Elected officials in Texas said the state should help pay attention electricity bills sent to residents after the devastating and deadly winter storm that caused widespread blackouts.
Texas has an extremely unusual, deregulated energy market that allows consumers to choose from numerous competitors electricity suppliers.
Some suppliers are selling electricity at wholesale prices rising in line with demand, which soared when a record freeze gripped a state not accustomed to extreme cold, killing at least two dozen people and powering up more than 4 million people at its peak; About 30,000 people were still without power on Sunday, the governor of Texas Greg Abbott said.
As a result, some Texans who were still able to turn on lights or keep their refrigerators running found their bills at just $ 5,000 for just a five-day period, according to photos of bills posted by angry consumers on social media has been posted.
The Dallas Morning News said one vendor offering a wholesale tariff plan has urged its thousands of customers to switch off vendors before the storm to avoid high prices, but many find it will take too long to change vendors.
“The bill must go to the state of Texas,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “When they get these exorbitant electricity bills and have to pay for their homes, repair their homes, they don’t have to bear the responsibility.”
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price told CBS that the state and federal government should be expected to help with the bills.
US Senator Ted Cruz, who after public outrage was forced to cut short a holiday trip with his family to the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, also distanced himself from the free market system he had previously praised.
“This is WRONG,” Cruz wrote on Twitter. “No power business should be rushed due to a natural disaster, and Texans should not be hampered by ridiculous tariff increases for last week’s energy debacle. State and local regulators must act quickly to prevent this injustice.”
Abbott convened an emergency meeting of state lawmakers on Saturday to discuss the issue and said in a statement that they have a responsibility to ensure that the Texans “do not get stuck with the rising energy bills.”
The governor told reporters on Sunday that the Texas Public Utilities Commission will order electricity companies to interrupt customers’ bills. The commission is also issuing a temporary moratorium on decoupling due to non-payment, Abbott said.
Separately, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton directed civilian investigations into power companies regarding the interruptions, their emergency plans and prices, saying the companies had “grossly mishandled” the state of emergency.
US President Joe Biden approved a major Texas disaster on Saturday, making federal funding available to people affected by the storm, including help with temporary housing and home repairs and cheap loans.
All the power plants were online again this weekend and power was restored in most homes as the weather was normal, but there were still concerns about water supply, and millions of Texans are advised to boil water before using it. Houston officials said the city’s water is safe to use without boiling from Sunday.
