This week, a Texas woman filed a class action lawsuit at the rate of $ 1 billion in damage against Griddy, a Texas electricity trader whose lawsuit alleges he had to exploit illegal prices during the generalized interruptions which swept the state last week.
Houston resident Lisa Khoury filed the lawsuit on behalf of Griddy’s countless customers who could be found oversized tickets after the winter storm that knocked out power for countless residents across the state. Per Khoury’s dress, their monthly electricity bills up to this month ranged from $ 200 to $ 250. For the period bbetween 1 February and on February 19th, alleges that Griddy charged she $ 9,546.
Griddy, for those who don’t know, is a service that allows Texas residents to pay for what the company claims they are. “wholesale rates”For electricity, instead of the fixed price that other suppliers could charge. Aside from these fees, Griddy also charges a flat rate of about $ 10 by monthly subscription.
But these wholesale rates began to rise during the fall across the state it affected millions of jeans, according to demand. While wholesale rates typically charge $ 50 per megawatt hour, Reuters points out the State Utilities Commission raised the limit to $ 9,000 per megawatt hour.
“Collective action will be the most effective and efficient way for Griddy’s customers to come together and fight these predatory prices,” said Derek Potts, a lawyer representing Khoury in the case. “We don’t know at this time how many people may be affected, but there are likely to be thousands of customers who have received these outrageous bills.”
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A tab in the company Frequently asked questions page deals with some of the claims presented in the lawsuit:
The reason wholesale prices were so high was on Monday, February 15 that the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUCT) cited its “full authority over ERCOT” to order ERCOT to set a price of $ 9 / kWh until the grid could handle the disruption situation being shattered by the freezing winter storm.
Another page in the states of Griddy’s place that the company intends to fight “for and alongside [its] customers for equity and accountability, ”and will push state“ designated politicians ”to confess about why price increases were“ allowed to occur ”during which they will no doubt one of the worst power outages in the history of the country.
In Griddy’s defense here, the lawsuit claims the company emailed its customers on Feb. 14—Just before some of these high prices were charged — warning that they should try to find a fixed-rate provider in the coming days. But Khoury says it was too little, too late. When she received this email, the lawsuit says, she and countless other Griddy customers weren’t able to make the switch, as most vendors didn’t take on new customers during the storm.
When Khoury finally managed to change supplier on 19 February, had already amassed thousands of dollars in charges. Other Griddy customers have reported invoices from more than $ 5,000, despite suffering days without energy or heat.