Thermolyzer, maybe there’s something there.
If they hired me, I could make their project pass investor due diligence and more importantly actually work. Oh well.
However, if you were not familiar with the writer or early stage of terraform, then yeah I could imagine some letdown.
It's not exactly electrolyzer - mains were AC - but, if fuses (or usually their less fire-preventing replacements) held, water was heated - resistive effect.
I think Casey is just simplifying things a bit.
I often take issue with the highly-reductive, "model a cow as a sphere" type thinking that seems like a phd-doctor trope, as well, though.