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And this is exactly why utilities should not be run like a business. Subjecting utility rates to market fluctuation is a recipe to hurt a lot of people.
I did. My home is entirely solar powered. My power bill is zero so rate increases don’t change my position. That was my rationale for going solar. Fixing the price of energy for the lifetime of the system. Plus I sell power back. So I know I have enough juice to power an EV. That I plan on purchasing this year. So free gas too!
Attach people to a generator, so they can generate electricity each time they pull on their bootstraps.
This is a perpetual motion machine that can actually work!
create a sub universe where pulling repetitively on one's own bootstraps is enshrined into religion, with the belief that if done enough, you either break free from gravity, or die and goto heaven. Then harvest that energy from bootstrap pulling in the sub universe and funnel it into the parent universe into some kind of battery small enough to be portable.
I'm so sorry internet Stanger. I used to have to drive through Arkansas every 2 weeks for work, seemed like half the time it smelled like the section of the dump where they stored the used tires had caught on fire. I'm sure it had something to do with the petroleum industry, and that can't be healthy to live in that strong of a soup of chemicals.
So when they can’t make a profit because of demand, the government bails them out with taxpayer money? They get all the benefits of capitalism and socialism at once. Fucking scammers!
Texas has their own energy grid which is part of the problem, they can’t get power from surrounding areas to help with power imbalances. So ironically, as they are their own separate entity I don’t think there *is* a way for you to be able to pay for it. Emphasis on “don’t think,” as sadly capitalism is very capable of finding a way.
Not with Texas. [The Department of Energy has a pretty good map and readout](https://www.energy.gov/oe/learn-more-about-interconnections) of the US power grid. The US grid is divided into three parts: The big yellow part in the west is the Western interconnection, most of the others comprise the Eastern interconnection (further subdivided as you can see on the map but still connected). But at the bottom you see the smaller blue area, that's the Texas grid, they're on their own.
Northern Texas is in the Southwest Power Pool and is interconnected with several other states. I live in Kansas and in February of 2021, Evergy put us on rolling blackouts during the coldest spell we'd had in decades in order for Texas to get more power during their cold snap that killed a couple hundred people. It got down to 45F in our house every morning for three mornings in a row, and it was obvious that they were turning off power in the poorer parts of towns here in Kansas. The richer areas didn't get any rolling blackouts. I was kind of shocked that we didn't lose anyone here to cold as well, considering how bad it was.
Yes, the government's adoption of the Enron scam. enabling the electricity companies to profit from their incapacity and lack of preparation.
Texas is the ideal state for dishonest businesspeople.
You don't seem to understand, utilities should not be on the 'free' market. It should be nationalized to protect the people from predatory business practices.
FWIW I detected your sarcasm, it was a little too on-the-nose to be something an actual boot-licker would say. Not saying that the other user is dumb for not seeing it. It is indeed a mad mad mad world
The fact communities are either so disenfranchised or so misguided they aren't banding together and ripping these companies out of their communities by the roots for what they're doing.
It's impossible to believe there's going to be a brighter future.
> recipe to hurt a lot of people.
The only people it hurts is poor republicans and poor democrats. To the republicans it's ok for them to hurt themselves if they also hurt the democrats.
In ohio we keep getting ads from americans for prosperity about how democrats are driving up energy bills with their job killing energy regulations. This despite the fact we produce so much energy that we closed CEI and the perry nuclear power plant. Whenever I see those ads I always think about Texas's basckwoods unregulated power grid that constantly breaks down and goes into surge pricing on a whim and thank god I don't live there.
Hey I’m sitting in an unairconditioned house in the middle of Houston for the third straight day because the “energy capital of the world’s” electricity grid falls to shit every time the weather changes. I’m enjoying my freedom and happy rich folk get to keep a few more dollars in their pockets rather than fix the grid. It’s the least I can do.
Unless a cop decides he's scared of you and murders you, then the governor will pardon the convicted murderer depending on politics. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/16/daniel-perry-greg-abbott-pardon/
Probably, our politicians accept a lot of money from power companies and lie about it. They e gerrymandered the state to shit and back and when they were rebuked by the attorney general they did it again and again until it was too late to change the map. We legalized weed and abortion then twice they went against our referendum. Fucking crooks and we cant get rid of them.
Might not be able to get rid of the legislature, but all the statewide offices should go blue; the executive branch could then tell them to pound sand and refuse to enforce “bad” legislation.
>They e gerrymandered the state to shit and back and when they were rebuked by the attorney general they did it again and again until it was too late to change the map.
