Across Texas, some residents are facing devastating electric charges worth thousands of dollars after a week of power outages and severe winter weather raised the price of electricity.
Among Texans using wholesale electrical suppliers, which fluctuate due to real-time market changes and soar during times of scarcity, some customers see bills up to $ 14,000.
Scott Willoughby, a resident of Royce City, Texas, told NBC 5 that he owes the power company Griddy $ 13,926.89 for the month of February.
“It would take almost all of my savings if I paid that bill,” Willoughby told the news office.
He said he signed up with Griddy, a wholesale supplier, after moving into a new home in November. Griddy members pay $ 9.99 a month and then pay the direct cost of electricity on the Texas power grid based on the time of day they use it – a prospect who can help customers make money saving in the absence of severe market fluctuations.
“For the first three or four months, I saved $ 80 to $ 100 a month with Griddy. I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that it was even a possibility,” Willoughby told NBC 5.
Willoughby is not the only one. Royce Pierce, a 38-year-old Texas contractor and resident, similarly owes Griddy more than $ 8,000 for using February.
Pierce tells the Daily Beast that his latest account was a sharp rise compared to the payments he made for his two-story home last month, which totaled $ 387.79.
“It’s amazing. I honestly did not believe the price at first,” Pierce said. “It’s not a great feeling to know that there’s a looming bill we just can not afford.”
Pierce said his family tried to use less electricity by turning the thermostat to 50 degrees and not using lights or the oven, to reduce costs.
“There’s nothing we can do now. It’s already an insane thing and I do not care about the money when it comes to people’s health,” Pierce said, adding that if the coronavirus pandemic did not affect his work not, “we said. could have taken care of this.”
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Other Texans, according to NBC 5, reported between $ 1,300 and $ 6,000 for what they said was minimal energy consumption.
To address the issue, Griddy earlier this week told all its customers to switch to another power provider as electricity prices rose to $ 9,000 per megawatt-hour on Monday.
“We have made the unprecedented decision to tell our customers – for whom we have worked very hard – that in the short term they are better off with another supplier in the short term,” said Michael Fallquist, CEO of Griddy. a statement said.
“We want that which is good by our consumers, and that’s why we encourage them to leave,” Fallquist continued. “We believe that transparency and honesty will bring them back.”
But many have faced challenges in picking up on such a short notice by another energy provider, reports NBC 5.
Griddy expressed frustration to their customers on Thursday through an online statement blaming the serious public price increase of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), which called on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to increase tariffs on the scarce supply to reflect. .
“We intend to fight for it, and in addition, our customers for fairness and accountability – to reveal why such price increases are allowed when millions of Texans go without power,” the company said.
As unprecedented snowfall and icy temperatures gripped Texas this week, more than 4 million residents were left without power or heat.
By Saturday, a majority of homes had regained power, but millions had left a water crisis.
Officials in Texas have ordered seven million people – a quarter of the state’s population – to boil tap water before drinking it, after record-breaking infrastructure damaged and pipes froze, the Associated Press reported.
Newsweek added Griddy for additional comment, but did not hear in time for publication.