It's pretty simple really. Before deregulation and the total privatization of Texas' power grid, the utilities were required by law to spend part of their incom

It's pretty simple really. Before deregulation and the total privatization of Texas' power grid, the utilities were required by law to spend part of their income on reliability so that all the elements of the grid had reserve capacity for emergencies. Backup generators, extra insulation for fuel pipes, fatter cables, more workers to trim trees and repair damage, etc. When I was a kid in Texas in the 70s, the grid was extremely reliable. Since deregulation the reliability incentive is gone. Any utility CEO that spends money on reliability will be pummeled into oblivion by Wall Street. It's all about maximizing profit now, and that means every part of the Texas grid operates right on the hairy edge of failure. The plan was that competition would provide some incentive for reliability, but that was always fantasy. No home in Texas has two sets of power lines coming into it from two competing companies. We all know what enshittification looks like by now. Texas is where enshittification meets the power grid.