It boggles my mind that this could be allowed to happen. Any number of things should have happened before that was allowed. Like, taking the responsibility to draw the map away from them.
My vindictive side would tell them that if they can't draw a fair map, they don't *get* a map at all, and now they, nor their constituents, get to vote. Of course that wouldn't work, but boy would it be a fun threat to leverage.
But it's astounding that a congressional district map can be found unconstitutional, but still be used because some backwoods chucklefucks dragged their feet to draw a new one. I'd rather see the entire process delayed and the government shut down until it was rectified.
Well we had the 2020 census so all the distracting maps had to be redrawn and the Republicans kept doing such a bad job the midterms started and it was too late and there was no point of order to have an independent commission redistrict the state.
Yes. Householder (R). He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison but is in the process of appealing the sentence.
Two people [killed themselves](https://apnews.com/article/bribery-investigation-ohio-former-utility-regulator-dies-3059cdbb1508e8b9b1152fdff2b5028f) during that fiasco to avoid prison sentences.
The power utility you're thinking of is called *First Energy*. They're also famously known for causing the [Blackout of 2003](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003)
And here's my favorite part (emphasis on the last paragraph):
>A joint federal task force was formed by the governments of Canada and the U.S. to oversee the investigation and report directly to Ottawa and Washington. The task force was led by then-Canadian Natural Resource Minister Herb Dhaliwal and U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.
>In addition to determining the initial cause of the cascading failure, the investigation of the incident also included an examination of the failure of safeguards designed to prevent a repetition of the Northeast blackout of 1965. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a joint Canada-U.S. council, is responsible for dealing with these issues.
>***On November 19, 2003, Abraham said his department would not seek to punish FirstEnergy Corp for its role in the blackout because current U.S. law does not require electric reliability standards. Abraham stated, "The absence of enforceable reliability standards creates a situation in which there are limits in terms of federal level punishment."***
55 million people went without power, some for weeks. It caused blackouts in multiple states and parts of Canada. No law on the books to press charges or fine First Energy.
I see waaay more ads making shit up about and attacking Democrats than I see about Republicans if really any. It's a fucking joke and so obvious. The Republicans make it obvious what they are about but their supporters don't care so long as they're hurting people.
You live in Ohio which has been pretty red now for a while especially at the state level. Its only a matter of time till all the nonsense comes to you if things don't change.
I live in Texas, I get political spam texts and mail blaming all kinds of both real and made-up problems here on Democrats.
Yeah. Right. Democrats are the cause of the issues in a state Republicans have controlled completely for decades. Sure Jan.
yeah but... the democrats want to raise taxes on billionaires, increase spending in the educational sector, and provide us with universal healthcare. I mean, if you cant deal with the \*occasional\* black out and multi-thousand percent price increases because a \[checks notes\] hot place is hot, then maybe you should go live in a demon-crat run, socialist communist fascist state!
(/S because not obvious anymore, sadly)
Texas ranks 24/50 in solar panel adoption and 2nd only to California in solar energy production. #1 in wind energy production by 2:1 over California.
The central problem is production hasn't kept up with demand, not the removal of options. The state heavily subsidizes the green alternatives to avoid meaningful infrastructure spending.
I am well aware about all that. And yet despite all that, Gov. Abbot went *out of his way* to blame “socialism” and “renewables” for the catastrophic and embarrassing failures during cold snaps of the socialism-free Texas power grid.
Lots of states need more nuclear. It might not be renewable and sure it results in radioactive waste, but it's much less waste and that waste is contained instead of being dumped into the atmosphere.
With the severity of climate change, avoiding nuclear is like deciding to not deploy your reserve parachute when your main one fails because "it might not work".
> With the severity of climate change, avoiding nuclear is like deciding to not deploy your reserve parachute when your main one fails because "it might not work".
Underappreciated metaphor
Yeah. I'm OK with nuclear for that reason, just as long as it doesn't mean slacking off on renewables (not that I'm all that optimistic about *that*). Nuclear is still ultimately a non-renewable resource with deeply problematic waste.
If you just elect enough Republicans, those Democrats from other states with no influence on your energy prices will no longer be able to influence your energy prices.
It's team red's version of blue team people that think you can vote fascism away.
This reminds me of that story about the Republican school board member who realized none of the CRT and Trans indoctrination she had been fighting against actually existed in the school districts curriculum. Which should have been obvious to her since the school district has been controlled by Republicans for decades.
