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.

Almost three years since the deadly Texas blackout of 2021, a panel of judges from the First Court of Appeals in Houston has ruled that big power companies cannot be held liable for failure to provide electricity during the crisis. The reason is Texas’ deregulated energy market.

The decision seems likely to protect the companies from lawsuits filed against them after the blackout. It leaves the families of those who died unsure where next to seek justice.

In February of 2021, a massive cold front descended on Texas, bringing days of ice and snow. The weather increased energy demand and reduced supply by freezing up power generators and the state’s natural gas supply chain. This led to a blackout that left millions of Texans without energy for nearly a week.

The state has said almost 250 people died because of the winter storm and blackout, but some analysts call that a serious undercount.

  • kreynen@kbin.social
    331·
    11 months ago

    The free market solution would allow communities to negotiate contracts that DID hold the provider liable and allow competitors to emerge that would focus on different aspects like reliability, renewable production or integration with other grids.

    If you aren’t aware of the story of Central and Southwest Corporation (a Texas power company) and thr “midnight connection”, it’s the type of story that I’m sure is nearing the top of Netflix’s documentary todo list.

    On May 4, 1976, a power company based in Texas sent electricity from a substation in Vernon, Texas, to Altus, Okla. By doing so, they were breaking a deal among power companies in Texas to keep electricity within state borders.

    https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2022-09-08/texas-energy-island-the-disconnect-vernon-midnight-connection

    If what Texas has with ERCOT is neither free market nor a public utility, what is it?

    • BradleyUffner@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      11 months ago

      If what Texas has with ERCOT is neither free market nor a public utility, what is it?

      A profit generating machine.

    • Promethiel@lemmy.world
      11·
      11 months ago

      I presume your post is just informational with a rhetorical question at the end to get people to think.

      But if you have any doubts as to why “free market” solutions don’t ever work even remotely as well as theoretical models would suggest in the US, there’s a simple answer that always appends itself before any other legitimate challenges can be honestly addressed.

      There are no truly “free market” solutions in the US.

      There is no reason for the rulers to allow the politicians to legistate the ability for anyone to threaten their supremacy without Byzantine, unjust, and decidedly non-equitable loops powered by the Establishment powers that the wealthy have captured.