Comment by tw04
6 hours ago
> The power outages are not due to lack of central planning
It is 100% due to lack of central planning. The outages were caused by a lack of winterizarion of natural gas pumps which was a known issue in Texas but the lack of regulation meant companies could just ignore the problem. Why invest in winterizing when you can just jack up prices and make even more money when they freeze and there’s not enough power to meet demand?
There’s a reason the power doesn’t go out in the winter anywhere else in the country when it gets below freezing and it’s not “a lack of regulation”.
Winterization was a problem but it was also a problem for other regions that are part of FERC. You’re latching onto the wrong problem. FERC has updated guidelines since that storm.