because of weather emergencies, not because we didn't have enough power plants to meet our needs.

How did we get here, and how do we get out? We think the answer to both questions is the same: Free markets.

Texas leads the world in deregulating power markets. Anyone can build a power plant here and sell electricity into the wholesale market; there's no central planning commission or state budget to build power plants. This, plus some federal and state incentives, have prompted a blossoming of renewable energy. Cheap wind and solar power have, in turn, pushed more expensive coal plants out of the market, creating clean electricity that benefits breathers everywhere.

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The trouble is, wind and solar are not steady fuels, so we need fossil fuel plants to fill in. But coal and older natural gas plants

struggling to turn a profit in the competitive market. And, ironically, part of the reason for greater electricity demand is growing oil and gas operations, both in the oil and gas fields of West Texas and in refineries and industrial operations on the coast.

As a result, our cushion of extra generating capacity has shrunk. This summer, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state grid, says the reserve margin, or the portion of capacity beyond anticipated demand, is down to 8.6%. The engineers at ERCOT feel much more comfortable with at least a 13.75% reserve margin.

What do we do? This summer, there's exactly enough time to hope for mild weather and to use electricity like a grumpy old man. Turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees, unplug appliances that you don't need, and for the love of Pete, turn the lights out when you leave a room.

For the longer term, some are calling for changes in the market that will ensure a greater reserve margin in the future, largely by collecting fees from electricity customers to pay to keep more power plants online in case of emergency. We

not convinced it is necessary to socialize a larger reserve margin, though we worry that the deregulated market hasn't yet made good on some of its free market promises.

In most markets, buyers can respond to higher prices by reducing demand. When avocados get expensive, Texans tend to eat less guacamole. But despite an enormous investment by ratepayers in smart meters and other equipment, most electricity customers have no way to benefit by cutting usage at times when wholesale prices spike, particularly when the grid is facing an emergency. Many industrial users make strategic use of wholesale markets, but commercial and retail customers hardly at all.

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Further, the market is just starting to attract large numbers of industrial batteries to

up when electricity is cheap and plentiful and sell back into the market when prices spike. In theory, storage technology could solve our reserve margin problem. But it hasn't yet.

markets

the best way to organize supply and demand, even for electricity. But markets

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be structured in a way that

, without complicated loopholes that support

technology.

be among the thrift

electricity users, yelling at the kids to shut the back door before we air condition the entire neighborhood. But we also anticipate that in the summers ahead, our grid will

Dallas Morning News Editorial. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editor of Editorial Page.