It’s New Year’s Eve, so let’s talk football. And, ok, also electricity production. Up front I admit I’m still pissed off, as a Lions fan, about last night’s result.
But I’m also biased as an energy nerd, and someone who hates to see one of the nation’s largest utility service provider (ERCOT – Energy Reliability Council of Texas) act as a solely owned subsidiary of the oil/gas oligarchy. What’s the common thread? Dallas Cowboys owner and gas billionaire Jerry Jones.
As mainstream NFL commentators come unglued about the obvious robbery of the Lions last night, energy geeks remember that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones profited enormously from 2021’s deadly Texas blackouts, (in which hundreds of Texans died), which happened primarily almost half of Texas’ gas generation (as well as coal and one nuclear plant) froze up when it was most needed. And THAT happened because the energy industry (still – see below) will not be bound by any lefty/communist regulations to disaster-proof the grid.
The winter storms gripping much of the United States have devastated many families and businesses, with frigid temperatures and power outages causing particularly dire conditions in Texas.
But for oil and gas producers that have managed to keep production going, this is proving to be a big payday. Jerry Jones, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, appears to be one of the beneficiaries.
Comstock Resources Inc., a shale driller that operates in Texas and Louisiana, told investors on an earnings call this week that the surge in natural gas prices was providing it with a major — albeit almost certainly temporary — financial boost. The company is publicly traded but Jones holds a majority of the shares.
“Obviously, this week is like hitting the jackpot,” President and Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns said Wednesday.
Jerry Jones is doing what he has always done: trying to cash in. He is damn good at it. He is a billionaire for a lot of reasons: business acumen, luck, fearlessness and the willingness to do things like jack up the price of natural gas at a time when the people of Texas need it the most.
As Texans continue to go days without power or heat, shale-driller Comstock Resources Inc., a publicly traded company of which Jones is the majority stockholder, has, according to NPR, been selling gas at “super-premium prices.” It has been “like hitting the jackpot,” Roland Burns, Comstock’s president and CFO, said on a Wednesday earnings call.
But in October, ERCOT’s leaders were still clearly worried about the grid’s ability to hold up during extreme winter weather. The grid faces what ERCOT called an “unacceptable” 20% chance of going into emergency operations if a winter storm like the one that struck last December hits again, according to ERCOT calculations. In a worst-case scenario, emergency operations allow ERCOT to call for rolling blackouts.
Some energy industry experts raised their eyebrows at that characterization, pointing out that the chances of such a storm happening again remain small — ERCOT itself puts the likelihood at 10%. –
People such as University of Houston lecturer and energy market expert Ed Hirs remain skeptical that the grid is any better off.
The state’s coal- and gas-fueled power plants are two years older now, and demand this summer reached new record highs, Hirs pointed out. He doesn’t believe anyone should accept the probability of emergency grid conditions that ERCOT has cited this winter.
“We should not be accepting this,” Hirs said. “This is not what we pay them for.”
So, if any more proof was needed that greed is, let’s say, a sub-optimal organizing principle for vital, life preserving infrastructure, and that energy oligarchs are horrible people, this should serve.
Per https://whatstheirnetworth.com/blog/jerry-jones-yacht-cost/
“Smaller yachts can hold around 5 thousand liters of fuel but a super yacht like Jerry Jones’s yacht which is 358 feet long can hold no fewer than 400 thousand liters of fuel so far. Besides, a 250 million dollars’ super yacht needs 25 million dollars in fuel every year on average.”
So, life-long Cowboys fan here, ha ha, although not a Jerry Jones fan if that makes any difference. Did see the game yesterday, and yes, the Cowboys did get super lucky there. I’d hesitate in saying it was fixed, though. The Cowboys are the most penalized team in the NFL and have lost plenty of games because of iffy calls, penalties, or non-calls. Maybe ‘some’ of the blame should be put on the Lions head coach for trying three 2 point plays in a row when the league conversion rate for them is 40%? There wasn’t any reason I saw that the Lions were at a disadvantage in overtime.
But, first to admit Texas is oil country and all that entails – and that probably colors some of my skepticism regarding humans acting wisely in regards to environmental issues.
Come on be fair, it takes a lot of money to run a 109 meter (358 ft) super yacht.
Per https://whatstheirnetworth.com/blog/jerry-jones-yacht-cost/
“Smaller yachts can hold around 5 thousand liters of fuel but a super yacht like Jerry Jones’s yacht which is 358 feet long can hold no fewer than 400 thousand liters of fuel so far. Besides, a 250 million dollars’ super yacht needs 25 million dollars in fuel every year on average.”
So, life-long Cowboys fan here, ha ha, although not a Jerry Jones fan if that makes any difference. Did see the game yesterday, and yes, the Cowboys did get super lucky there. I’d hesitate in saying it was fixed, though. The Cowboys are the most penalized team in the NFL and have lost plenty of games because of iffy calls, penalties, or non-calls. Maybe ‘some’ of the blame should be put on the Lions head coach for trying three 2 point plays in a row when the league conversion rate for them is 40%? There wasn’t any reason I saw that the Lions were at a disadvantage in overtime.
But, first to admit Texas is oil country and all that entails – and that probably colors some of my skepticism regarding humans acting wisely in regards to environmental issues.