ELI5, how can an electrical grid be “minutes away” from month long blackouts? What would’ve happened that devoted employees avoided?

Question

I’ve seen lots of posts lately on Texas being “minutes and seconds away” from months long blackouts. What could’ve happened, what was avoided that caused that?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Which statement sounds better:

“We purposefully did not winterize any of our equipment, despite warnings 10 years ago that this could occur. We apologize for causing this mess and hope not too many people needlessly die.”

OR

“We saved – by mere seconds – the complete collapse of the electrical grid. We saved everyone months and months of being without power. Aren’t we awesome!?!”