Residential users ussally don't have direct access to the wholesale market and will contract with a provider for a fixed rate plan or a variable rate plan where the rate only changes every month or so. (Their can be other plan structures like, peak vs off peak rates or 'free nights', etc)
Commercial/Large industrial users will buy on the wholesale market, some manufacturers will get a subsidized rate for having remote controlled breakers installed so the grid operator can shed lead when demand is high.
Texas definitely went too far with this model. It encourages the development of natural gas peaker plants that sit ideal all day and only spin up for a few hours when the price isn he highest. (There's also a whole corrupt saga with the natural gas monopoly in the state from the early 00's when the GOP finally got hegemonic control of the state)
I shouldn't have used "foaming at the mouth" as the connotation is pretty negative. I should have said extremely committed or something like that. These are all smart and good people trying to solve a major problem that's been ongoing for decades. The economist in me agrees with them, but part of me also has an aversion to the constant complexity creep in our lives as well as risk.
Time-of-use rates (peak vs off peak hours) have been around forever. Power users (huh, pun…) like ev owners do it, or new construction sometimes isn’t given an option, but that’s hardly foaming at the mouth.
I heard it tossed around in places like Texas, but most people realize it’s risky AF cause one high-demand day, eg from a polar vortex gone unusually far south, could easily wipe you right out.
Is it like a group of off-grid enthusiasts who can go a day or two off generators or batteries that make all this foam?