Texas Failed To Fix Their Power Grid After Their Massive Failure Several Winters Ago--Six Power Plants Went Offline Yesterday In The Heat Wave

@windinhishair In early April, North Dakota (where I lived from 1998 to 2017) got three feet of snow.

@windinhishair The power grid is usually maintained in April, May so that will be one more thing to compond the problem.

The States that are balking at Climate Change now will be migrating to States that still have water later. Do those States get to say F O when that starts?

@Pitchblue Good question. The Return of the Rust Belt?

@Amylynne It IS pretty much a separate system with limited connections to regional grids east and west of Texas. That is the basic problem they face in that they cannot draw much power from other grids to help in high demand situations. They chose this path specifically to avoid the regulation that the other grids are subject to.

@Moosepantspatty My too. It will be awful for them and others if there is another catastrophic power grid failure, this time for cooling demand.

@windinhishair when has any private industry regulating itself ever worked out for the benefit for citizens and other species?

@SW-User I can't think of an instance.

@SomeMichGuy The focus is on "bidness" and making profit, not providing services. And doing stunts to please the base.

@windinhishair And so the citizens get screwed.

@SomeMichGuy As usual.

@Montanaman That's just wrong. Natural gas is a byproduct of hydrofracking and is used as a power source. So is hydropower, geothermal, etc. Nuclear power is also an option. We can and should move to renewable energy as many other countries have.

The problem isn't closing dirty energy sources. The problem is that most of Texas elected to stay unconnected to other power grids so they wouldn't have to be regulated. When there are events like we've seen before and will see again, they can't get power from other systems because the connections are deliberately absent. That is a system problem that will continue to exist. There are parts of Texas, like El Paso, that are connected to other power grids outside the state and do not have a problem. The problem is Texas and their refusal to make good decisions for Texans. Actions have consequences and can kill. Yee-Haw.

@windinhishair As gas prices rise, and electricity bills go up, and power is in low supply and grids are shut down for rolling blackouts... then come talk to me.i work in the industry. I know.

@Montanaman My work has included large scale renewable energy installations on behalf of the US Trade and Development Agency. Grids are not being shut down because too little coal is being used. The Texas grid did not fail because too little coal was used or available. It is a completely man-made situation, and fixable, if Texas politicians wanted to do so. They don't.

@windinhishair Good way to get rid of poor people I guess. Heat Stroke. Rich people can afford air conditioners in their houses, cars, restaurants, etc.

@Pitchblue If significant parts of the power grid go down, even the rich won't have power from the grid and will have to rely on generators.

@windinhishair Which they can afford.

@SomeMichGuy Or get it less fresh as it takes a few days to make its way into the state from the west. And it isn't just produce--it is everything shipped by truck from Mexico. Lots of commodities are made in Mexico, especially in maquiladoras along the border, then shipped across to the US.

@windinhishair Yes, my point.

@Crazywaterspring one should cool oneself off with some heat-reflecting open carry

@LvChris That describes American "socialism."

The world's capital of energy has power shortages. Thanks to conservative dogma of less regulation.

They could tie into the national grid. But regulation is to be avoided as they could cut into corporate bonuses and worry Wall Street.