A panel of judges has said that big power companies cannot be held liable for failure to provide electricity during the 2021 blackout. The reason is Texas’ deregulated energy market.

Almost three years since the deadly Texas blackout of 2021, a panel of judges from the First Court of Appeals in Houston has ruled that big power companies cannot be held liable for failure to provide electricity during the crisis. The reason is Texas’ deregulated energy market.

The decision seems likely to protect the companies from lawsuits filed against them after the blackout. It leaves the families of those who died unsure where next to seek justice.

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This week, Chief Justice Terry Adams issued the unanimous opinion of that panel that “Texas does not currently recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customers to provide continuous electricity to the electric grid, and ultimately to the retail customers.”

The opinion states that big power generators “are now statutorily precluded by the legislature from having any direct relationship with retail customers of electricity.”

    • mateomaui@reddthat.comEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Is Tennessee one of those states? Can never understand how the “save the children” crowd and the “marry ‘em too young to know better” crowd intersect.

      • Bonesince1997@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 months ago

        I did a little digging before writing that. Didn’t find all I was looking for, but I did see that only some states explicitly made laws against child marriage, and just in the recent past! Kinda weird. Tennessee wasn’t one of them.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 months ago

        Because they don’t want to “save the children” for the sake of the children but for the sake of their fragile egos that can’t handle the idea that their wife might have had other experiences to compare with.