A Nuts customer in Texas affected by the devastating storms of the state this month filed a $ 1 billion lawsuit against wholesale retailer Griddy Energy LLC on Monday, accusing the company of ‘illegal pricing’.
The plaintiff, Lisa Khoury of Mont Belvieu, claims in the case that although her monthly electricity bills from Griddy range between $ 200 and $ 250, the company automatically withdrew $ 1200 from February 13 to 18 and that her entire account from February 1 to 19 $ 9,546 was. .
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Khoury claims she expressed concern about the withdrawals and refusal of checks to Griddy, but never heard from the company again and finally placed a stop payment order at her bank on February 18th.
The case, which was filed “on behalf of all other similar locations” in Harris County’s 133rd District Court, seeks $ 1 billion in monetary relief.
In addition, Griddy accuses the Texas Code of Fraudulent Trading Practices of violating the lawsuit and seeks to prevent Griddy from billing and collecting excessive prices and ensuring the forgiveness of late or unpaid bills from the customers involved.
“Griddy charged Khoury in the midst of a disaster. She and her husband were mostly without power in their home from Wednesday, February 17, 2021, to Thursday, February 18, 2021. At the same time, Khoury housed her parents and in-laws, who were in the eighties in the 1980s. “Even then, she continued to limit any power consumption due to the high prices,” the suit explains.
Noting that Gritty’s wholesale tariff reached $ 9,000 per megawatt-hour from the pre-storm tariff of $ 50 per megawatt-hour, Griddy told customers they were “seeking help from utility regulators” after raising $ 29,000. advised customers to switch to a different provider at a fixed rate.
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Khoury was able to change service provider on February 19, the case reads.
“Griddy knew that consumers were paying too much, that consumers would be harmed and that Griddy would be unfairly enriched by retaining the payment of their customers,” it concludes.
A man in Arlington was surprised to receive a bill of more than $ 17,000 from Griddy over a period of just five days.
In a Tuesday release, Khoury’s lawyer Derek Potts – who heads the Potts law firm in Houston – said there were probably thousands of clients who received the bills and that the group action was “the most effective and efficient way”. would be for Griddy customers to come together and fight against these predatory prices. ‘
“The case is extremely important to the firm as it allows us to represent the people of our state who have now endured not just one but two natural disasters simultaneously, the storm plus COVID-19,” Potts told Fox News on Wednesday said.
“What happened financially to all of Griddy’s customers, both in terms of the exorbitant prices charged and the way it was taken from people’s bank accounts and credit cards, literally in the midst of a disaster, while many without power, “Heat washes, and water, are clearly in violation of Texas legislation to protect consumers,” he said.
Fox News released Griddy but did not immediately respond.
However, in a statement to Reuters, a spokesman said the lawsuit was “not deserving”, which transferred the blame to the Texas Public Utility Commission.
The company wrote in a blog post on its website that ‘transparency’ has always been his goal and that it was also ‘dirty’. The company has promised to fight the prices.
Wholesale market prices, according to the FOX 7 Austin, reached a limited strike in response to rising demand.
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An instruction from the utility commission states that ‘energy prices must reflect [the] scarce supply. “
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has promised that scaling back accounts will be a top priority. The state’s utility supply commission acted on Sunday to temporarily prevent electrical businesses from reducing power to customers who do not pay, and to send out bills and cost estimates.
“Texans do not have to increase their energy costs,” he said. tweeted.