DALLAS — After a 2021 winter storm shut down much of the Texas grid and killed at least 246, there was a reckoning in Austin.
For two decades, the state had been creating cheap, abundant electricity, and then lawmakers decided to pivot and put reliability first.
They installed new regulators, who have managed oversight more aggressively and adopted measures to boost reserves, keep plants online and encourage customers to cut back when grid conditions get tight. They also raised the funding available to pay big users to slash their loads — to $75 million, up from $50 million.
