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submitted 9 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Texas power prices soar 20,000% as brutal heat wave sets off emergency::On Wednesday evening, spot electricity prices topped $5,000 per megawatt-hour, up more than 200 times from Wednesday morning.

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[-] hoot@lemmy.ca 164 points 9 months ago

Don't worry everyone. The free market will take care of this for sure! Deregulated private companies always have the best interests of the consumers at heart!

[-] Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago

The free market is trying to supply renewables, they are cheaper, more flexible and simple to deploy, the free market loves that shit.

It's vested interests fighting it at every turn that's the issue.

[-] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago

Yeah, those vested interests are part of the free market.

You don't get to cherry pick this

[-] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 7 points 9 months ago

It doesn't seem like a very "free" market with lobbyists, subsidies, and pet politicians propping up the establishment entities in every corner of the market. Too big to fail and all that.

[-] fkn@lemmy.world 107 points 9 months ago

Waaaaat? The Texas power grid is price gouging again?!? Who could have foreseen this??? After all that work they put into the power grid after the last time this happened? It's almost like someone should regulate this power grid or something.

[-] Kraven_the_Hunter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 9 months ago

It not price gouging, it's "free market economics". You don't have your MBA yet, do you?

[-] netburnr@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago

Its trickle down economics, the sweat trickling down your back

[-] sirboozebum@lemmy.world 77 points 9 months ago

Texas talks a lot of shit for a state that can't keep the lights on.

[-] GrabtharsHammer@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

The stars at night Are big and bright Clapclapclapclap Cause we got rolling blackouts

[-] GreatFord@lemm.ee 16 points 9 months ago

Friday Night ~~Lights~~

[-] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Even motel 6 can do that

[-] FleetingTit@feddit.de 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

We have a saying in germany about our state owned railway operator:

The four biggest enemies of punctuality are Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring.

Maybe the same is true for energy reliability and ERCOT?

[-] Bassman1805@lemmy.world 58 points 9 months ago

Good thing we brought all those bitcoin miners to "incentivize" the power companies to improve the grid. And then we give them millions in energy credits to make them stop so we don't have a total meltdown.

10/10 plan, there.

[-] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 37 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

All these motherfuckers, including Abbott and every CEO sitting on ERCOT, need to go to prison for the rest of their goddamned lives. This is ALL market manipulation and price gouging. All of it.

[-] FlaminGoku@reddthat.com 37 points 9 months ago

And they will still continue to vote against their interests.

[-] Comment105@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago

They absolutely deserve it, too. Dumbfuck Texans.

[-] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Wait, I have seen that before. I have a déjà-vu

EDIT: so it's 5$ kWh, current price in France is 0.2€ kWh for comparison. Makes a real point for energy-efficient computers/software!

[-] overzeetop@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago

Emergency? You mean kind of emergency where I have to call my naval architect to lengthen my new summer yacht by another half a football field because I need to spend this profit windfall. -Power Co execs in TX

[-] Corran1138@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

Someone has to take Ted Cruz to Mexico.

[-] unphazed@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

That only happens when it gets cold

[-] AlexisFR@jlai.lu 32 points 9 months ago

Impossible. Isn't Texas the richest, most developed place on earth?

Was I lied to???11!

[-] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 31 points 9 months ago

"The system is working as intended. The shareholders thank you."

[-] Wahots@pawb.social 30 points 9 months ago

At ERCOT's request, the Biden administration declared a power emergency in Texas on Thursday, waiving some air-pollution rules so generators in the state could produce more electricity.

Why not just say "yes, but only if you promise to put in more clean energy, drop gas, and connect to say, I dunno, the fucking international grid, you fucking dumbasses?"

If you have the means, move out of the state before anything worse happens from your galaxy brain politicians, who would seem to rather kill you than see you have normal living conditions. Jesus.

[-] Gazumi@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

No doubt that the climate science deniers of Texas will struggle on..

[-] PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works 20 points 9 months ago

This state is such a shithole.

[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

FREEDOM! SO FREE! Free to die baking in the sunnnn

[-] Destraight@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago

I don't get it. Texans live close to the ocean, just go for a swim if it's too hot.

[-] Doomsider@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Did you see ocean temperature off the coast of Florida reaching one hundred degrees? Cool off in a hot tub...

[-] fne8w2ah@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

No wonder those dumbasses want to avoid federal rEgUlaTIon!

[-] namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev 4 points 9 months ago

The solution is staring at them straight in the face. Unfortunately, they're so utterly brainwashed that they'll never even consider it.

[-] Mcballs1234@lemmy.ml 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

5000$ ÷ 1000 kilowatts = 5 bucks a kilowatt jesus, In my area its 0.14 ¢ a kilowatt. I'm pretty sure the math is right.

[-] CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

What the actual fuck?!?

[-] FireWire400@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Don't worry! I've read on the internet that an ice age is coming in a couple of years /s

[-] xordos@lonestarlemmy.mooo.com 1 points 9 months ago

So it is some between 2.5c to $5 kwh. Is this even possible? I scanned linked 2 pages could not find any price chart.

I am wondering if similar can happen in stock market, a penny stock no one is trading, you decide to buy/sell 1 share $10000 to yourself. Then suddenly every owner become millionaire? At least on paper, right, right? /s

[-] TheGoodKall@lemm.ee 23 points 9 months ago

What you're describing is a pump and dump scheme. In any market where there is low volume, either in terms of units or value, it is possible that a wealthy individual buys a large enough share of the available item to make the price jump up a bunch. Then when other people buy to get in on the next bitcoin/NFT/GME craze, often motivated by person A, that first person can then sell to the next wave.

What is weird about the power grid is that A) electricity has to be used at the time of purchase so you couldn't resell it and B) there are often power plants specifically for spikes in demand (called peaker plants) that rely on those moments to jump in and produce to make their profit, keeping things under control. However if you're the Texas grid, which is isolated from any other electric grid, you can just ignore obvious signs that more power is needed and everytime demand spikes you make a bunch of profit and super promise you'll fix it for the next time

[-] Ocelot@lemmies.world -2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Contrary to what clickbait articles lead you to believe these spikes are incredibly brief. https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/systemwideprices

I’m really not sure how else an electrical grid is supposed to artificially encourage lowering demand than to fluctuate pricing. Lots of new appliances now can connect to the grid and shut themselves down temporarily when costs are high, this is an opt-in system that without pricing tied to it most people would ignore. If you need to use electricity at high demand time it had better be important.

And yes I realize in an ideal world every electrical grid would be 10,000% oversized and be able to handle infinite demand. That is unfortunately not the world we live in.

this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
377 points (98.0% liked)

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