In today’s paper, it mentioned we were close to a total blackout of cell phones, houses etc within minutes which they said would have lasted weeks.
We escaped a huge disaster
Glad ERCOT was there to save us in the nick of time!
ERCOT, cause of – and solution to – all of life’s problems.
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Why you need a generator and 20 gallons of gas, propane stove and those big packages of duracell batteries. Oh, lots of weapons with plenty of ammo
I’ve got all the above (minus guns and ammo) plus the emergency radio with the hand cranked dynamo to recharge the battery and/or cell phones. 99.99% sure I’ll never use that hand crank, but I’M READY.
Without weaponry, you are defenseless against the zombie apocalypse
While relaxing at the Antlers Bar in Gardiner, Montana outside the gate to Yellowstone, I shared beers with a local fellow, a retired mining executive who said “I’m not sure how many guns I have but I know I have 10,000 rounds of ammo”. .
I have to balance the small chance I’ll ever need a gun for self defense against the ever-present likelihood that my wife would want to shoot me. Come to think of it, maybe I do need a gun for self defense! 
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Shooting wives and the Zombie Apocalypse. There’s got to be a movie there.
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https://twitter.com/joshdr83/status/1364636801432920069?s=20
Turbine-generator sets in power plants don’t like deviating from the nominal 60HZ frequency. Looks like the grid got below 59.4HZ. Low frequency output is generally a symptom of an overload condition.
A T-G pair is rated for a particular power output (i.e., 260MW at a standardized ambient condition). The system can take only a limited period of overload… not extended, before serious damage occurs. It sounds like the protective relaying systems were timing out, from a total of 9 minutes allowed with roughly 4+ minutes left on the countdown.
Load shedding (blackouts) had to take place to keep the grid stable and to avoid major damage.