Griddy Electric, a wholesale retailer, missed the required payments to the Texas Electric Reliability Board (ERCOT), which resulted in Griddy losing his right to work in the state while about 10,000 customers switched to other services .
“It was not a choice we made,” Griddy defended himself in a statement posted on Twitter on Friday.
According to a market announcement, Griddy’s market participation was officially revoked on the same day under ERCOT protocols due to a ‘payment default’.
The move follows after Texans suffered days of power outages due to exceptionally harsh winter weather, with residents devastating thousands of dollars.
Griddy was one of the vendors that sent out large bills and shocked customers.
“We have always been transparent and customer-oriented in every step,” Griddy said in a statement. “We wanted to continue the fight for our members to get relief and that has not changed.”
Griddy explained in a February 18 blog post why the charge was so high, in which he said the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) is demanding that ERCOT raise prices to $ 9 / kWh to reduce the scarce supply during the storm. reflects – but then PUCT kept the high prices even after the power for Texans started to turn on again.
“As of today, 99% of the homes’ power has been restored and the available generation was well above the 1,000 MW cushion,” reads the blog post. “Nevertheless, the PUCT enforced the directive and continued to force prices up to $ 9 / kWh, about 300 times higher than the normal wholesale price.”
Griddy charges $ 10 a month to his customers. However, some customers were faced with the cost of nearly $ 10,000 for the week of the storm. The Texas Tribune.
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Griddy’s exclusion from the market is the latest in a major financial downturn in Texas caused by the severe storm.
ERCOT announced in another market announcement on Friday that overall suppliers of Texas’ electrical suppliers could not make $ 2.12 billion in required payments. Electricity suppliers normally pay ERCOT, which operates the state’s electrical network, according to the Tribune. There are more payments due this time than usual due to the rising cost for every hour of electricity spurred by the winter storm.
ERCOT has now decided to cage its unpaid bills, resulting in Griddy’s strike in Lone Star State.
“On the same day that ERCOT announced that it had a deficit of $ 2.1 billion, it decided to take on the deficit against only one company that represents a small fraction of the market,” Griddy said Friday. his statement said.
ERCOT said on Friday it would use $ 800 million from an income account to cover the deficit, according to the report. The Wall Street Journal, a gap of $ 1.32 billion he has to make up.
ERCOT on Wednesday apologized to Texans for the serious disappearance amid increasing lawsuits from frustrated residents.
Newsweek reached out to PUCT, ERCOT and Griddy for comment.