Cold snaps certainly do happen even in climates that normally only justify a heat pump. I grew up in rural SE Tennessee, so I totally get that. Even in an env

Cold snaps certainly do happen even in climates that normally only justify a heat pump. I grew up in rural SE Tennessee, so I totally get that. Even in an environment of electric heating and an impoverished customer base, the price doesn't have to be totally inelastic to avoid a social justice nightmare. You can choose not to run the electric clothes dryer in the middle of the night, for example. Having regular large price swings will be accurately perceived by the energy storage market as an arbitrage opportunity. Even if you only allow the price to swing by some limit (say, by enforcing a maximum price ceiling on the utility through the state regulatory commission), the electric utility will be incentivised to pay even more than the natural swing to third parties who can provide that arbitrage.