[twoodfin]

I can't speak for Texas, but in many states a contract that allowed a utility provider to shut off service without adequate notification and other paperwork would be illegal.

You're on to an idea that the article doesn't cover: If you want consumers to constrain their utilization during periods of high demand without using price shifts, you might require they install suitably "smart" thermostats and appliances along with their smart meter. These could allow the utility to forcibly curtail power use without rolling blackouts. Some utilities already offer a softer version of this, with your Nest offering to tweak your schedule to marginally lower your bill.

Of course that kind of invasive control would likely not go over much better than $16,000 power bills.