The power grids of US states are similarly linked. Very dirty.

Except for Texas, which decided as a state that avoiding federal regulation was worth people dying every winter from power outages.

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karamanolev 4 days ago | parent [-]

I'm not a fan of Texan electrical isolationism, but "people dying every winter from power outages" is stretching it a bit...

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ceejayoz 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Every winter is a stretch, yes.

But they did get a big warning shot in 1989 and 2011, and ignored those lessons for cost reasons. A couple hundred people died.

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gottorf 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

> But they did get a big warning shot in 1989 and 2011, and ignored those lessons for cost reasons.

Cost is always a valid reason!

> A couple hundred people died.

Looks like about a thousand people in the US die of hypothermia every year, on average. So this happens frequently in states that aren't in its own interconnection, too.

	▲	ceejayoz 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		> Looks like about a thousand people in the US die of hypothermia every year, on average. In their powerless homes? I don't doubt people get lost in the woods. But that's not some systemic failure.

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amarant 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Which actually works out to rather more than one person per winter, when averaged out.

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card_zero 4 days ago | parent [-]

Like all the Canadians who die every winter in the Halifax explosion of 1917.

	▲	4 days ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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seanmcdirmid 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Ya, it was just one winter where people actually died, it was recent though.