Texas Was Minutes Away From a Catastrophic Blackout. Here's Why!

In February 2021, the Texas power grid came dangerously close to a catastrophic failure that could have left millions of people without electricity for far longer than anyone imagined. And here's what makes that story even more surprising. Texas operates a power grid that's largely separate from the rest of the United States. While most states can exchange substantial amounts of electricity with neighboring regions, much of Texas relies on its own interconnected system. But why? And more importantly, what does that independence actually cost the people paying the electric bills?