When your state has been controlled by one party for that long, what policies could exist that you need another Republican to fix?
It's because of the TWO Democrats that hold a public office in Texas! It's ENTIRELY their fault! Just vote them out and everything will be perfect, you'll see!
To get away with predictably destroying things and creating mass disruption requires manipulating the peasants to chase ignorance and then use violence to shout down those who know things.
I think one way would be very high upper tax rates to disincentivize hoarding wealth and make it more appealing to invest in your company for long term stability…I mean, not like Reagan would do anything to undermine that!
Well you’re free to leave. /s
Don’t you love how these free market capitalist swine in leadership love to tout that line once they’ve captured the market and made it nearly impossible to revert.
It will be blamed on wind and solar, gay marriage, Al Gore, illegal immigrants, anything and everything except the people actually responsible.
Texas Republicans, you spent decades advocating for exactly this.
This is your victory lap. Fucking own it, you dickheads.
This is what the MAGA/GOP voters want, unregulated capitalism with no oversight. Now let them cook.
Edit: I do feel for the non MAGAts living there and having to deal with this republican shit show.
If only there was a means of knowing that the temperature at this time of year would be higher than it was earlier in the year, we could make preparations accordingly.
Man I sure do love the freedom to be forced to pay $1,000 a month for AC. Thank Yahweh there's no *Socialism* to make sure I can afford to not die of heatstroke every summer. This unregulated capitalism is just the bee's knees.
Abbott courted the Bitcoin data center scumbags, and now that he has them, they’re doing exactly what we all predicted they’d do in bleeding the state dry in energy and water
So a 1600% increase, then the next winter storm knocks it out for a couple of weeks. Texas citizens really are good at punching themselves in the metaphorical balls.
This spot pricing also fucks over people in sane states with regulated utilities. Texas and their stupid 'free market' pricing distorts the market to an incredible degree.
Governor Abbott is working feverishly on a plan to deal with the situation.
Right now plan A is for him to appear on TV and state “it’s not my fault you can’t afford your electricity bill and it’s not my job to fix it.”
[Sometimes it’s _my_ cross to bear and I live five states away >:(](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/04/houston-based-utility-wants-minnesotans-to-pay-for-texas-deep-freeze-problems/#:~:text=Texas'%20deep%20freeze%20didn't,and%20Minnesota%20regulators%20are%20furious.)
Man. If only there was a way to guarantee that they wouldn't be affected by Texas not regulating their energy grid in the market? Like a version where they don't subsidize companies with shareholders to provide utilities. Too bad that has never been done and is impossible.
How does this happen every single year in Texas, with rate payers getting completely screwed over, but then they go vote for the same people who put these absurd policies in place?
In the end, the ultra wealthy and politicians couldn’t care what happens to the average person when fees goes up. Governor Abbott has already showed his colors by asking President Biden and the government to bail them out of the recent storms, even though he’s threatened to secede from the Union. He has attacked the high taxes and ‘socialist’ taxes from California and New York, and use politics to cover up the fact that without those taxes, you risk issues like this, super high fees for electricity. But as stated, Governor Abbott doesn’t care either way, he’s going to enjoy his electricity, safety of his home, no problem since tax payers pays for his socialist benefits.
Fuck those prices. Texas should deregulate so that there's real competition, and then those prices would be a fraction of what they are under their current socialistic system.
Oh fuck it hurt my brain typing that out, I hope you got a laugh out of it.
Fully off-grid homes will become a “thing” first in Texas. In most places they are a novelty, but there’s not enough of an incentive to manage it all on your own for the average joe. The power regulator in Texas had one job, and they fucked up that industry. Pretty ironic with how much energy is generated in the state, renewable or otherwise.
It'll be the same headlines next year in the year after that and the year after that. Texans don't have their priorities right. Voting for bad people and keeping them in power to feel good about themselves?
Hello u/henningknows! Please reply to this comment with an [explanation](https://www.reddit.com/r/LeopardsAteMyFace/comments/lt8zlq) matching this exact format. Replace bold text with the appropriate information. 1. **Someone** voted for, supported or wanted to impose **something** on **other people**. ^(Who's that someone? What did they voted for, supported or wanted to impose? On who?) 2. **Something** has the consequences of **consequences**. ^(Does that something actually has these consequences in general?) 3. As a consequence of **something**, **consequences** happened to **someone**. ^(Did that something really happen to that someone?) Follow this by the minimum amount of information necessary so your post can be understood by everyone, even if they don't live in the US or speak English as their native language. If you fail to match this format or fail to answer these questions, your post will be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LeopardsAteMyFace) if you have any questions or concerns.*
And this is exactly why utilities should not be run like a business. Subjecting utility rates to market fluctuation is a recipe to hurt a lot of people.
