How did Texas wind up on its own electrical grid? Curious Texas investigates

The contiguous United States’ electrical power grid is separated into three parts: Two make up the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection, and their grids power both sides of the lower 48 states.

The third grid — called the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — is an electrical island that powers Texas, and it remains separate from the other two.

That’s why a reader asked Curious Texas: How did Texas wind up on its own electrical grid?

Texas has always operated on …