How Defunding Reliable Energy Caused the Texas Blackouts

Power Hour with Alex Epstein

On this week’s Power Hour Alex Epstein joins philosopher Gregory Salmieri and statistician Carlos Carvalho to discuss what caused Texas electricity to be so unreliable when it was desperately needed during a recent winter storm.
In this wide-ranging discussion Alex emphasizes the point that by giving undeserved money and preferences to unreliable wind and solar electricity, Texas defunded the reliable and resilient electricity it needed.
Some specific topics include:
- How the grid needs to match supply and demand.
- What we know about what actually happened before the mass blackouts.
- How Texas policy gives preference to wind and solar.
- Why a “Red State” like Texas is so pro-wind.
- How Texas’s “Energy Only” market works.
- How Texas’s fundamental problems exist nationwide.