By Gary McWilliams
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Texas energy companies have not paid another $ 345 million for electricity and other services incurred during the cold snap last month, the state network operator said Monday.
The state’s deregulated electricity market was rocked last month when 48% of its generating plants went offline, fueling tariffs of up to $ 9,000 per megawatt hour (mww) and $ 25,000 per mwh service charges. Those charges drove one provider to bankruptcy Monday.
In total, electricity prices in the state’s wholesale market rose by about $ 47 billion for the period of about five days when cold weather increased demand and generating production failed, estimates Carrie Bivens, vice president of Potomac Economics, which powers the power market. in Texas monitor.
Her figure does not include additions or defaults, which are significant and spread to all companies that use network services under ERCOT rules, she said.
“It’s a lot of zeros,” Bivens said of the additional fees.
In total, electricity suppliers skipped $ 2.46 billion in power and service costs, said network operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). It applied $ 800 million from collateral and other accounts to reduce the cumulative deficit to $ 1.66 billion.
ERCOT did not disclose which companies did not pay the bills, but said they would start naming businesses in the future and the amounts they could not pay.
The state-controlled operator acts as a clearing house, collecting cash from marketers who buy power, and sending it to the companies that supply electrons to its network.
Bivens says Texas could reduce about $ 2 billion by reducing municipal utilities, marketers and generators. The governor can also apply a portion of the state emergency fund to cover some costs.
On Monday, electricity supplier Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc., the state’s largest and oldest power wholesale company, went bankrupt with a debt of $ 1.8 billion due to ERCOT. The submission highlights the financial stress on power marketers and electricity services due to the turbulent prices.
A spokesman for the governor, Greg Abbott, declined to comment on the filing of bankruptcy on Monday or on proposals that the state commission repay the state during the eclipse.
Abbott is monitoring the situation “as ERCOT and their financial advisers work to ensure that the ability to supply electricity is not interrupted,” spokeswoman Renae Eze said.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Stephen Coates)