wearing a matching pink swimming costume and cap.
The influencer, who had more than 60,000 followers online, chose the Robin S track “Show Me Love” for her post with the hashtags “triathlon,” “swimming” and “triathlete.”
Flávia vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning – the first of three grueling trials that competitors face during the 140-mile race.
Fire crews were told about a “lost swimmer” at around 7:30 a.m., one hour into the pro-female swim, KPRC reported.
Rescuers battled challenging visibility conditions before Flávia’s body was pulled from the water just after 9:30 a.m.
Montgomery County Sheriffs confirmed that the victim “drowned while participating in the swim portion of the event,” according to a statement. The office said its Major Crimes unit will continue the investigation “per normal protocols.”
Shawn McDonald, a volunteer, recounted the commotion before the swimmer’s body was recovered.
The dad, who volunteered with his daughter Mila, 12, said a group of younger volunteers in a kayak raised a flag and blew their whistles, “yelling for help.”
“I heard them say she went under,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I had Mila hand me the paddle and I started calling out to the athletes around us to stop so I could cross. I made my way over in about 30 seconds.
“When I got there and asked what happened, they all said the same thing: She went under. Right here. Right below us. The panic and fear on their faces won’t leave me for a long time.”
The volunteer recalled how one man had a “thousand-yard stare” on his face – before diving into the water in a desperate bid to find Flávia.
“I dove in immediately and began searching. After about a minute underwater, I felt her body with my foot. I surfaced, took what seemed like the deepest breath I have ever taken and went back down. She was gone.”
Boats with sonar combed the area – and McDonald was told to leave the water before the body was recovered.
“The victim was found in about 10 feet of water on the bottom of the lake,” Buck said. “The dive team accessed the victim, brought her up about 9:37 and then brought her over to the shore where she was pronounced DOS [deceased on scene],” Palmer Buck, the Woodlands fire chief, said.
It’s not known what caused the triathlete to go under the water.
Journalism grad Flávia previously worked in radio and television before pursuing a sporting career at age 28.
She previously twice won the Brazilian Grand Prix, and finished third in the Brasilia triathlon event.
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