Texas power plants have no responsibility to provide electricity in emergencies, judges rule
www.kut.org
A panel of judges has said that big power companies cannot be held liable for failure to provide electricity during the 2021 blackout. The reason is Texas’ deregulated energy market.
  • WashedOver@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    7 months ago

    I wonder if they can go after those that implemented the changes for privatization?

    It seems like these types of systems would be better to be under state control for the best interests of the citizens over the focus on profits for the few. I see a big difference between the two here that it seems like many Americans may not see this at all.

    If anything this should have motivated many for changes to the system but I guess that’s left for the courts to resolve through the threat of legal action.

  • random65837@lemmy.worldEnglish
    124·
    7 months ago

    Comical that people think when storms or physical damage happens that a power co can magically still provide power. When your infrastructure is damaged, power goes byebye, period the end, being regulated or grid connected makes zero difference once that happens. Just a talking point for people that don’t understand power distribution and want more government control over everything. My state deregulated power a very long time ago, and it’s saved us a ton of money and gives us choices we wouldnt have before. It in no way changes reliability during storm damage.

    • Duranie@literature.cafeEnglish
      31·
      7 months ago

      Fwiw (I live in Illinois) over the years our system was updated with materials and redundancies to counter loss of service during storms. There’s been a number of times over the last few years that a bad storm hits and does damage that previously would have created a loss of power, but you can watch the power flicker for a few seconds while the system tests alternate routes that are able to continue to provide service to the most residents. There was a time that power outages were expected a few times a year during bad storms, but I can’t recall the last time we had a weather related outage of more than a few minutes.

      Obviously local to the damage there nothing to do but wait for the infrastructure to be repaired, but that happens far faster when there’s redundancies supplying the majority and fewer repairs that need to be addressed.