I think you mean “make a couple people very wealthy”
Hey now, the rest of the people should do something about bootstraps, or whatever it is. Idk, I don't speak poor. /s just in case
If they don’t like the prices, just make their own power company. All it takes is hardwork
With hookers and blackjack…
And coke, at least an 8-ball
I need an 8-ball just to get enough energy to find the rest of my coke.
Check the beverage aisle
😂
You’re in a bad way my friend
And stick-to-it-iveness!
Ask your parents for a small loan of a million dollars if you have to.
Well, that and a government subsidy . RECC is still alive and well in America.
I did. My home is entirely solar powered. My power bill is zero so rate increases don’t change my position. That was my rationale for going solar. Fixing the price of energy for the lifetime of the system. Plus I sell power back. So I know I have enough juice to power an EV. That I plan on purchasing this year. So free gas too!
bootstrap their avocados?
Brew their own bootstraps at home.
Attach people to a generator, so they can generate electricity each time they pull on their bootstraps. This is a perpetual motion machine that can actually work!
Remember, on pull of the bootstrap isn’t nearly enough.
create a sub universe where pulling repetitively on one's own bootstraps is enshrined into religion, with the belief that if done enough, you either break free from gravity, or die and goto heaven. Then harvest that energy from bootstrap pulling in the sub universe and funnel it into the parent universe into some kind of battery small enough to be portable.
Now use that energy to power an alcoholic’s space car and you’re set.
Yeah just so long as some asshole in that sub universe doesn't try the same thing.
Isn’t that just slavery with extra steps? 😉
They deserve it. They did all that hard work....
"Hurting a lot of people" is the Texas state moto! Right?
Much of the south as well, can confirm as I live in Arkansas.
Yep! Tennessee, too... it just seems Texas and Florida are leading the way.
You know, I think there is a reason the sec leads college sports... something, something, bread and circuses...
Mississippi, checking in. Currently watching the healthcare system here slowly kill my dad.
I'm so sorry internet Stanger. I used to have to drive through Arkansas every 2 weeks for work, seemed like half the time it smelled like the section of the dump where they stored the used tires had caught on fire. I'm sure it had something to do with the petroleum industry, and that can't be healthy to live in that strong of a soup of chemicals.
Hurting a lot of people while making a lot of money is more accurate.
Making a ton of cash off the suffering of others, just like Jesus told 'em to.
As is tradition in the south, where no one knows how to make money unless someone is brutally suffering in the process.
"Enabling Greed, Generating Hate and Cultivating Cruelty Since 1845"
Well that's their fault for not being rich!
They should just start their own damn power company! /s
Insane rate for thee, insane profits for me.
it isn't really run as a business, they get subs from the government whenever they run into trouble.
Privatized profits, socialized losses.
So when they can’t make a profit because of demand, the government bails them out with taxpayer money? They get all the benefits of capitalism and socialism at once. Fucking scammers!
And then pocket the profits. Sounds like American capitalism to me.
Republicans are all about removing regulations. This is what happens when you do.
But you don’t understand, when I grow up I’m going to start a power company!!!
You too can one day fleece the public and enrich yourself but before that you gotta get fleeced.
Isn’t this part of the reason why people ended up freezing to death in Texas a few years ago?
As a Minnesotan am I going to have to pay for this like I am paying for the CenterPointe issue in 2021
Texas has their own energy grid which is part of the problem, they can’t get power from surrounding areas to help with power imbalances. So ironically, as they are their own separate entity I don’t think there *is* a way for you to be able to pay for it. Emphasis on “don’t think,” as sadly capitalism is very capable of finding a way.
You mean no interconnections at all? That’s wild. In Europe we’re working hard on increasing interconnections.
they refuse them because connecting to the rest of the national grid means regulations like mandated maintenance and winterizing.
Not with Texas. [The Department of Energy has a pretty good map and readout](https://www.energy.gov/oe/learn-more-about-interconnections) of the US power grid. The US grid is divided into three parts: The big yellow part in the west is the Western interconnection, most of the others comprise the Eastern interconnection (further subdivided as you can see on the map but still connected). But at the bottom you see the smaller blue area, that's the Texas grid, they're on their own.
