Christina Spicer  |  February 22, 2021

Category: Disaster Help

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Texas residents hit with sky high electric bills after winter storm

After record-breaking winter weather left thousands without power, Texans now say they’re the victims of outrageously high electric bills, some more than $8,000.

The surge in power prices is affecting Texas residents who purchase their electricity from companies who reportedly sell it on a wholesale basis. Wholesale power prices fluctuate on demand and, when ice and snow knocked out turbines and natural gas pipelines, customers found themselves on the hook for much pricier electricity rates and less options, the Associated Press reported.

Though a class action lawsuit over Texas electric bills has not been filed, some residents have reportedly expressed interest in starting one. Top Class Actions makes it easy for those who feel wronged to start a class action lawsuit and have an experienced lawyer review your case. If you’re a business owner who was impacted by the power grid failure you could join a lawsuit investigation.

Texas is one of the only states to allow its residents to pick their power company using a “deregulated” system. However, wholesale power companies may be under increased scrutiny after hitting consumers with a price spike amounting to $9 per kilowatt-hour in the aftermath of the 2021 winter storm. Usually, prices are approximately $.12 per kilowatt-hour, reports AP News.

Indeed, State Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into wholesale power company Griddy, which reportedly urged its customers to switch power companies amid the storm due to the price fluctuation. In addition, Texas Governor Greg Abbot called an emergency meeting to address Texas residents’ astronomical electricity bills and says he is working with other lawmakers to find solutions, according to the Business Standard.

On Feb. 18, Griddy reportedly addressed the surge in its blog, saying that the Public Utility Commission of Texas was to blame for the price spike since it had forced wholesale prices 300 times higher than normal.

“We know you are angry and so are we,” the blog reportedly said. “We intend to fight this for, and alongside, our customers for equity and accountability.”

Griddy is a Macquarie Energy-backed company, according to the Business Standard. Its model is based on customers paying “real-time” prices based on wholesale power markets, meaning that the company’s Texan customers were saddled with the surge charges while fixed-rate customers were protected, only having to pay a few cents more.

One Griddy customer who kept his power on to keep his infant son warm during the snow storm now faces a $2,738.66 bill. “The failure in Texas as a whole to plan for this adequately is now a financial emergency for all of these customers on a program like Griddy” he told the Business Standard.

Griddy reportedly responded with the CEO noting to reporters that the company only made $6.48 on that bill and the rest were “pass through” costs.

Are you a resident of Texas hit with a sky-high electricity bill after the winter storm? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!

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4 thoughts onSky-High Electric Bills Hit Storm Ravaged Texas

  1. JOE EZELL says:

    Please add me

  2. TERI MATHEWS says:

    Add me please

  3. TCR says:

    people should not have been so gullible to pick the unregulated, free-floating electric rate providers.

  4. Heather Leyva says:

    Add me. I’m in Texas and the whole power outage, then water outage, then natural gas outage was a nightmare and crazy that it even happened.

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