Cynically, I'd bet there's a solution to this. However, it'd eat into gas company profits and Texas, being a deregulation "paradise", doesn't require it in the code, so it doesn't get done. So occasionally the gas mains spontaneously explode...
There sure is a solution. Stop using gas, at least at the commercial and residential level. Rely on the grid instead. It just doesn't make any sense to pipe around a dangerous substance like methane. Plus it ties us to one fuel source, as opposed to the grid allowing anything that can produce electricity.
Cynically, I'd bet there's a solution to this. However, it'd eat into gas company profits and Texas, being a deregulation "paradise", doesn't require it in the code, so it doesn't get done. So occasionally the gas mains spontaneously explode...
See also Texas power instability in the winter.
There sure is a solution. Stop using gas, at least at the commercial and residential level. Rely on the grid instead. It just doesn't make any sense to pipe around a dangerous substance like methane. Plus it ties us to one fuel source, as opposed to the grid allowing anything that can produce electricity.