The state government of Texas did a really stupid thing when they gave control of the electric grid to the private corporation ERCOT that has a CEO and board members. We already had the Public Utility Commission run by state officials (of course they were political appointees). ERCOT has to make as much profit as possible because it is accountable to it's stock holders instead of it's customers. Another stupid thing they was to give a contract to a private company to provide emergency power to the water plants and natural gas providers. When the grid starting failing this company removed most their electric generators. I worked for AT&T for 30 years and all the big switching centers had their own diesel generators that were tested frequently.
