Texas power plants have no responsibility to provide electricity in emergencies, judges rule
www.kut.org
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.
  • WashedOver@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    11 months ago

    I wonder if they can go after those that implemented the changes for privatization?

    It seems like these types of systems would be better to be under state control for the best interests of the citizens over the focus on profits for the few. I see a big difference between the two here that it seems like many Americans may not see this at all.

    If anything this should have motivated many for changes to the system but I guess that’s left for the courts to resolve through the threat of legal action.

        • Tremble@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          181·
          11 months ago

          Why don’t we just call you the fucking energizer bunny. You’re talking in circles.

          The company chose not to prepare their infrastructure for cold weather. And they still haven’t done so even after the 2021 disaster.

          You don’t have to be an electrical engineer to see that the reason this happened is corporate greed, literally putting profits over people’s lives.

        • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          11 months ago

          The goal is to prevent destruction and focus on replacements. Just accepting that shit is broken is dumb as fuck and shows literally no initiative or idea how things work.

          Snow breaking the lines? Reinforce them with sturdier gauges. Poles getting downed? Guy wires, better poles, move the wires underground.

          There are literally dozens of solutions that you have no fucken idea could be implemented. How long have you worked in power? Are you a lineman? Cause you must be the worst, dumbest mother fucker to work with power and not kill yourself.

    • Duranie@literature.cafeEnglish
      31·
      11 months ago

      Fwiw (I live in Illinois) over the years our system was updated with materials and redundancies to counter loss of service during storms. There’s been a number of times over the last few years that a bad storm hits and does damage that previously would have created a loss of power, but you can watch the power flicker for a few seconds while the system tests alternate routes that are able to continue to provide service to the most residents. There was a time that power outages were expected a few times a year during bad storms, but I can’t recall the last time we had a weather related outage of more than a few minutes.

      Obviously local to the damage there nothing to do but wait for the infrastructure to be repaired, but that happens far faster when there’s redundancies supplying the majority and fewer repairs that need to be addressed.