Y'all are saying this cold blast is normal, but 0 degrees this early in winter, and over a large part of the country, does not seem normal. It's not a surprise this tested the system. Sounds like some TVA fossil units are in planned outages, probably because it's still early winter and there's only so much time to squeeze in with other outages.
What I think we are seeing here are choices. We've chosen minimal rate increases and a reduction in coal. That's going to lead to less redundancy. That might be a fine choice, but in these extreme events you may have 30 minutes without power (which frankly isn't a huge deal, full on blackouts are what we should be worrying about). Also, in general, we aren't spending infrastructure in this country anymore. It's too expensive, and they've got pensions and debt to pay.
Alternatively, you could go with more coal investments. These plants are being held together with duct tape. And given what the tea leaves are saying, it's not wise to invest in the coal units.
Or you can pay for the redundancy, which would take rate increases. Which would also have you all screaming.
They and the rest of the country, including ratepayers, have chosen option 1. It's barely working, but it could have went worse if they lost a few big plants. It won't change until the blackouts hit.
