Tis story is very one-sided. The system has generation facilities that set idle. But the kick in the rate payers butt is that ERCOT pays the HIGHEST price. That means if a generation company is charging $50 mwh but the demand in a day in July calls for kicking in the standby generators, and the owner of a facility wants $4500 mwh, everyone in the system gets to charge that $4500 mwh.
This is why Texas now has some of the highest rates in the country since it ‘deregulated’ the system.
You mean lowest? Yes Texas is a little high for residential, but they have the lowest commercial rate, 4th lowest industrial. In all sectors they are 10th lowest.