377
Texas power prices soar 20,000% as brutal heat wave sets off emergency
(markets.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
377 points (98.0% liked)
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so it's a publicly traded commodity. are there texasmegawatts or what? are there less texasmegawatts then before? because if not, this is how it works. they gain capital, can cheaper lend capital, buy efficient texasmegawattsfacilities.
Because Texas refuses to connect its grid to the federal grid, yes, there’s effectively texasmegawatts, and they’re fucking expensive right now because the governor keeps refusing to let the power companies properly prepare for devastating weather.
Texas is connected to the Eastern (Florida to Canada) grid, the Western (Cali to Canada) grid, and a Mexican grid not part of the US/CA system via tie-ins. It is the only state in the continental US with it’s own grid, which was not a smart decision (cough cough feb 2021). The most outrageous part was that they could have bought power from Mexico, east, or west and import it via those tie-ins during Feb 2021 but chose not to. Power was out for millions for over a week in freezing temperatures. Fuck Texas. Fuck CenterPoint Energy.
Additional Information: Besides Texas, Quebec and Alaska have their own grids as well. Alaska is the only grid without any tie-ins.
… what?