I follow the researcher on TikTok, whilst I enjoy his work this article is a big nothing burger. Each individual ERCOT customer is able to access fine grained meter data *of their own meter*, not the meter data of others. If everyone is so concerned about what the meters actually say Texans can volunteer their data for the purposes of this research.

Since the meters broadcast in the clear I would not be surprised if war driving becomes standard practice for the retail electricity providers. Yes that's right. When you sign up with a REP they don't know your habits: how much power you're actually going to use or when. Having historic meter data is a competitive advantage in building your pricing models.

I'm getting really tired of people who have no idea how the system functions in Texas making strong assertions based on errors and sweeping generalizations from journalists that don't have a clue how things work either.

I have two U.S. ISO's, multiple REPs, and a large generator as clients. I know people on the board of ERCOT and get the back story on everything, especially things the public will never hear about. This business has nothing in common with anything you've probably read unless it comes from industry insiders.