Kickstart: The rising cost of power outages in Texas

The extreme cold, along with power outages throughout Texas, is continuing to hit industries as well as residents not only in the state but throughout the Gulf Coast region and across the border in Mexico.

Frank Esposito is keeping track of conditions along the Gulf Coast, which is home to several resin production sites. Many of those locations have had to shut down or reduce production, which will add to shortages and production that have pushed resin prices higher for the past few months.

"It's probably going to be [Feb. 22] until we really know where we stand," one resin company executive told Frank.

Power and natural gas supply problems from Texas are rippling down to manufacturers along the border, too. PN correspondent Stephen Downer writes that Index, the trade association for maquiladora plants, says one company lost US$10 million worth of production on one day alone, "and that does not include the damage done to its manufacturing equipment." Companies "cannot plan production or workers' shifts" because of the unreliability of the electricity supply, Index said.

We'll keep you updated on conditions.

I know a lot of you are skeptics when it comes to electric cars. After all, they've been promised for years, mostly to satisfy California regulators pushing for lower emissions.

But the story sounds different now. It's not just about a change in the federal government of automakers simply creating a couple of low-volume vehicles to satisfy one market. On Feb. 17, Ford Motor Co. announced it would sell only EVs in Europe within 10 years. Ford didn't become a global manufacturing giant by being impulsive, so the announcement isn't a mere whim.

"We successfully restructured Ford of Europe and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020. Now we are charging into an all-electric future in Europe," Ford of Europe President Stuart Rowley said in a statement.

Of course Ford isn't alone. Similar EV plans are being rolled out by all of the major automakers, and you can expect that the supply base is prepared to get in line to find the role they can play in future cars.

It's anniversary season for Cope Plastics Inc., a fabricator and distributor based in Alton, Ill., marking its 75th birthday.

Dwight and Mozelle Cope started the company in the basement of their St. Louis home in 1946. In 1958, it moved into its own facility and it was soon expanding throughout the Midwest. It currently does about 45 percent of its business through distribution and 55 percent in fabrication.

The company is now owned by the second and third generation of the family and the couple's granddaughters now run the day-to-day operations, with Jane Saale as president and CEO.

To mark its anniversary, Cope is adding warehouse space, new fabrication equipment and new forklifts to improve safety and efficiency.