AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Attorney General said Monday he was suing electricity supplier Griddy for approving massive bills to its customers during last month’s winter storm.
The lawsuit comes days after the Texas power grid manager effectively shut down Griddy by revoking access to the state’s electricity market.
Griddy charges $ 10 a month to give people a way to pay wholesale electricity prices instead of a flat rate. But when temperatures dropped well below freezing last month, wholesale prices rose and Griddy customers were left with high electricity bills.
“Griddy tricked the Texans and hired them for services that, in a time of crisis, caused every Texan to lose thousands of dollars,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “As the jeans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy worsened the suffering even further, as he charged outrageous amounts every day.”
The lawsuit accused Griddy of violating Texas Deceptive Business Practices Act and seeks refunds from customers. The unusually intense winter storm covered much of Texas with snow and wiped out electricity. to 4 million customers and leaving many struggling to find clean water.
Meanwhile, Texas Electric Reliability Council, or ERCOT, moved about 10,000 Griddy customers to other utilities on Friday.
Griddy said in a statement that ERCOT “grabbed our members and they have effectively shut down Griddy.”
“We have always been transparent and customer-focused at every step. We wanted to continue the fight for our members to get relief and that has not changed, “the statement said.