Deep freeze raises Texas’ electricity prices by 10,000%

Deep freeze raises Texas’ electricity prices by 10,000%

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Tonight: A freeze sends Texas’ electricity prices up 10,000%; Citibank cannot fix a $ 500 million option; and vegan KitKats are a thing now. Let’s go into it.

Electricity prices rose more than 10,000% when the winter storm hit this week. There are eclipses all over the state. More than 4 million Texans were without power early Tuesday.

INDICATORS

While some are trying to put the blame on some fuel, the reality is that Arctic temperatures are weakening fossil fuels and renewable energy, explains my colleague Matt Egan.

It is striking that these power outages occur in the mighty Texas, the energy power station of America. A little context:

  • Texas produces more electricity than any other U.S. state and, according to federal statistics, produces nearly twice as much as Florida, the closest neighbor.
  • Texas is the number 1 state in both crude oil and natural gas.
  • Wind power is also booming in Texas, which in 2018 produced about 28% of all U.S. wind-powered electricity.

WHAT HAPPENED?

So, how did such a power station beat offline so thoroughly?

We may not know the definitive reason for a while, but a few things are clear:

  • Clearly, the winters in Texas are usually not that cold. The state’s infrastructure is simply not prepared for deep freezing.
  • Critics of renewable energy will try to blame wind turbines, but experts note that wind is a small part of Texas’ energy consumption.
  • It’s also worth noting that many colder places have wind turbines that do not bend in the cold – hello, Iowa; hey hey, Denmark – they just need to be overwintered, experts said Texas has skipped.
  • The Lone Star State is … completely alone. Texas has made a conscious decision to isolate its energy grid from the rest of the country. This means that when things go smoothly, it cannot export excess power to neighboring states. And in the current crisis, it can not import power either.

In other words, “When it comes to electricity, what’s happening in Texas remains in Texas,” said Dan Cohan, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University. “It really came back to bite us.”

RELATED: Ford closes its Kansas City assembly plant, which makes the best-selling F-150 pickup, due to a shortage of natural gas caused by severe winter weather hitting much of the country.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It would have been irrational to believe that Citibank, one of the most sophisticated financial institutions in the world, had made a mistake that had never happened before, amounting to almost $ 1 billion.

– Judge Jesse Furman, U.S. District Court

Citi just lost an attempt to fix a big option. Last year, the bank gave $ 900 million to the credit providers of cosmetics company Revlon with a greasy finger. Some lenders returned the faulty funds, but others refused, asking Citi to recover a half-billion-dollar charge. On Tuesday, a federal judge said – and I’m paraphrasing here – lol no.

THE FOOD BUSINESS

BIG CHICKEN

Another day, another escalation of the Chicken Sandwich Wars. At this point, you need to do something special to make your sandwich stand out, so McDonald’s is buzzing buzz for its three new chickie combs with a limited edition $ 5 swag bundle, which is a hoodie, a vinyl recording of a custom song and of course, a sandwich. (The star should be the hoodie, which comes in a shade I can best describe as a ‘light fried chicken color’.)

BIG VEGAN

Now actually the opposite of chicken sandwiches: we now have vegan KitKats. Instead of dairy products, KitKat V will use an alternative to rice. Healthier? No. But more inclusive for people who eat plant-based diets? Yes!

NUMBER OF THE DAY

$ 50,000

Bitcoin peaked at more than $ 50,000 on Tuesday. The statement may have sounded like a joke a year ago when the crypto cost $ 10,000. But bitcoin soared during the pandemic thanks to lower interest rates that weakened the US dollar sharply. This makes bitcoin, a relatively attractive currency.

WHAT OTHERS ARE GOING ON

  • Go on, Robinhood, here comes Goldman Sachs. The investment bank unveils Marcus Invest, a new robo-adviser aimed at the average investor.
  • See you again: Adidas is selling the struggling American fitness brand Reebok as part of a strategic overhaul.
  • Marriott International hotel and CEO Arne Sorenson has died on Monday after a nearly two-year battle with abdominal cancer, the hotel chain announced on Tuesday.

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