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Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
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We have price gouging laws in Texas so I'm wondering if the Public Utility Commission is immune from them? They raised prices about 300x (not a typo) in a single day which means tens of thousands of Texans are getting power bills larger than their entire 2020 power bill. Days spent on hold trying to switch to a new Retail Electric Provider while racking up $9 per kWh.

Even Fox News is picking up the story:
quote:
Some Texans' electricity bills skyrocket as high as $17,000 during winter storm

"How in the world can anyone pay that? I mean you go from a couple hundred dollars a month," one customer said

Talk about adding insult to injury.

After a deadly winter storm left millions in Texas without power this week -- along with shortages of food and clean water -- some Texans are now seeing exorbitant electricity bills.

The tabs run as high as $17,000, according to reports.

That's how much Ty Williams, a resident of Arlington, told FOX 4 of Dallas-Fort Worth his family was being asked to pay -- despite trying to conserve electricity during the storm.

"How in the world can anyone pay that? I mean you go from a couple hundred dollars a month," he told WFAA-TV in Dallas. "There’s absolutely no way‚ it makes no sense."

Williams was a customer of Griddy, a wholesale electricity provider in the state.

Griddy urged its customers to switch this week as wholesale prices skyrocketed during the storm, but Williams said it took him several days to sign up with a new company.

"It was useless because nobody wants to take on the burden of a new client when they're paying top dollar for power," he told FOX 4.

Some customers said they got messages or bills from power companies, charging them for when they were in the dark, but the companies have said no customers will be charged for when they didn’t have electricity, FOX 4 reported.

Griddy said in a statement on its website Thursday, "We know you are angry and so are we. P-----, in fact." The company explained wholesale prices shot up because the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) took control of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, Monday and raised the wholesale price to $9 per kilowatt-hour at least until the grid could manage the demand caused by the winter storm.

The company said that’s around 300 times higher than the normal wholesale price, and even though 99% of homes had electricity by Thursday evening, PUCT left the pricing in place.

"The market is supposed to set the prices, not political appointees," the company said. "We intend to fight this for, and alongside, our customers for equity and accountability – to reveal why such price increases were allowed to happen as millions of Texans went without power."

Griddy told FOX 4 that bill payments can be made in installments but didn't offer any other immediate solutions to customers' excessive bills.

Another customer in Dallas told WFAA-TV they kept their 700 square-foot apartment at 60 degrees this week, yet their bill was more than $1,000 and a separate Griddy customer told the station the bill for their 1,300-square-foot house was $3,800.

"I only paid $1,200 for the whole 2020," the customer said.

The price hikes affected only those customers on variable or indexed-rate plans, not those with a fixed-rate.

I'm envisioning both residential and commercial users teaming up for a class action lawsuit on this. I would NOT be sympathetic if the power went up to what I paid last summer when I let my fixed contract expire as they chose a variable contract. However, I am sympathetic as the price was set by a political appointee (i.e. wasn't a true market rate), and Texas has price gouging laws in place for natural disasters.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23102 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The news media love this kind of story. I am certain the state has some sort of regulatory power when it comes to these increases. I realize things are different in Texas, but I see a solution. Now that Ted is back from Mexico he should get moving on this issue. The Federal government is always good for some dollars in these situations.
 
Posts: 17177 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Gracie Allen is my
personal savior!
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Texas also has a history of local package utilities. That's obviously impossible to do when it comes to producing electricity, but I'm surprised that that mentality hasn't led to more co-ops (which also have a long history in Texas). Anything that makes it possible to tell "the man" to go take a hike is always going to find a sympathetic audience here.
 
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
JOIN, or DIE
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quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:
quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:

I remember very well when Texas was pushing the idea of deregulating the utilities and figured it would not benefit the consumers.
Consumers and businesses were told it would save them money being able to shop for the best prices.
Wrong Wrong Wrong.
Just as I feared, the consumers got screwed.




