Griddy, a Texas energy provider, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, blaming the state’s power grid management for the destruction of his business.
In a statement on its website, the company claimed that the steps taken by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to price energy at extremely high levels during a severe winter storm were detrimental to both its customers and the business itself.
“Our bankruptcy plan, if confirmed, provides relief to our former customers who could not pay their electricity bills due to unprecedented prices. ERCOT has exacerbated a bad situation for our customers by continuing to set prices at $ 9,000 per megawatt hour long after firm Our customers paid 300 times more than the normal price for electricity during this period, “said CEO Michael Fallquist.
Griddy and Texas officials blamed those responsible for price increases that led many Texans to face shockingly high energy bills in the days after the deadly storm. Griddy, which enables customers to choose between different plans, recommended that users switch to fixed-rate plans before the storm hit, and many that did not have very strong tariffs for power consumption during the storm, just as much of the state’s power grid. fail.
A co-founder of Griddy, Gregory Craig, added in the company’s statement that its pricing plans would not have led to the high energy bills “if the network had not failed and the regulators had not intervened.”
The company is accused of prize money in a class action lawsuit, and the state’s attorney general alleges in a case that Griddy is violating the Texas Fraudulent Practices Act.
‘While Texane struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy made the suffering worse because he debited exorbitant amounts every day. ‘As the first lawsuit filed in my office to deal with the outrageous failure of power companies, I will hold Griddy accountable for their increase in the winter storm disaster,’ ‘State Attorney Ken Paxton (R) said.
Dozens of Texans and others in surrounding states died last month due to freezing conditions, while millions of days were left without power. Officials blamed frozen machinery at natural gas plants, which supply much of the state’s power, for the interruptions.