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Comment by nrmitchi | Hacker News Reader

> just a result of certain design/engineering choices

I think this is the point. Things are engineered for the environment which they are expected to operate, and to be optimized for those environments[0]. I would not expect a wind turbine that operates (and is designed to operate) in Antartica to not fail (potentially catestrophically) when operating in 100 degree Texas heat,

[0] One could (and should) argue that these systems should take climate change and more extreme weather events into account, but that is a political problem more-so than an engineering problem.

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> [0] One could [...] climate change [...]

As far as I can tell weather like this happens once in a while even without climate change, something like once in ~25 years or so (just guessing the number).

Given the serve effects it can have infrastructure should always be build to still be operational.

But if you are a company and there are no regulations you might be very tempted to ignore something which normally happens "just" around 4 times in hundred years. (Again guessed values could be a bit more or a bit less, with climate change likely more then just a bit more in the future).

You’re really close! A lot of cities in Texas got really cold in 1989, so about 32 years.

There was also a freeze in 2011 that didn’t break records, but broke the energy grid.

Except Texas has had one of these winter storms roughly every 10 years, so it's not like it's unexpected.

Cars operate across a spectrum of climates... no reason your power plant should not.

A car is engineered to operated in multiple climates through the use of specific fluids designed for the operating temperatures of the climate they are used in.

Further, power plants operate on error margins significantly more narrow than your average consumer automobile. The temperatures, pressures and mechanical stresses are orders of magnitude higher.

The same model of car physically exists in multiple climates. A powerplant (usually) doesn't.

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