Easy there Okie, before you go all commie-socialist just know that the consumer makes the choice and you want them not to have that freedom?
If it weren't for this once every 25 year event then they would be paying much less than everyone else.
it happened, they gambled and are paying the price.
So you would want everyone NOT to have a choice, TO pay more everyday and to have guberment to dictate their terms so tax money can go get wasted.
Beautiful. Roll Eyes



Spare me the lecture on free market and accusing others of wanting to be commie-socialists. Trying to defend and advocate for people to be put in the position of having $10,000-15,000/month electric bills. Ridiculous.
 
Posts: 3569 | Registered: February 25, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Charging someone 17K and actually collecting on it are two different things. And I believe that COVID protocols in many States prevent utilities from being turned off for non-payment.
 
Posts: 4979 | Registered: April 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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quote:
Originally posted by Graniteguy:
And I believe that COVID protocols in many States prevent utilities from being turned off for non-payment.


Cool, so that means the power will stay on, in order to keep your phone charged so you can watch your credit score dwindle by the day and field hundreds of calls from collections agencies.
 
Posts: 32430 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of smlsig
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For those of you in Texas Ford has told its dealers to loan out the new F-150’s with the power generator option..

Hope this helps some of you..

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/...winter-storm-outage/


------------------
Eddie

Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
 
Posts: 6309 | Location: In transit | Registered: February 19, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
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Grabbit (aka Gov Abbott) must be scared we're going to recall him. Whatever his motivation, glad he called together the legislator.
quote:
Governor Abbott Holds Emergency Meeting With Legislature To Address Spike In Texas Energy Bills

February 20, 2021 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott today convened a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dade Phelan, and members of the Legislature to discuss the spike in energy bills affecting many Texans following the recent power outages throughout the state.

“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are a result of the severe winter weather and power outages," said Governor Abbott. "Today’s meeting was productive, and I applaud Republican and Democrat members of the Legislature for putting aside partisan politics to work together on this challenge. We are moving quickly to alleviate this problem and will continue to work collaboratively throughout this week on solutions to help Texas families and ensure they do not get stuck with skyrocketing energy bills.”

A readout of the meeting can be found below:

Governor Abbott opened the call by discussing financial challenges many Texans will face as a result of the winter storm. He also gave an update on his conversations with the White House and potential federal relief that may be available to Texans. The Governor discussed the need to ensure that Texans are not left with unreasonable utility bills they cannot afford because of the temporary massive spike in the energy market. Senator West stressed the need for Republicans and Democrats to work together on this issue. The Senator noted that this group of legislators and state leaders will not allow politics to get in the way of solving this problem for Texans. Lt. Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan discussed the need to swiftly develop a solution for Texans. The discussion with legislators focused on the need to quickly calculate the total cost of these energy bills and how the state can help reduce this burden. The call concluded with a discussion about addressing the immediate needs of Texans and how to ensure that Texans are protected long-term.

In addition to the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House, the following legislators attended the meeting:

Senate Jane Nelson – Chair of Senate Finance Committee

Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. – Vice Chair of Senate Finance Committee

Senator Kelly Hancock – Chair of Senate Business and Commerce Committee

Senator Robert Nichols – Vice Chair of Senate Business and Commerce Committee

Senator Royce West - Vice Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee

Representative Greg Bonnen – Chair of House Appropriations Committee

Representative Chris Paddie – Chair of House State Affairs Committee

Representative Ana Hernandez – Vice Chair of House State Affairs Committee

Representative Craig Goldman – Chair of House Energy Resources Committee



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23102 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
JOIN, or DIE
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
quote:
Originally posted by Graniteguy:
And I believe that COVID protocols in many States prevent utilities from being turned off for non-payment.


Cool, so that means the power will stay on, in order to keep your phone charged so you can watch your credit score dwindle by the day and field hundreds of calls from collections agencies.


I believe your power will be shut off in TX for non-payment and yes, what good would that be anyways to lose 200 points on your credit and get sued for $10-15K in collections or a lien if you have assets/home. I’m not a huge fan of over-regulation but some basic measure to prevent people from freezing, risk damage to their home or pay a $15,000 electric bill during a disaster wouldn’t bother me one bit. I have a feeling its all going to get worked out but its insane that anyone would get put in that position.
 
Posts: 3569 | Registered: February 25, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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