@teknomunk TX uses some bullshit called ERCOT that basically farms out responsibility for the grid to contractors. so more or less the state owned facilities (whatever is left of them) are mothballed and they leave it up to an energy market.

what happened is people started noting that cold fronts were happening, and that people running the windmills and shit should take active measures to reinforce against it. they collectively laundered an excuse that they didn't need to because some global warming expert said it was ok to ignore the critical temperatures because "idk the sims say it will be hotter or something."

so they weren't forced to do it (muh free market) so they didn't, the devices failed, and it turned out nobody remembered how to unmothball any of the other shit, and the biden admin was playing fucksy not allowing them to turn on the coal burners because "muh climate targets." they basically said just import it from nearby grids at extortionate rates instead, which happened for a little while, until the load was so heavy they basically turned the burners on anyway to avoid a total blackout

investigation and peeking at that whole thing after the fact showed it was a cacophony of outsourcing and bullshit, to the point the ERCOT staff were actually all foreigners or some bullshit

@kaia @arcana @shibao