Texas power prices soar 20,000% as brutal heat wave sets off emergency

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 728 points –
Texas power prices soar 20,000% as brutal heat wave sets off emergency
markets.businessinsider.com
  • 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.

159

You are viewing a single comment

I need you to explain this further? The price goes up because the demand on the grid goes up, and as the price goes up, typically additional generation comes online to take advantage of higher rates. I'm not saying it's a good system by any means, but I don't understand what you mean saying "power can't be delivered to everybody"

Transmission lines have maximums and the Texas power grid is a shambles.

Here's a recent article that explains a little more: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-09-08/ercot-texas-electric-grid-congestion-at-risk-energy-emergency

I'm abreast of this specific grid situation, and there're absolutely improvements that need to be made, and also no, it's not "a shambles." Yes, there was a bottleneck this time, but also everyone's power stayed on just fine

Oh cool, so nobody died this time.

Give it a few months when they start dying of exposure. At least once a year I see stories about Texas' power grid shitting the bed and people dying as a result.

How's all that freedom going?