Capacity requirements don’t assure reliability when generators can’t get fuel. Texas has gone through a terrible period, President Biden has declared a state of emergency and efforts are continuing to alleviate the suffering caused by a week of record cold, and massive problems with the Texas electric system. At the same time, fingers are pointing and the knives are out. Blame has been directed at everything from frozen wind turbines, to Texas’ semi-isolated grid, all the way to allowing non-Texans onto the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). One criticism that I’ve followed closely is the role of Texas electricity deregulation in general, and its wholesale market design in particular. Yet, although virtually every story mentions it, few seem to consider the implications of the fact that many of the problems that hit the Texas electricity system stem directly from the failure of its natural gas system.