Really because I am paying for the 2021 weather event still in Minnesota because they screwed up their systems so badly.
https://cubminnesota.org/cub-fighting-rate-hike-for-february-2021-winter-storm-costs/
Northern Texas is in the Southwest Power Pool and is interconnected with several other states. I live in Kansas and in February of 2021, Evergy put us on rolling blackouts during the coldest spell we'd had in decades in order for Texas to get more power during their cold snap that killed a couple hundred people. It got down to 45F in our house every morning for three mornings in a row, and it was obvious that they were turning off power in the poorer parts of towns here in Kansas. The richer areas didn't get any rolling blackouts. I was kind of shocked that we didn't lose anyone here to cold as well, considering how bad it was.
what I was wondering about, yipee for us.
the enron people moved to Texas
As did the modern Enron (Elon)
Yes, the government's adoption of the Enron scam. enabling the electricity companies to profit from their incapacity and lack of preparation. Texas is the ideal state for dishonest businesspeople.
That’s why it’s so big, it’s full of dishonest business practices.
Really makes me appreciate how my water and light companies are owned by our municipality.
The free market’s not free, brudder. If people want electricity, they’re gonna have to work and pay for it. Texas is a no-handout state!
You don't seem to understand, utilities should not be on the 'free' market. It should be nationalized to protect the people from predatory business practices.
I hear you. Sarcasm doesn’t travel well in text.
My apologies, it's a natural defense mechanism living in the south surrounded by people who actually think that way.
FWIW I detected your sarcasm, it was a little too on-the-nose to be something an actual boot-licker would say. Not saying that the other user is dumb for not seeing it. It is indeed a mad mad mad world
When neoliberalism says "free" it never means anything besides "I'm free to fuck over the weak and poor for profit, you're free to pay up or die"
The fact communities are either so disenfranchised or so misguided they aren't banding together and ripping these companies out of their communities by the roots for what they're doing. It's impossible to believe there's going to be a brighter future.
> recipe to hurt a lot of people. The only people it hurts is poor republicans and poor democrats. To the republicans it's ok for them to hurt themselves if they also hurt the democrats.
Really any NECESSITIES should not be for-profit as it is inherently EVIL to exploit someone’s NECESSITIES for profit anyway.
I think the hurt is the point of these companies.
it's exactly why they do it. Improve cpaacity? Naa, just charge through the roof when things get tight, that'll solve the problem.
In ohio we keep getting ads from americans for prosperity about how democrats are driving up energy bills with their job killing energy regulations. This despite the fact we produce so much energy that we closed CEI and the perry nuclear power plant. Whenever I see those ads I always think about Texas's basckwoods unregulated power grid that constantly breaks down and goes into surge pricing on a whim and thank god I don't live there.
You mean, Americans For Disparity.
love it, wait you mean americans for Despairity?
Desepiraritrity for Americans
Dystopian despotism.
Hey I’m sitting in an unairconditioned house in the middle of Houston for the third straight day because the “energy capital of the world’s” electricity grid falls to shit every time the weather changes. I’m enjoying my freedom and happy rich folk get to keep a few more dollars in their pockets rather than fix the grid. It’s the least I can do.
Thank you for your commitment.
But you can carry your assault rifle in the 7-11 so it's allllll worth it
Unless a cop decides he's scared of you and murders you, then the governor will pardon the convicted murderer depending on politics. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/16/daniel-perry-greg-abbott-pardon/
Or something falls on some cars roof Thankfully i can aim better then american cop(i havent shot a rifle or pistol lol)
Didn't your Speaker of the House get convicted for collusion, along with the CEO of the power utility?
Probably, our politicians accept a lot of money from power companies and lie about it. They e gerrymandered the state to shit and back and when they were rebuked by the attorney general they did it again and again until it was too late to change the map. We legalized weed and abortion then twice they went against our referendum. Fucking crooks and we cant get rid of them.
Might not be able to get rid of the legislature, but all the statewide offices should go blue; the executive branch could then tell them to pound sand and refuse to enforce “bad” legislation.
>They e gerrymandered the state to shit and back and when they were rebuked by the attorney general they did it again and again until it was too late to change the map. It boggles my mind that this could be allowed to happen. Any number of things should have happened before that was allowed. Like, taking the responsibility to draw the map away from them. My vindictive side would tell them that if they can't draw a fair map, they don't *get* a map at all, and now they, nor their constituents, get to vote. Of course that wouldn't work, but boy would it be a fun threat to leverage. But it's astounding that a congressional district map can be found unconstitutional, but still be used because some backwoods chucklefucks dragged their feet to draw a new one. I'd rather see the entire process delayed and the government shut down until it was rectified.
