At the time, the regulatory agency had ordered load-shedding of something like 1/3rd (more? I forget) of all Texas customers due to insufficient power. 1/3rd of Texas was in the dark. So what happened was the market was establishing a new clearing price based on the new, lesser demand for electricity.
What the regulators wanted to do was lock in the demand at "all of Texas wants electricity" until such time as that could be provided.
It's sort of funny that this "super free market" system Texas set up failed in so many different ways. Without this massive government intervention, Texas would still be in the dark because customers in the dark can't demand more electricity and therefore utilities wouldn't have any demand to supply enough electricity to turn them on.
What the regulators wanted to do was lock in the demand at "all of Texas wants electricity" until such time as that could be provided.
It's sort of funny that this "super free market" system Texas set up failed in so many different ways. Without this massive government intervention, Texas would still be in the dark because customers in the dark can't demand more electricity and therefore utilities wouldn't have any demand to supply enough electricity to turn them on.