Why can’t they sell excess or unwanted electricity to other states? On the East Coast, several major power companies have agreements to do that and everyone has electricity at pretty good rates.
Did former Gov. Perry know about this while he was governor? If so, maybe that is why nobody wants his a presidential candidate.
Someone from Texas please explain what is going on down there.
After reading the whole article, I see that Texas made a major mistake in NOT setting up an interstate electrical power transmission system network that could be kept on an “as needed” operational basis.
By not officially connecting to any other state’s electrical grid, Texas could remain “independent” of their system until a need would arise for them to connect to it.
It is the same as having idle but usable railroad track systems available in case of an emergency (spur lines, short-track lines, etc that can connect to the long-line if needed, or which could even bypass some long-lines).
In theory, FEMA should have asked states like Texas to create such an emergency connection/transmission system long ago, just to be safe in an area of states hard-hit by hurricanes and tornados, not to mention some powerful blizzards.
Better safe than sorry.
Here's an earlier thread with info on replies 16, 28, and 32.
Also, in Texas(and CA), the price of electricity is tied to the price of natural gas. This was done back in the 90s when Texas was moving to deregulate the power industry and covert a sizable portion of Texas power from coal to natural gas.
In doing this, they had to protect the nat gas plants from rising nat gas prices, so they would tie the price of electricity to nat gas. The conventional wisdom at the time knew nothing of the advances in fracking which today has given us a surplus of natural gas and a really, really cheap price for nat gas.
Back then after Katrina the price of nat gas went thru the roof and a lot of people bet on a high price of nat gas. The biggest leveraged buy-out in US history was TXU to create Energy Future Holdings and Luminant and they are now in bankruptcy. Sarah Palin replaced Frank's pipeline with her pipeline and had to resign as Guv when the price of nat gas collapsed. Boone Pickens lost a lot of money on wind.
Moving electricity from Texas to the Northeast is quite expensive, and most is lost in the process. The resistance in the distribution lines burns up the energy as heat in the wires.
When the Feds tried to regulate the Texas grid, the governor had all lines crossing the state border cut. So much for the commerce clause...