ChinaJao hates TX...
Posted on 02/19/2021 3:04:21 PM PST by USA Conservative
Texas has been at the mercy of an unprecedented winter storm, which has left many of the state’s residents without heat, power and potable water for several days. Several people, some homeless, have died in the freezing temperatures.
As Texans withstand widespread power outages and freezing temperatures this week, many are asking the same question: How much am I going to be charged for the electricity I do receive?
The complex answer, according to experts in the Texas power industry, depends on whether residential customers signed long-term contracts with their providers or decided to take their chances paying wholesale market prices overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the nonprofit charged with managing the state’s electrical grid and its “energy-only” market.
As WFAA reported, electricity supply and demand in Texas has really stabilized now. But when it was grossly out of whack over the past several days, the cost of power in the wholesale market went crazy. It went from about $50 per Megawatt to $9,000. That didn’t affect retail many customers because they were on a fixed-rate plan. But if you were on a variable or indexed plan, your rate — and therefore, your electric bill — may have skyrocketed. One customer messaged us:
“Mine is over $1,000…not sure how…700 square foot apt I have been keeping at 60 degrees.”
Another couple tweeted at us:
“Using as little as possible 1300 sq. ft. house and this is my bill. How is this fair. I only paid $1200 for the whole 2020.”
WFAA spoke with Griddy customer Ty Williams who says bill nearly tripled from $600 last month to nearly $17,000 so far this month. Williams pays for service to his home, guest house and office.
He asked, incredulously, “How can anyone pay that?”
Griddy was among electric retailers who offer low rates based on daily wholesale prices, which recent days spiked from $50 per megawatt hour to over $9000.
Griddy in recent days had actually urged and tried to help all of its 29,000 customers switch service to avoid sky-rocketing costs.
Williams says that he tried several times and was finally picked up by Reliant Energy.
As to how his nearly $17,000 bill will be handled, remains to be seen.
Defenders of green energy and fossil fuels are pointing fingers at each other for the failures that led to dangerous blackouts in Texas — but could both sides be missing the bigger picture? How big a role did regulations sent from the desk of some faraway bureaucrat play in this catastrophic failure?
They had the capacity to ramp up power generation but needed a the equivalent of a hall pass from some federal environmental hall monitor. Without permission, no power.
The Department of Energy issued an emergency order allowing several Texas power plants to produce as much electricity as possible, a move expected to violate anti-pollution rules that comes amid a deepening electricity crisis in the state that has cut power to millions of homes.
The Energy Department order, requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, authorizes power plants throughout the state to run a maximum output levels, even as such a move is anticipated to result in a violation of limits of pollution. —Bloomberg
With their hand-tied ERCOT started rationing power due to emissions into the environment & further ordered OUTSIDE power usage which increases power bills to in some cases up to over $ 9000-megawatt hour.
Yet people on free republic scream price gouging is illegal. So which is it?
In Philly, if it’s too col or too hot, they can’t turn you off.
If you say you’re going to kill yourself, they can’t turn you off.
Then, just keep switching whose name it’s in and never pay.
Also, run your own triplex to the secondaries and steal it.
Or, jumper your meter with butter knife blades.
It's even in the title of the article. If this is accurate and was published this way whoever wrote this has no lost credibility. It's one thing to make a simple typo but if you read the title of the piece it's right there 17K. Can you not immediately recognize something doesn't look right with those numbers?
Dead of winter my electric bill this month was $145.00 live in NJ. One bedroom house. Use oil heating. 500 gallon tank gets me through winter. Last fuel bill was $700.00. Think 2.32/ gal.
Colorado’s Governor just killed coal there too.
Failed math?
Shades of Enron....for those that remember the real story.
ChinaJao hates TX...
WFAA is very far left. And, they left out of the story how Cruz & Cornyn called and thanked Biden for his help & Biden is going to visit Texas!!!
Oh, JOY! 🤢
If my bill is $17,000 for three days with out power. I’ll simply not pay it.
We’ll move to the UK with our daughter and let the power company pound sand.
“Or am I reading this wrong?”
Likely it’s just poorly worded. The $600 may refer to his home. The $17k probably includes his home, guest house and his office combined.
Exactly. They were happy paying market rates when the prices were below the average that fixed rate payers were paying, got caught when prices went up. Unlike summer spikes where they could dial back the AC and wait on the laundry they needed more heat plus the basics and got stung.
... spoke with Griddy customer Ty Williams who says bill nearly tripled from $600 last month to nearly $17,000 so far this month.
—
Either someone doesn’t know how to do basic math, or the $17K is misreported and it’s $1,700 (which is obscene enough).
True, but significantly easier for the average household to manage. Plus, one time upgrades to winterizing equipment could be shared across the rate base mitigating the extreme scarcity pricing.
The cost of the cheaper wholesale price is risk. If you don’t want the risk you don’t get the cheaper rate.
It’s like saving money by not buying homewoners insurance. Don’t blubber when some storm hits.
Yes, those are called fixed rate long term contracts.
Echoes of Enron.
Right. Price caps would mean more and bigger blackouts.
Don’t sign variable rate contracts.
Class action suit can’t help in this situation.
Now was that guy’s bill 1700 or $17,000. If his bill tripled then that is a big math error.
250 is still outrageous. I pay 105 in Florida. Why is yours so high?
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