“While trying to get gas and groceries and making sure my pipes don’t explode, the last thing I think about is a $ 7,000 bill from my utility company,” Upshaw told Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, via Skype said.
It also offers customers a way to use an emergency provider if their current provider is not available, but it probably does not apply to people who have voluntarily changed their electricity business.
CNN issued PUCT for clarification, but did not immediately return.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is convening an emergency meeting to investigate the situation, he said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that Texans who suffered days in the freezing cold without electricity or heat are now being hit with rising energy costs,” Abbott said. “To protect families, I am actively working with the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House and members of the legislature to develop solutions to ensure that the Texans are not on their guard against unreasonable spikes in their energy bills.”
Upshaw told CNN he was trying to switch from Griddy to another provider of electricity, but the new company was still pushing back its start date.
Griddy charges customers at a market rate that varies according to current power prices. The website says that customers “pay exactly the price for which we buy electricity.” But with the winter storm devastating the Texas power grid, Griddy’s prices skyrocketed.
“While we value our members, we want even more that is best for their wallet and family, even if it means helping them switch to our competitors,” the company said.
For the time being, Dallas resident Upshaw has converted his credit card at Griddy into a file to a maximum amount to ensure he can no longer be paid. Even while retaining power, his bill continued to rise, he said.
Neighbors and friends who have accounts with Griddy told Upshaw that the charges “eliminated their entire checking account, went into their savings account, they could not pay their rent,” he said.
“We have friends who are without power for 48 hours (to my house), and I said, ‘I mean, we pay for this electricity, but just as well that other people use it,'” Upshaw said, adding that he is grateful that he is alive and well.
The state agency says it, along with “energy producers, pipeline operators and electrical regulators, is providing the necessary support for the supply of natural gas.”
Although the commission has been established as a rail regulator, the oil and gas industry in the state has been regulating for nearly 100 years, according to the group’s website.
“Texans have gone through enough hardship in this winter storm without worrying about unexpected additional energy costs,” Commissioner Wayne Christian said in the statement. “Our agency will do everything in its power to ensure utilities have enough time to get caught up on these unexpected expenses so consumers are not taxed unnecessarily.”
CNN’s Melissa Mahtani and Adrienne Vogt contributed to this report.