ERCOT

Several groups are investigating manipulation of the electric and natural gas markets during the Texas blackout. But the rules are different for different kinds of energy.

After millions of Texans lost power in February, state lawmakers vowed to fix the system that had failed so dramatically. But what, really, did they accomplish?

It’s happened before in other parts of the country, but in Texas it would play out much differently. That’s because Texas has its own power grid with minimal connections to neighboring grids.

In the 1930s, regulating industries was seen as essential to prevent another Great Depression. Later as America soured on regulation, Texas energy execs saw themselves as part of the solution.

Senate Bill 7, the bill that deregulated Texas' retail electrical market, was drafted in secret, championed by a disgraced energy giant and, ultimately, garnered bipartisan support. It drastically transformed Texas' energy landscape. Here's how it passed.

The market redesign is ongoing, and the grid operator has already made some changes to improve reliability. Nonetheless, officials warn Texans to expect more energy conservation requests in the coming weeks as temperatures rise.

During the February blackout, much of Texas didn’t have access to electricity produced in states where snow and ice weren’t shutting things down.

The 60-point “Roadmap to Improving Grid Reliability” includes more energy conservation alerts and plans to increase transmission capacity in South and West Texas.

Texans were asked to cut back on their electricity use for a week because of “tight” power grid conditions, according to ERCOT officials. They still haven’t said what caused the plant outages.

ERCOT dijo que varios generadores de electricidad están bajo reparación, privando al estado de unos 11,000 megavatios de capacidad de generación — aproximadamente la cantidad de energía que se necesita para suplir a 2.2 millones de hogares en un día caluroso de verano.