Iran Press/America: Temperatures remain perilously low. The storm, which bulldozed through parts of the central and southern United States this week, has killed at least 30 people and hospitalized dozens more who have resorted to dangerous measures to stay warm.
While power outages have affected Americans across the country, from West Virginia to Oregon, Texas has been hit the hardest. On Tuesday, at least 4.3 million Texans were left in the dark.
According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s power grid, only 700,000 homes had their electricity restored overnight. More than 2.7 million customers still don’t have power.
But data from ERCOT suggests the price of getting the lights back on might be too steep for some Texans. As first reported by Reuters, the market prices on the power grid spiked more than 10,000 percent on Monday in the aftermath of the deep freeze. Prices skyrocketed to more than $9,000 per megawatt-hour—compared to the pre-storm prices of less than $50 per hour.
Dozens of customers of the Griddy, which sells wholesale power for a monthly membership, have blasted the wholesale power company for their outrageously high bills amid a winter disaster.
The amped-up wattage costs have affected Griddy customers in particular because of the company’s distinctive business model. In Texas’ hypercharged market for electricity, Griddy makes money by debiting its subscribers a flat $9.99 monthly fee—and then selling them raw power at its going wholesale value, effectively stripping out any insulation between consumers and the oscillations in supply and demand.
The wild surge in costs due to failures across ERCOT’s grid has juiced bills up to astounding levels. Griddy initially urged its customers to switch to another power provider, but few companies are accepting new accounts.
Exacerbating and prolonging this sticker shock is a decision on Tuesday by the state’s Power Utility Commission, which regulates the nonprofit ERCOT’s operations. The order from the gubernatorially appointed PUC asserted that, even with a hike coinciding with cold weather and increased heating use, ERCOT had been undercharging consumers for the cost of energy and directed it to raise its rates.
The company also said it also wants to "continue offering innovative products and services in the retail energy market in Texas."
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