Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that more than $ 29 million in unpaid electric bills was charged during February devastating winter storm will be forgiven. The relief is part of a bankruptcy plan by Griddy Energy, the Texas electricity supplier accused of paying thousands of dollars too much.
Griddy filed for bankruptcy on Monday, making it the third Texas energy provider to do so since the February storm that left millions of state residents without power amid freezing temperatures. At least 57 people have died as a result of the storm, according to preliminary data released by the Texas Department of State Health Services on Monday.
“My office sued Griddy Energy under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act to hold them accountable for their increase in last month’s winter storm disaster by debiting huge amounts from customer bills as Texans struggled to survive the storm,” Paxton said. in response to Griddy’s. bankruptcy filing.
According to Griddy’s plan, it will be “released to about 24,000 former customers who owe $ 29.1 million to unpaid electric bills,” according to Paxton. He said his office is constantly negotiating with the supplier “to try to provide additional relief for Griddy customers who have already paid their storm-related energy bills.”
“Through the bankruptcy plan, Griddy will release all outstanding payment obligations to the consumers in Texas who were unable to pay their energy bills due to the high prices during the storm,” according to the attorney general. “Texas will discontinue the lawsuit and civil investigation question and Griddy will work in good faith to resolve these issues. Texas and Griddy will work in good faith to address relief for Texans who have already paid.”
Paid account negotiations can affect customers like Lisa Khoury, a resident of Chambers County in Houston, who says Griddy withdrew $ 1,200 from her bank account via an auto payment system before stopping payment through her bank. She still owes more than $ 8,000 for volatile power.
Khoury is part of a class action against Griddy to demand $ 1 billion in financial relief from the company.
“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,” the complaint reads. Between February 1 and 19, she was charged $ 9,546 – according to the lawsuit, which is about 40 times her normal range of $ 200 to $ 250. “At the same time, Khoury has her parents and in-laws, who are in their eighties, “Even then, she continued to limit power consumption due to the high prices,” the complaint reads.
Kheky’s attorney, Derek Potts, national managing partner of the Potts law firm, said Griddy’s billing violated Texas consumer protection law – and thousands of electricity users are likely to be affected.
Potts said his firm is now “reviewing Attorney General’s press release” and continues to seek to recover and recover the estimated tens of millions of dollars actually taken from Texas consumers. bank accounts and credit cards during the storm event by Griddy. ‘
Griddy said the lawsuit was “merciless” in a statement given to the Dallas Morning News. On its website, the company states that it does not benefit from high power prices and blamed the Public Utility Commission of Texas for the astronomical increases of last weekend. “The PUCT (Public Utility Commission) changed the rules on Monday” when it ordered Texas’ network provider to allow astronomically high power prices, Griddy said, adding that he was “seeking relief” from customers of the Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT ), which controls the flow of electricity to them. ERCOT is under the supervision of the Public Utilities Commission.
The last remaining member has now resigned from his post, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Tuesday night. According to the governor, Arthur D’Andrea, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, the only remaining three-member board of directors that regulates Texas utilities, acted at Abbott’s request.
“Tonight I have asked to accept and accept the resignation of PUC Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea. I will nominate a replacement in the coming days who has the responsibility of mapping out a new and fresh course for the agency, “reads Abbott’s statement. “Texans deserve to have confidence in the Public Utility Commission, and this action is one of the many steps that will be taken to achieve that goal.”
Abbott repeatedly blamed ERCOT for the power outages, and called for the council to be investigated. Four ERCOT board members announced their own plan to resign immediately after the storm, two days later, a seventh member resigned, the Texas Tribune reported.
In a letter to the board, the first resigning members expressed concern about their ‘leadership outside the state’. Three of the resigning councilors lived in other states, and one lived in another country.
“We have noticed recent concerns about out-of-state leadership at ERCOT,” the letter said. “To give state leaders a free hand with future direction and eliminate distractions, we effectively resign after the urgent meeting of the board teleconference was adjourned on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.”
After the seventh resignation, ERCOT spokeswoman Leslie Sopko said, “I believe he’s from Texas.”
Irina Ivanova contributed to this report.