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

@Moosepantspatty Having lived in Texas for 15 years, I can attest that 78 degrees in the eastern third of the state where the humidity is high is borderline unbearable. And even worse along the Gulf Coast. The current heat wave will undoubtedly kill some Texans.

@Moosepantspatty To be fair, when it's 100 degrees outside, 78 feels quite nice. AC doesn't necessarily have to be set so low on the hottest days. I do think the advice is good, but it's not a substitute for a sub-par power infrastructure which clearly needs improvements.

@windinhishair i hope someone gets held accountable, this is absurd.

@SW-User 78 is doable, but just barely. I used to keep my thermostat on 78 when I lived there because it was less expensive, but many people start to feel uncomfortable right around that temperature if the humidity is high. Ceiling fans and other fans moving lots of air around help too.

Texas is unique in that they made a choice as a state not to have the level of interconnection that other states do with their regional power grids. And they have chosen to let the power producers regulate themselves for the most part. You can imagine what that means for spending money on maintenance and upgrading.

@Moosepantspatty No one was held accountable for the last catastrophic power failure, and the power companies were allowed to keep their profits with few if any consequences. When the winter power failure occurred, I went back and examined the power demand on the grid and found out that the prior summer that state had bumped right up against the electrical capacity limit several times. But when you don't hold companies to account and there are no consequences, it is just going to keep happening again and again until people demand change.

@windinhishair disgusting, im so sorry you all are dealing with that.

@Moosepantspatty I left the state more than 30 decades ago, but I still have family in Texas.

@windinhishair my condolences, i hope they manage alright this season.

@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.