Texas Won’t Reduce $16 Billion In Electricity Charges From Winter Storm

By
Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff
-
10
1108

 

NPR: In January, Dallas resident Shannon Marrs paid $257 for electricity. But after Texas suffered the worst winter storm in years, Marrs’ February electricity bill totaled more than $10,000.

That’s because for a period of 32 hours during the deepest freeze of February’s winter storm, power companies were paying $9 per kilowatt-hour for electricity — about 75 times higher than the state’s average winter costs. Companies passed those costs on to consumers.

Texans facing those unexpected bills were hoping that Texas’ utility regulator would retroactively reduce the electricity market prices. But on Friday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas chose to let the charges stand.



It might seem like retroactively reducing the charges would be good for consumers, said Texas PUC Chairman Arthur D’Andrea during Friday’s public meeting. But, he argued, that reflects a “simplistic” view of how Texas power markets work.

“We just see the tip of the iceberg,” D’Andrea said. “You don’t know who you’re hurting. You think you’re protecting the consumer and turns out you’re bankrupting a co-op or a city. And so it’s dangerous, after something is run, to go around and redo it.”

The PUC itself had authorized the wholesale price increase, hoping it would spur power companies to generate more electricity. But according to the state’s independent market monitor, prices were kept high for much longer than necessary.

The monitor, Potomac Economics, had urged the PUC to retroactively change prices for 32 hours around Feb. 18 and 19. Potomac Economics calculated that the inflated electricity rate during that time period led to $16 billion in additional charges.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974417969/texas-wont-reduce-16-billion-in-electricity-charges-from-winter-storm

 

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10 COMMENTS

  1. “The world is full o’ complainers. An’ the fact is, nothin’ comes with a guarantee. Now I don’t care if you’re the pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin’ can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y’know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, ‘n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else… that’s the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an’ down here… you’re on your own.” – Loren Visser, Blood Simple

  3. This why big population and monopolies aren’t good. So-called utilities, run by cons, or use ‘public company’ label so dupes buy ‘stock market’ though of course only cons have control. The ones appear smaller, supposed ‘paying nine per kilowat, they’ll get their cut. Can bet while they’re telling millions one thing, insiders will get their bills lowered, the masses just won’t know it. Many people who assumed they ‘have’ something, realy don’t in this hacker and digital money world. Letting food lands, and utilities slip away, be large instead of small, mistakes.

  4. I have a tough time feeling sorry for Texans. They continue to support politicians that do not give a damn about them. Barely 6 months pass before they once again start “threatening” to succeed from the US.
    The best I can offer them is to try and take up a collection to buy them some cheese to go with their damn whine.

  5. FOX brays … ‘It’s AOC’s fault… sss-oooooo-cialism … and … soooooo-lar panels are to blame — green energy’, tonight on Hannity with follow up segment on Laura Ingraham with round the clock coverage on Watters World and the Greg Guttfield Show.

  6. Cowboy capitalism. Unregulated markets like that only exists in the US where more than half of the people are fed garbage like complete imbeciles to digest that having regulations means Communism, Nancy Pelosi, gay, Obama, Muslim, etc etc.
    Consumer protection should be eliminated from the books of agencies. It doesn’t exist.
    Trump tried very hard to kill “Obamacare” but many people still don’t understand what it represents. Total morons.

    Reagan conned a lot of people but very few people learned their lessons.

  7. That is insane!
    Someone had to know those outrageous rates were going to be charged before the power was transmitted.
    And any rational person would have known 99% of their customers would not say ok to such Highway robbery.
    That’s when a rational person would have refused the deal.

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