Some important things to note:
1) The Texas legislature pushed for deregulation of the energy business and got it. If one was a good shopper, you could get excellent electric rates as long as you lived in an area that allowed for free markets, which not all of them did (see Austin).
2) Some energy companies charge a higher winter rate than summer rate. The premise was in response to frequent complaints of summer bills being too high due to air conditioning. Anyone on that sort of plan really got kicked this month.
3) Don’t trust the media. I see these type of stories and ask “how did the reporter find out about this person”? In most cases, they’re made up or exaggerated (see Janet Cooke).
4) Anyone with high energy bills from this cold wave won’t be seeing their spike until *next* month when the bill comes out. Also, many do not pay their electric bills on time knowing that power companies will not turn off electricity for non-payment during summer and winter months for fear of bad publicity.
I’m sure many will see drastic spikes in their energy bills due to the record cold snap but one has to understand how Texas energy works and how to avoid the pitfalls. One thing I know. Many power companies offered a more expensive rate which promised that your power was supplied by “green” energy such as wind and solar. No doubt those folks are going to get gouged but they did it to themselves by being suckers of all the eco-bs.
Re: Your #4
Try that with Duke Energy and see what happens.