The state of Texas owns 700 snow plows. The CITY of New York has over 2,000. Gotta love those low taxes, huh? Freedom!
The Lone Star State also goes its own way with respect to its electrical grid. Texas is not part of the Eastern or Western U.S. electrical grids. The Texas interconnect is run by ERCOT, the ironically named Energy Reliability Council Of Texas.
So history does provide context for Rick Perry's take on the situation:In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Power Act, which charged the Federal Power Commission with overseeing interstate electricity sales. By not crossing state lines, Texas utilities avoided being subjected to federal rules. “Freedom from federal regulation was a cherished goal — more so because Texas had no regulation until the 1970s,” writes Richard D. Cudahy in a 1995 article, “The Second Battle of the Alamo: The Midnight Connection.”
Yes, Texans will happily die for energy independence from the rest of the United States. What is it about Texas? Remember in the early days of Covid, when then 69 year old Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said “as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.”Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.
So old people should die so the state can reopen, and the rest of you freeze to death happily so Texas energy independence can live.
In the past few days, we've seen Conservatives try to make ERCOT's grid something other than the love child of deregulation and the Texas oil industry. A reliable electrical grid is a prerequisite for modern civilization. What millions of Texans have experienced this week is what life was like before electricity in a cold that can kill. This was not an abstract fear. This was a visceral experience for millions of people. They are going to want answers, and frantically waving at the green energy boogeyman ain't going to cut it. The short answer is the pain of living with a poorly designed and maintained power grid will push the ideology of at least some Texans to accept a little more regulation in exchange for a little more heat. In short, this experience will move Texas to the left.