Texas power prices soar 20,000% as brutal heat wave sets off emergency::On Wednesday evening, spot electricity prices topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from Wednesday morning.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    16410 months ago

    Don’t worry everyone. The free market will take care of this for sure! Deregulated private companies always have the best interests of the consumers at heart!

    • @Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow
      link
      English
      2710 months ago

      The free market is trying to supply renewables, they are cheaper, more flexible and simple to deploy, the free market loves that shit.

      It’s vested interests fighting it at every turn that’s the issue.

      • @douglasg14b
        link
        English
        2910 months ago

        Yeah, those vested interests are part of the free market.

        You don’t get to cherry pick this

        • Chaotic Entropy
          link
          fedilink
          English
          710 months ago

          It doesn’t seem like a very “free” market with lobbyists, subsidies, and pet politicians propping up the establishment entities in every corner of the market. Too big to fail and all that.

    • John Van Ostrand
      link
      fedilink
      -1810 months ago

      @hoot @L4s The free market will eventually take care of it, although it might take decades or longer to do so. If you don’t want to wait decades, then regulate it.

  • fkn
    link
    English
    10710 months ago

    Waaaaat? The Texas power grid is price gouging again?!? Who could have foreseen this??? After all that work they put into the power grid after the last time this happened? It’s almost like someone should regulate this power grid or something.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      3410 months ago

      It not price gouging, it’s “free market economics”. You don’t have your MBA yet, do you?

      • netburnr
        link
        English
        2610 months ago

        Its trickle down economics, the sweat trickling down your back

  • @sirboozebum
    link
    English
    7710 months ago

    Texas talks a lot of shit for a state that can’t keep the lights on.

    • @GrabtharsHammer
      link
      English
      2810 months ago

      The stars at night Are big and bright Clapclapclapclap Cause we got rolling blackouts

    • @Kbobabob
      link
      English
      11
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      Even motel 6 can do that

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      8
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      We have a saying in germany about our state owned railway operator:

      The four biggest enemies of punctuality are Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring.

      Maybe the same is true for energy reliability and ERCOT?

  • @Bassman1805
    link
    English
    5810 months ago

    Good thing we brought all those bitcoin miners to “incentivize” the power companies to improve the grid. And then we give them millions in energy credits to make them stop so we don’t have a total meltdown.

    10/10 plan, there.

  • @Burn_The_Right
    link
    English
    37
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    All these motherfuckers, including Abbott and every CEO sitting on ERCOT, need to go to prison for the rest of their goddamned lives. This is ALL market manipulation and price gouging. All of it.

  • EvilZionistEatingChildren
    link
    English
    34
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    Wait, I have seen that before. I have a déjà-vu

    EDIT: so it’s 5$ kWh, current price in France is 0.2€ kWh for comparison. Makes a real point for energy-efficient computers/software!

    • @p_q
      link
      English
      -2610 months ago

      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.

      • body_by_make
        link
        fedilink
        English
        1010 months ago

        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.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          7
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          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.

  • AlexisFR
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3310 months ago

    Impossible. Isn’t Texas the richest, most developed place on earth?

    Was I lied to???11!

  • Overzeetop
    link
    English
    3210 months ago

    Emergency? You mean kind of emergency where I have to call my naval architect to lengthen my new summer yacht by another half a football field because I need to spend this profit windfall. -Power Co execs in TX

    • @Corran1138
      link
      English
      1510 months ago

      Someone has to take Ted Cruz to Mexico.

      • @unphazed
        link
        English
        310 months ago

        That only happens when it gets cold

  • @Illuminostro
    link
    English
    3110 months ago

    “The system is working as intended. The shareholders thank you.”

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3010 months ago

    At ERCOT’s request, the Biden administration declared a power emergency in Texas on Thursday, waiving some air-pollution rules so generators in the state could produce more electricity.

    Why not just say “yes, but only if you promise to put in more clean energy, drop gas, and connect to say, I dunno, the fucking international grid, you fucking dumbasses?”

    If you have the means, move out of the state before anything worse happens from your galaxy brain politicians, who would seem to rather kill you than see you have normal living conditions. Jesus.

  • Gazumi
    link
    English
    2510 months ago

    No doubt that the climate science deniers of Texas will struggle on…

  • @xkforce
    link
    English
    17
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    FREEDOM! SO FREE! Free to die baking in the sunnnn

  • @fne8w2ah
    link
    English
    1210 months ago

    No wonder those dumbasses want to avoid federal rEgUlaTIon!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      49 months ago

      The solution is staring at them straight in the face. Unfortunately, they’re so utterly brainwashed that they’ll never even consider it.