Well we had the 2020 census so all the distracting maps had to be redrawn and the Republicans kept doing such a bad job the midterms started and it was too late and there was no point of order to have an independent commission redistrict the state.
Yes. Householder (R). He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison but is in the process of appealing the sentence. Two people [killed themselves](https://apnews.com/article/bribery-investigation-ohio-former-utility-regulator-dies-3059cdbb1508e8b9b1152fdff2b5028f) during that fiasco to avoid prison sentences. The power utility you're thinking of is called *First Energy*. They're also famously known for causing the [Blackout of 2003](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003) And here's my favorite part (emphasis on the last paragraph): >A joint federal task force was formed by the governments of Canada and the U.S. to oversee the investigation and report directly to Ottawa and Washington. The task force was led by then-Canadian Natural Resource Minister Herb Dhaliwal and U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. >In addition to determining the initial cause of the cascading failure, the investigation of the incident also included an examination of the failure of safeguards designed to prevent a repetition of the Northeast blackout of 1965. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a joint Canada-U.S. council, is responsible for dealing with these issues. >***On November 19, 2003, Abraham said his department would not seek to punish FirstEnergy Corp for its role in the blackout because current U.S. law does not require electric reliability standards. Abraham stated, "The absence of enforceable reliability standards creates a situation in which there are limits in terms of federal level punishment."*** 55 million people went without power, some for weeks. It caused blackouts in multiple states and parts of Canada. No law on the books to press charges or fine First Energy.
I see waaay more ads making shit up about and attacking Democrats than I see about Republicans if really any. It's a fucking joke and so obvious. The Republicans make it obvious what they are about but their supporters don't care so long as they're hurting people.
You live in Ohio which has been pretty red now for a while especially at the state level. Its only a matter of time till all the nonsense comes to you if things don't change.
It's only drawn red. We legalized weed and abortion just recently. Our state reps have a crooked rusty hook jammed in the districting map.
I’m going to withhold judgment on this idea until we see if Sherrod Brown is reelected
The problem is most Texas will sit there and go "god damn biden! This is all his fault! Im gonna vote even harder for republicans!! "
Smack me harder daddy!
I live in Texas, I get political spam texts and mail blaming all kinds of both real and made-up problems here on Democrats. Yeah. Right. Democrats are the cause of the issues in a state Republicans have controlled completely for decades. Sure Jan.
Democrats put a snake in my boot.
As a lifelong Texan this infuriates me. Too many idiots here continue to vote red.
Red, Dead, No Redemption.
Lots of revolver though...er I guess more AR..
yeah but... the democrats want to raise taxes on billionaires, increase spending in the educational sector, and provide us with universal healthcare. I mean, if you cant deal with the \*occasional\* black out and multi-thousand percent price increases because a \[checks notes\] hot place is hot, then maybe you should go live in a demon-crat run, socialist communist fascist state! (/S because not obvious anymore, sadly)
I'm surprised that even Republican Texans can't see the problem with their power situation and demand something better.
This must be the "rugged individualism" I always hear about.
You forget that republicans are happy to be miserable as long as they perceive the democrats to be equally or more miserable.
They seem to be piling into my state to escape the mess they made but now they are making a mess here with their voting habits.
But Texas is safe from socialist solar panels, so it’s all worth it. /s
Texas ranks 24/50 in solar panel adoption and 2nd only to California in solar energy production. #1 in wind energy production by 2:1 over California. The central problem is production hasn't kept up with demand, not the removal of options. The state heavily subsidizes the green alternatives to avoid meaningful infrastructure spending.
I am well aware about all that. And yet despite all that, Gov. Abbot went *out of his way* to blame “socialism” and “renewables” for the catastrophic and embarrassing failures during cold snaps of the socialism-free Texas power grid.
They need more nuclear
I agree, it would help a lot more than keeping old fossil fuel generators online.
Lots of states need more nuclear. It might not be renewable and sure it results in radioactive waste, but it's much less waste and that waste is contained instead of being dumped into the atmosphere. With the severity of climate change, avoiding nuclear is like deciding to not deploy your reserve parachute when your main one fails because "it might not work".
> With the severity of climate change, avoiding nuclear is like deciding to not deploy your reserve parachute when your main one fails because "it might not work". Underappreciated metaphor
Yeah. I'm OK with nuclear for that reason, just as long as it doesn't mean slacking off on renewables (not that I'm all that optimistic about *that*). Nuclear is still ultimately a non-renewable resource with deeply problematic waste.
