On Wednesday evening, spot electricity prices topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from Wednesday morning.

  • Texas power prices soared 20,000% Wednesday evening amid another brutal heat wave.

  • Spot electricity prices topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from Wednesday morning.

  • The state’s grid operator issued its second-highest energy emergency, then later said conditions returned to normal.

  • Phoenixz
    6612·
    1 year ago

    Aaahhh, the free market economy at work without limits, without government planning, regulations, or interference.

    Government regulations bad! It means we can’t squeeze our customers, we can’t fuck up on an hourly basis, we can’t be dicks!

    And in before the commies start… No. Bad dog! Get out with your “we need to become Communist hippie communes!” comments, please

    We need to put reasonable rules and limits to a capitalist system. Regulate big companies, regulate infrastructure, tax the rich, use the money for social platforms

    • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
      47·
      1 year ago

      I’m with the commies on this one. We need to nationalize utilities like energy distribution. No reason to have a profit seeking entity in charge of necessities like electricity.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
        11·
        1 year ago

        In sane parts of the US, utility companies are technically private entities, but they’re related so much they pretty much operate like government agencies.

        • sploosh@lemmy.world
          12·
          1 year ago

          The big difference being a drive toward profit. Nationalizing energy production and distribution would be a slam dunk for everyone except the people at the top of these energy companies and their shareholders.

          • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Probably. But the people who cry about socialism would be technically correct for once if that happened.

        • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          Take a look at how the Georgia Public Service Commission is regulating the finances of the new nuclear reactors (Plant Vogtle 3 and 4) and then try to keep a straight face and tell me it’s working.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
      22·
      1 year ago

      In all fairness, Texas has an incredibly weird, idealistic, view of the value of market forces and their government utterly fails in its job as a result.

      It’s not just power lines. It’s everything. They distort their market on ideological lines and then assume that’s the best case.