The Texas utility is getting it because of high freezing energy bills

AUSTIN, Texas – Electricity company Griddy Energy has reached an agreement with Texas officials for the demolition of electricity bills received by its customers after the deadly February winter storm and cold snap, the company announced on Monday. Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Griddy Energy sold energy to consumers at wholesale prices plus a monthly fee of $ 9.99. Their tariffs soared during the February freeze, when state-owned network operators raised wholesale prices to $ 9,000 per megawatt-hour.

The state sued Griddy after customers received bills totaling thousands of dollars. Griddy filed for bankruptcy and confirmed a liquidation plan that waives claims against customers for charges incurred Feb. 15-19, while the wholesale energy price of $ 9,000 per megawatt-hour was in effect. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office began negotiations to reach an agreement.

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“I am pleased with the outcome of these negotiations and will continue to fight to protect the livelihoods of all who live in this great state,” Paxton said in a statement.

Wholesale electricity prices are market-based and vary from time to time: they are lower when demand is lower at night and during pre-awake hours, on weekends and in the weather. temperate; higher during daylight on weekdays and during weather with extreme temperatures. On Monday, when the temperature ranged from the 70s to the 90s, prices ranged from $ 28 per megawatt-hour at 4 a.m. to $ 78 per megawatt-hour and increased from 3 p.m. .

Texas was hit by historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures in an icy blast that swept across the deep south for days beginning Feb. 14. At least 210 people died in the frost, mostly from hypothermia after their electrical service failed and they lost heating.

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Prices began to rise as the Arctic storm approached Texas and many power generators stopped for several reasons: wind turbines froze and frozen natural gas wellheads prevented that some gas power plants would receive fuel.

Griddy warned customers that they would face price increases and told them to try to switch to another provider, but to some who did not touch bills for thousands of dollars.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott blamed electrical failures on the Texas Electrical Reliability Council, which manages the state-wide power grid. The first ERCC executive was fired and the three members of the Public Utility Commission overseeing the council resigned.

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The governor appointed new members of the PUC, a new CEO of ERCC was appointed and the legislature passed measures aimed at strengthening the reliability of the electricity service, which led Abbott to declare the deficiencies of the grid resolved. However, ERCOT appealed twice during the spring for electricity users to conserve the energy they use, prompting Abbott to sue PUC for aggressive action against ERCOT.