Posted on 02/12/2011 11:49:58 AM PST by dragnet2
DALLAS — Customers who are not locked into a contract with their retail electric provider could end up with much higher bills after rolling blackouts in many parts of the state on Wednesday.
"The people on variable rate plans are probably going to see the worst of it," said Tom Smith, state director of the watchdog group Public Citizen, Inc. "Their bills are going to go up to reflect the very high prices that were paid on Wednesday morning."
Electricity gets bought and sold daily.
Retail providers like TXU buy extra wholesale electricity from power plants scattered around Texas.
On most days, Smith said, providers pay about $45 per megawatt hour. The Electric Reliability Counci of Texas said a single megawatt can power 200 homes during extreme temperatures.
But during the rolling blackouts on Wednesday morning, the price of wholesale electricity skyrocketed. Power plants charged providers the maximum: $3,000 a megawatt hour.
That's 66 times higher than usual.
Customers without contracts are billed based on the fluctuating market prices. That means next month's bill could be big.
Does that mean $50 to $100 more? Smith said it's hard to tell.
"How much will depend on how cold the rest of February is."
It will also hinge on whether the state faces more rolling blackouts.
Customers who are locked into a contract will see a much smaller increase in their next contract, though it will likely be unidentifiable, experts said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
The free market.LOL!
It is called SUPPLY and DEMAND! You demand more than the company can supply so they must buy more power on the Free Market.
Wish you had all those canceled coal plants now don’t you instead of froze up wind generators standing like monuments to Green stupidity!
Yes, I see, it says megawatt hour. So that means they are charging $3 per KWH?
Reports say the wind generators didn't freeze and held up quite well.
That is the wholesale rate for short-term peak demand. That cost is passed to the consumers in various rate plans. During that peak time only a small portion is bought at that rate meaning the average price only goes up a small amount. That and the freeze only lasted a couple of days and the customer would only see a small increase in his monthly bill. But it gets big headlines ...
***Reports say the wind generators didn’t freeze and held up quite well.***
Last week it was said they quit because of not enough wind. One thing about these, even when not turning they eat up outside power to keep bearings warm and windings dry.
“If I’m elected, the price of energy will skyrocket.”
A campaign promise The One has kept.
I see. So it’s propaganda.
The blame lies with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT, who oversees the electric grid. In February 2008, the same rolling blackouts were narrowly averted when most of the state’s wind turbines were idled when a weather front came through. ERCOT has known about the problem for at least two years and has apparently not addressed the issue. Gov. Perry should immediately have an independent investigation of ERCOT and the Texas Public Utilities Commission should deny any rate increases until the results of the investigation are known and culpability can be assigned. Texas needs to address the problem of their lack of electric capacity and should abandon the folly of wind turbines.
>>Nearly all of out Natural Gas supply is Natural Gas powered. Only a few location use electric drive compression.
Actually, due to relatively new EPA regs on stationary gas turbines, pipeline companies are starting to switch from using gas turbines to electric motors to drive the pipeline compressors. This was one element in the natural gas shortages in New Mexico in the recent cold snap. The power goes out, and all the sudden you’re not moving natural gas.
Another unintended consequence of the environmental do-gooders, making critical infrastructure unnecessarily dependent on another piece of critical infrastructure that just happens to be vulnerable in a cold weather event.
another screed that tries to bash capitalism.
FACTS: you can get 12 months fixed RIGHT NOW for 8.2 cents KHW.
Your CAN get out of your existing contract, by paying the prescribed fee. (50-250$).
The big secret is electric deregulation has been a big success in Texas (other than the rolling blackouts), as prices have declined a lot.
In fact, so much that the speculation is the blackouts were NOT AN ACCIDENT, but made by suppliers to try to prop up the declining prices.
Also note, Texas has been growing, (and BUILDING new power plants) in the last 10 years, unlike most other regions...
Before De-reg (and when oil was 20-30$ a barrel) I was paying 11-12 cent’s KWH.
I could tell as soon as the hospitals started losing power, it was a win win.
This was $3000/MWh. Most Texans pay about 10-15 cents/KWh.
Wholesale power is generally $45/MWh or 4.5 cents/KWh.
$3000/MWh is $3.00/KWh. Typical house uses 1000-2000 KWh/Month.
$3.00/KWh is a killer. Imagine a smart meter where they can charge a different rate every hour. If it gets cold and you really need it, they stick it to you.
And they were the only state without electricity when needed most. Also, unless things have changed, not all of Texas is deregulated.
I do believe you're correct.
Yeah, don’t confuse Dereg with ERCOT.
We should DO AWAY with ERCOT.
TExas dereg LOWERED prices, unlike California Dereg.
Are you saying that Dereg CAN”T be done properly, that the free market is incapable?
Maybe we should go on bended knee to Obama and ask him to “fix” it.
Also, electric dehydrators are much more efficient.
What would you replace it with?
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