Markets are great when the rules they are bound to are well defined and protect consumers. None of this would have been a problem if they required producers to winterize their equipment.

The markets in Texas generally work pretty well except for where they don’t. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that basic regulations that power generation needs be winterized (among others thing) may cost slightly more on a day to day basis but costs consumers far less in the long run.

Everything in life is a trade off and unfortunately the voters of Texas have prioritized centralizing regulatory authority (a little counterintuitive but ERCOT runs basically everything and local municipalities are not allowed to much wiggle room), blind faith private entities that are accountable to no one and loose very little when something like this happens (the generation companies aren’t paying for everyone’s burst pipes, the property owners who’s insurance premiums are going through the rough do and the American people in general through Federal aid).