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Consider earthquakes. Preparation and infrastructure are what matter. If you don't do the prep, you'll have a hundred thousand dead from a 6.0. But if you do th

Consider earthquakes. Preparation and infrastructure are what matter. If you don't do the prep, you'll have a hundred thousand dead from a 6.0. But if you do the prep, you'll have relatively trivial damage from a 7.0. Texas power, thanks to their 'we don't need no regulamazations' attitude, has shown itself to be woefully underreported repeatedly in the last few years.

roenxi 2y ago
I can't walk by this comment without noting that their 'we don't need no regulamazations' attitude resulted in a large populous state which people want to migrate to. The other large US state, California, has electricity prices that appear to be 2x higher [0]. And their migratory trends are not encouraging. People underestimate the heavy burden of a strong regulatory state. High standards and high costs. All in it the Texas approach looks to be pretty good even if it means you have to be prepared for an emergency. I actually lost power for 24 hours recently so I can sympathise; a widespread outage would be horrific for an unprepared person. But being prepared for emergencies is a much more resilient approach in the long term and better than the quite substantial risk of overregulating. They have a very healthy attitude. [0] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph...
- kolinko 2y ago
  It's not a simple linear scale of regulations and no regulations. EU is arguably more regulated than California, but the regulations here have more sense to them, and arguably higher benefit to cost ratio.
  - roenxi 2y ago
    > EU is arguably more regulated than California, but the regulations here have more sense to them, and arguably higher benefit to cost ratio. The last time I checked the EU appeared to be in a full-blown multi-country energy crisis triggered by some of the most stunning displays of regulatory incompetence so far this century. So I would accept that the EU is more regulated but I don't think that is the sort of point that plays well right now. I would be fighting tooth-and-nail to have my country not do what Germany did. The Texas grid, by comparison, looks like a paradise even if it is currently experiencing a week-long outage!
    - lazide 2y ago
      The EU also has very high taxes and very high energy costs.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - supermatt 2y ago
        The EU also has low taxes and low energy prices depending on which states you are talking about.
        lazide 2y ago
        Which state has low taxes and low energy prices?
    - Jensson 2y ago
      > The last time I checked the EU appeared to be in a full-blown multi-country energy crisis No outage though, the crisis was averted, unlike in Texas where the crisis reliably hits every few years.
    - petre 2y ago
      The EU had an energy crisis because Germany was high on Russian gas, along with most of Central Europe. Thankfully the US took care of that. Southern Europe also has few fossil fuel options if Libya and Algeria decide to align themselves with Russia.
    - snowpid 2y ago
      "would be fighting tooth-and-nail to have my country not do what Germany did. The Texas grid, by comparison, looks like a paradise even if it is currently experiencing a week-long outage!" Can you clarify such strong words? I've never encountered any power outtage in Germany my whole life and Texas this looks fairly regular.
- binkethy 2y ago
  Bass ackwards defensive hot take. The above comment should not be grayed out, yours should. You are placing your political fantasies above reality on the ground. It is absolutely factually correct to describe Texas political and electrical administration as - anthropogenic climate change denialist - corruptly in thrall to fossil fuel, including 'natural' gas plant expansion where the actual grid is the issue - averse to integrating with the electrical grid from nearby states, as others do, and averse to standards and standards compliance. The number of people moving to Texas and your instant deflection towards California bashing are unacceptable in a mature conversation on this topic.
  - lsaferite 2y ago
    > your instant deflection towards California bashing are unacceptable in a mature conversation on this topic And > we don't need no regulamazations Seem at odds with one another.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Power costs are the result of private profit taking not electrical regulation. Look at power costs for municipal providers with the same regulatory burden. LADWP customers are paying maybe 16 cents a kilowatt hour.

roenxi 2y ago

I can't walk by this comment without noting that their 'we don't need no regulamazations' attitude resulted in a large populous state which people want to migrate to. The other large US state, California, has electricity prices that appear to be 2x higher [0]. And their migratory trends are not encouraging. People underestimate the heavy burden of a strong regulatory state. High standards and high costs. All in it the Texas approach looks to be pretty good even if it means you have to be prepared for an emergency. I actually lost power for 24 hours recently so I can sympathise; a widespread outage would be horrific for an unprepared person. But being prepared for emergencies is a much more resilient approach in the long term and better than the quite substantial risk of overregulating. They have a very healthy attitude. [0] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph...

kolinko 2y ago
It's not a simple linear scale of regulations and no regulations. EU is arguably more regulated than California, but the regulations here have more sense to them, and arguably higher benefit to cost ratio.
- roenxi 2y ago
  > EU is arguably more regulated than California, but the regulations here have more sense to them, and arguably higher benefit to cost ratio. The last time I checked the EU appeared to be in a full-blown multi-country energy crisis triggered by some of the most stunning displays of regulatory incompetence so far this century. So I would accept that the EU is more regulated but I don't think that is the sort of point that plays well right now. I would be fighting tooth-and-nail to have my country not do what Germany did. The Texas grid, by comparison, looks like a paradise even if it is currently experiencing a week-long outage!
  - lazide 2y ago
    The EU also has very high taxes and very high energy costs.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - supermatt 2y ago
      The EU also has low taxes and low energy prices depending on which states you are talking about.
      - lazide 2y ago
        Which state has low taxes and low energy prices?
  - Jensson 2y ago
    > The last time I checked the EU appeared to be in a full-blown multi-country energy crisis No outage though, the crisis was averted, unlike in Texas where the crisis reliably hits every few years.
  - petre 2y ago
    The EU had an energy crisis because Germany was high on Russian gas, along with most of Central Europe. Thankfully the US took care of that. Southern Europe also has few fossil fuel options if Libya and Algeria decide to align themselves with Russia.
  - snowpid 2y ago
    "would be fighting tooth-and-nail to have my country not do what Germany did. The Texas grid, by comparison, looks like a paradise even if it is currently experiencing a week-long outage!" Can you clarify such strong words? I've never encountered any power outtage in Germany my whole life and Texas this looks fairly regular.
binkethy 2y ago
Bass ackwards defensive hot take. The above comment should not be grayed out, yours should. You are placing your political fantasies above reality on the ground. It is absolutely factually correct to describe Texas political and electrical administration as - anthropogenic climate change denialist - corruptly in thrall to fossil fuel, including 'natural' gas plant expansion where the actual grid is the issue - averse to integrating with the electrical grid from nearby states, as others do, and averse to standards and standards compliance. The number of people moving to Texas and your instant deflection towards California bashing are unacceptable in a mature conversation on this topic.
- lsaferite 2y ago
  > your instant deflection towards California bashing are unacceptable in a mature conversation on this topic And > we don't need no regulamazations Seem at odds with one another.
kjkjadksj 2y ago
Power costs are the result of private profit taking not electrical regulation. Look at power costs for municipal providers with the same regulatory burden. LADWP customers are paying maybe 16 cents a kilowatt hour.