The Political Takeover of the Texas Electricity Market \ stacker news ~econ

The Political Takeover of the Texas Electricity Market mises.org/mises-wire/political-takeover-texas-electricity-market

1647 sats \ 19 comments \ @kepford 19 Aug econ

I do not believe the Texas electricity market is perfect. I'm no expert on it but it seems to be miles ahead of states like California which have much more centralized government controls over pricing as well as delivery and maintenance. It is interesting to watch from afar.

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186 sats \ 11 replies \ @k00b 19 Aug

I've had far fewer regular disruptions of power in texas than I experienced in california despite more severe weather here. I never had an outage as bad in california as I did during that winter storm however, but california also never got that weather.

121 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 19 Aug

Yeah, honestly its a VERY complex topic and I'm sure I have major gaps in knowledge.

I will say that California's reliability of power has been much better the last few years than it was in the 2010s in my experience.

The one area that is ridiculous to compare is cost of power. Californians are paying exorbitant prices per KwH. And yet, the "power companies" (calling them private companies is kinda dishonest based on how they are regulated) have struggled to keep their systems maintained. Even with all the solar and wind power generation California has to import power from other states which I believe is the main reason for the higher rates. I suspect the rates were suppressed below market prices and this is what led to the disrepair in the systems. The headlines are often that PG&E didn't maintain their lines and this led to wild fires. I believe that central planning led to mismanagement due to the market being manipulated to keep prices artificially low. And prices are low because there are strict prices controls in California on electricity. Had the state allowed more power generation (nuclear) specifically these companies would not have to import power.

Texas doesn't seem to have a truly free market for power but it is more free than most states I've looked into. I'm sure there are problems with the way it is structured. I'm sure there are people taking advantage of the system to profit off of it but IMO it is far better for the consumers than what is in place in states like California where the state basically runs the power grid by proxy.

121 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 19 Aug

I want to add one more caveat. There have been MANY national media stories about California's insane power issues. Newsom telling people to not use power for example. The truth is that in some places we almost never have outages. We also don't have weather that leads to outages but in the past outages due to peak usage were very common. They still happen but they are less widespread. I think this is largely due to the expansion of home solar.

But, the state has peaked in the utility of home solar due to the duck curve. The solar isn't constant in its production of power and it doesn't align well with usage either. So there are times there is to much power being produced and others when there isn't enough. The state used to incentivize solar installation but they have been rolling those programs back. Now the push is for batteries for power storage but the cost is very high. It makes most systems harder to justify economically.

Every house is different. If a household owns EVs it probably does make sense because they would typically be charged at night and your rates in California are insane. You will save a lot if you charge up your home batteries during the day and use them to charge your car at night.

The other darker side of power and solar in California are the programs that the state runs for low income people. We have these companies that go around getting lower income home owners to allow them to install solar on their roofs. Its a complex scheme but basically you stop paying the power company directly and start paying the solar company. You don't own the panels or any of the equipment. But they give you a fixed payment and they pay your power bill. But there are many little caveats to these deals and I believe a lot of people don't know what they are getting into.

Its all so overly complex IMO. Its truly a mess and the incentives are so messed up its hard to talk to people about it without them getting sucked into a mental loop.

21 sats \ 5 replies \ @k00b 22 Aug

It's funny that this was only two days ago because there are outages in Austin today. It's entirely reminiscent of california.

100 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Aug

I haven't looked at the weather in Austin.
My guess is 100 F and AC overload

edit:

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 22 Aug

Oh I guess just one part of town then.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Aug

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 22 Aug

In California, peak electricity hours are 5 pm to 8 pm during summer

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 22 Aug

Yep

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @cascdr 19 Aug

@CHADBot /trumpMode for

46 sats \ 0 replies \ @CHADBot 19 Aug bot

@k00b has got it right folks, absolutely right. Texas power, despite the weather, is way more reliable than California. Massive disasters there, blackouts all the time, but Texas is strong, it handles weather like no other state. Sure, the winter was tough, but no state gets that kind of weather. We've built something great in Texas, let me tell you. #TexasStrong #ReliablePower

Made with 🧡 by CASCDR

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @CHADBot 19 Aug bot

You have summoned CHADBot. Please zap this post 21 sats to receive service.

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86 sats \ 3 replies \ @DEADBEEF 19 Aug

It is crazy to see how one freak winter storm is being used as an excuse to undermine the entire electric grid in Texas.

Never let a crisis go to waste I guess 🙄

65 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 19 Aug

the problem is ERCOT, 15 member board, most of the members don't live in Texas

The problem with the freak storm in 2021 or 22 was wind or solar not coal or natural gas.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 19 Aug

I don't really have a problem with where the people live but while their system does at least have some pricing mechanism it is still at the will of the state government. I'm sure they still centrally manage much of the power grid and companies.

The obvious solution to most of these problems to me is to build nuclear plants. The US population has just been psyoped into being anti-nuclear. Modern nuclear power seems very safe and clean. The biggest issue is the initial investment to build but plenty of places around the world are doing it.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 19 Aug

Never let a crisis go to waste

Exactly.

Mind you, how many people that lived through that event didn't learn anything from it. Haven't done even some basic preparations in case something like that happens again.

55 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 19 Aug

Every system has its flaws. I do believe nuclear energy is the most efficient and clean, right now. In the future there might be something better, but at the moment nuclear energy is the best.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satoshi__Nakamoto 20 Aug

That's a plush point for taxes

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Octopus 19 Aug outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.