Note From A Reader, Southeast Of Williston -- February 14, 2021

A reader in the Bakken sent me a nice note, working on CLR wells southeast of Williston. I would like to post more of the note but sticking to rules on anonymity, all I will post is the photo he sent me. It says it all:

Another reader asked about electricity demand in Texas. My reply:

I survived the night.  Kept the heat off to save electricity for the state. LOL. But yes, I did not have the heat on overnight. I will turn it on briefly to get the chill off, get a cup of coffee and wait for the Daytona.

So far, the utilities have managed to prevent rolling brownouts. If we have brownouts down here it will be devastating. The houses are not insulated at all, and, of course, no one has fireplaces.

Texas ERCOT site here: http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/loadForecastVsActualCurrentDay.html.

and, here:  http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/actual_loads_of_forecast_zones

Demand:

• yesterday peak: 64,000 MWh
• so far today (10:00 a.m. local time): 61,000 MWh

Record demand during summer, at 74K MWh: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2019/08/13/342706/texas-breaks-records-for-peak-electricity-demand/.

February demand will set records for February but I doubt it will set yearly records. The problem is not the demand bu the supply -- "freeze-offs" in the Permian shutting down supply of natural gas to power plants. 

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Television Today

Wuthering Heights, 1939: seems to be a fitting movie on TCM right now. LOL. 

Daytona 500 later today. Unfortunately weather forecasts suggest it will be rain-delayed until Monday at the earliest. 

It's going to be a long 3-day weekend. Plenty of time to continue reading my copy of the Annotated Wuthering Heights. Notes here. The symmetry of the genealogy of the two families has always fascinated me. Now, today, I've noticed additional symmetries. 

Later: I don't know if I've ever watched Gone With The Wind (1939) with Clark Gable, et al. What little I've seen, I don't think I would care for it much at all. But wow, It Happened One Night (1934), pre-code, also with Clark Gable, et al. Now that one, I love. LOL. 

Hollywood pre-code period: 1929 - 1934.

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The Book Page

I'm re-reading Privileged Planet, Guillermo Gonzalez, Jay W. Richards, c. 2004

Link here for my notes on the book. 

All things being equal, I would prefer the average global temperature to increase by 2°C than experience the bone-chilling winters of North Dakota and Siberia, not to mention the Arctic and the Antarctic. LOL. But then, that's just me. And the 100's of thousands of Brits that flock to the tropical islands every year. And the NoDak snowbirds flocking to Phoenix this time of year. 

From the Privileged Planet: it is amazing how fine-tuned our planet is to sustain life as we know it. When one reads the book, it is interesting to ask, which is more believable:

• literally, thousands of coincidences required for life on this earth as we know it; vs,
• intelligent design.

I ask that without bias or prejudice, preconceived notions. It is simply amazing all the "things" that were / are required for the earth to be what it is. Absolutely amazing.

This is one of my top ten books. Along with The Annotated Wuthering Heights. LOL. It's going to be a great day for reading.