I'm just a regular guy who doesn't know much about the legalities of us joining ERCOT. All I know is it seems to be a very, very bad deal.

Let's look at the idea of joining the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas.

Let's start with the basics -- as in, can they provide reliable electricity to the South Plains? Well, the survey says, "no." Reliability is part of their name, but not within the wheelhouse of their service. They can't get it together.

What about saving us money? The reason given to customers for joining was to increase competition and supposedly benefit the customer. Actually, it was deregulation that's supposedly cost Texans $28 billion since 2004. Yup, the system that was supposed to help save money did not work.

Let's also not forget that we dodged a bullet because apparently, Texas was less than five minutes away from a power blackout that would have lasted weeks on end.

Power is something that should be regulated. You want stable, uninterrupted power. You want your bills to be fairly predictable. None of that is going to happen with ERCOT.

ERCOT was an experiment that showed itself to be a huge failure. Allowing the deregulated power suppliers to run their own show is exactly what caused the whole thing to fail. When no one is regulated, then no one is responsible.

I learned long, long ago that the best thing you can do when you encounter a mistake is to stop, rethink and start over. The worst thing you can do is gloss over the mistake and expect it to correct itself. Those things just don't happen.

If a record skipped in the old days, I'd pick up the needle and throw on a different song or a different record because those things did not fix themselves. ERCOT will not fix itself. Joining is a mistake, and they've given us more than enough reason to throw a 3 to 5-year pause to see how they patch things up before we join.

This horse has thrown a shoe. We have to get off now.

20 Striking Photos From Across Texas During Winter Storm Uri

Texas was hit hard by Winter Storm Uri, a polar vortex which led to millions being without power for days in constant freezing temperatures. These photos show the good, the bad and ugly of the crisis.

5 Things to Miss About Lubbock If You Move Away

 

 

Smiling Bush Turns Into the Masked Rider

Smiling Bush Turns Into the Masked Rider

More From KFMX FM