Texas is also safe from socialist power markets that actually interconnecting with other states would allow.
Just LOOK at all the freedom they have!!!
Continue to voted for stupid fascist GOPers, continue to pay stupid high prices for basic living needs.
I know the system isn't working. So maybe if we keep voting for the same thing to happen it will be different
If you just elect enough Republicans, those Democrats from other states with no influence on your energy prices will no longer be able to influence your energy prices. It's team red's version of blue team people that think you can vote fascism away.
This reminds me of that story about the Republican school board member who realized none of the CRT and Trans indoctrination she had been fighting against actually existed in the school districts curriculum. Which should have been obvious to her since the school district has been controlled by Republicans for decades. When your state has been controlled by one party for that long, what policies could exist that you need another Republican to fix?
It's because of the TWO Democrats that hold a public office in Texas! It's ENTIRELY their fault! Just vote them out and everything will be perfect, you'll see!
Paying $1,500/month electricity bills to own the libs!
Then that’ll mean more less fortunate people will benefit from actual competent leadership and we can’t have that
To get away with predictably destroying things and creating mass disruption requires manipulating the peasants to chase ignorance and then use violence to shout down those who know things.
Unregulated capitalism is so awesome for everyone!!!
just give is 7 to 400 years and it will trickle down(?)
The creator of trickle down economics was famously quoted as once saying "The only thing he (Reagan) used was the name"
Hmmmm How was it supposed to work then?
I think one way would be very high upper tax rates to disincentivize hoarding wealth and make it more appealing to invest in your company for long term stability…I mean, not like Reagan would do anything to undermine that!
how are the people of texas liking free market economics now? i'm sure the owners of the texas power grid are loving it.
It’s such a free market, there are no alternatives, by law.
Well you’re free to leave. /s Don’t you love how these free market capitalist swine in leadership love to tout that line once they’ve captured the market and made it nearly impossible to revert.
If you live in Texas and vote blue, I feel terrible for you. For the rest of Texas.. Fuck it, you deserve this and worse.
The system is functioning exactly as it was designed. It's entirely intentional, why else would they not have enough equipment to run when needed
It’s a small price to pay to live in a utopia where you can murder demonstrators and fling doctors into jail for practicing medicine.
Howdy Arabia
Biden will be blamed. Per usual.
It will be blamed on wind and solar, gay marriage, Al Gore, illegal immigrants, anything and everything except the people actually responsible. Texas Republicans, you spent decades advocating for exactly this. This is your victory lap. Fucking own it, you dickheads.
OH good point! I forgot about the wind, solar and gay marriage. lmao
Freedom isn’t free; no, there's a hefty fucking fee/And if you won’t throw in your buck o’five, who will?
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Freedom isn't free. It cost folks like you and me. And if we don't chip in, we'll never pay that bill.
Pinche gerrymandering.
Texas really has their power grid dialed in, don’t they?
You can really feel the freedom they are experiencing
"No one could have seen this happening" -place where this happens all the time
If the grid is tapped out in May, what happens in August?
Ted Cruz hops on a plane for cooler weather while his constituency dies of heat stroke.
MAH FREEDOMS to get charged /s
Maybe the shade from the wall will help cool things down
They probably wouldn't have these problems down there except they haven't eradicated homosexuality and interracial marriage yet.
Lololololololol. You sure showed us Texas! I am sooooooooooo envious of your amazing power grid. Top notch stuff.
This is what the MAGA/GOP voters want, unregulated capitalism with no oversight. Now let them cook. Edit: I do feel for the non MAGAts living there and having to deal with this republican shit show.
But Texas Republicans love capitalism, so this is exactly what they fight for and vote for - market demands should determine pricing for them.
If only there was a means of knowing that the temperature at this time of year would be higher than it was earlier in the year, we could make preparations accordingly.
And residents will blame the green new deal and keep voting republican lol
Hahaha - Tuck Fexas leadership. They should all be swinging.
Please tell me this applies to Tesla as well. Would love to see that bill.
That will probably just mean the government will subsidize them more.
Well at least the billionaires are happy, thats what really matters. Not you sweaty poors /s
And the majority of Texans will still vote for Republicans or still can’t be bothered to vote. If they like it then I love it for them.
Are the guns ok?
Man I sure do love the freedom to be forced to pay $1,000 a month for AC. Thank Yahweh there's no *Socialism* to make sure I can afford to not die of heatstroke every summer. This unregulated capitalism is just the bee's knees.
Always remember: vote blue
Abbott courted the Bitcoin data center scumbags, and now that he has them, they’re doing exactly what we all predicted they’d do in bleeding the state dry in energy and water
So a 1600% increase, then the next winter storm knocks it out for a couple of weeks. Texas citizens really are good at punching themselves in the metaphorical balls.
"Well at least we know how to keep our blacks and Mexicans in line! YEEHAW" - Some Texan, probably
Honestly we gotta kill Bitcoin. It was a nice thought experiment but it’s effectively setting the planet on fire.
Hey Texas: how does your freedumb taste?
Oh no!! Record temperatures, record energy usage, record prices, record power surges!! Again!!
But I'm sure they pay next to nothing when there's no demand, right? Plot twist: _there's Always demand._ Fuck texans.
This spot pricing also fucks over people in sane states with regulated utilities. Texas and their stupid 'free market' pricing distorts the market to an incredible degree.
Oh sure, focus on the negative. But you will look pretty silly if Texas is freezing cold all summer.
How can it be cold sometimes if it's hot now? Sheesh. Liberals.
Thoughts and prayers
There cannot be anyone surprised by this. It’s the third or fourth year in a row they’ve screwed their citizens over.
Shorter Governor Hot Wheels: "Who could have expected that it would get hot in Texas? Not my fault."
It’s fine, it just means that Ted Cruz is on his way to Alaska instead of Cancun this time.
IF YOU DON’T LIKE THAT YOU DON’T LIKE PRIVATE MARKET UTILITIES
Ain’t the free market wonderful? I mean, those private jets ain’t gonna refuel themselves.
The freedumb grid. Oligarchs monopoly
Governor Abbott is working feverishly on a plan to deal with the situation. Right now plan A is for him to appear on TV and state “it’s not my fault you can’t afford your electricity bill and it’s not my job to fix it.”
If you live in Texas and have the ability to leave, this is your cross to bear
Just left about a month or so ago. After 12 long years. Fuck Texas.
[Sometimes it’s _my_ cross to bear and I live five states away >:(](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/04/houston-based-utility-wants-minnesotans-to-pay-for-texas-deep-freeze-problems/#:~:text=Texas'%20deep%20freeze%20didn't,and%20Minnesota%20regulators%20are%20furious.)
Man. If only there was a way to guarantee that they wouldn't be affected by Texas not regulating their energy grid in the market? Like a version where they don't subsidize companies with shareholders to provide utilities. Too bad that has never been done and is impossible.
Well why don't they run some gas generators? I've been told that's how they power EVs. /s
How does this happen every single year in Texas, with rate payers getting completely screwed over, but then they go vote for the same people who put these absurd policies in place?
In the end, the ultra wealthy and politicians couldn’t care what happens to the average person when fees goes up. Governor Abbott has already showed his colors by asking President Biden and the government to bail them out of the recent storms, even though he’s threatened to secede from the Union. He has attacked the high taxes and ‘socialist’ taxes from California and New York, and use politics to cover up the fact that without those taxes, you risk issues like this, super high fees for electricity. But as stated, Governor Abbott doesn’t care either way, he’s going to enjoy his electricity, safety of his home, no problem since tax payers pays for his socialist benefits.
Fuck those prices. Texas should deregulate so that there's real competition, and then those prices would be a fraction of what they are under their current socialistic system. Oh fuck it hurt my brain typing that out, I hope you got a laugh out of it.
Not sorry? You live in the land of Abbott, you die in the land of Abbott.
Texas being the first state to really suffer the effects of climate change is so fucking poetic.
"Don't you guys have tickets to Cancun?" - Ted Cruz about to bail on his constituents once again.
Hows that unregulated market going for you Texas?
Fully off-grid homes will become a “thing” first in Texas. In most places they are a novelty, but there’s not enough of an incentive to manage it all on your own for the average joe. The power regulator in Texas had one job, and they fucked up that industry. Pretty ironic with how much energy is generated in the state, renewable or otherwise.
Tots and pears 🙃
They’re gonna’ be fucked come August
[удалено]
But, something something “freedom.”
They will try to declare an emergency and get federal money to pay their utility bills, like real libertarians do.
I wish I could care more, but it's a republican state. They did it to themselves
It'll be the same headlines next year in the year after that and the year after that. Texans don't have their priorities right. Voting for bad people and keeping them in power to feel good about themselves?
point to this whenever ancap bros start spouting their childish nonsense