People in Texas getting electric bills for $17,000

www.fox4news.com... rZFlK2m3AXjqR7WoNeNbk

Ty Williams and his family in Alrington were among the lucky ones during this week's storm and never lost power. However, he did pay the price in the form of a $17,000 electric bill for three meters over five days of use. He is a customer of a company called Griddy.

This is insane.
This company urged people to switch because they knew spot prices were soaring. The problem, it takes a week to switch.
There are some sad stories out there. I hope Texas does something to help these people. Spot prices are nice when these people
are paying $33 a month, but not so nice during times of distress. Some providers say this is exactly how it should work, supply & demand.
I prefer how the 99% of the rest of America does it.

a reply to: JAGStorm

news.yahoo.com...

“My savings is gone,” said Scott Willoughby, a 63-year-old Army veteran who lives on Social Security payments in a Dallas suburb. He said he had nearly emptied his savings account so that he would be able to pay the $16,752 electric bill charged to his credit card — 70 times what he usually pays for all of his utilities combined. “There’s nothing I can do about it, but it’s broken me.”

This one is so sad, we need to help our Vets!!!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah. This is a witch that most people don't see, and don't know exists, until she kicks you in the teeth, when you are are already down.

I used to leave my vacation house empty when I wasn't using it. That changed when I got a $5000.00 water bill from the city, because of a leak that developed between my house and the main. The whole story was a nightmare, and completely the city's fault, but it did not matter, and I still had to cough up the money, and I still got stuck with the cost of the repairs.

So much for the government giving a damn about you, outside of how much money they can get out of you.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: JAGStorm

news.yahoo.com...

“My savings is gone,” said Scott Willoughby, a 63-year-old Army veteran who lives on Social Security payments in a Dallas suburb. He said he had nearly emptied his savings account so that he would be able to pay the $16,752 electric bill charged to his credit card — 70 times what he usually pays for all of his utilities combined. “There’s nothing I can do about it, but it’s broken me.”

This one is so sad, we need to help our Vets!!!

Up here, we sometimes get ads from companies like that, except it's for natural gas. The pitch is some variant of "Protect yourself from high gas prices! Lock in your gas price now at our low, low rates!!!"

It is a scam.

In our case, they only ever send out those ads when natural gas prices are high, but are expected to fall soon (meaning they will make a lot of money marking up the gas). They never, ever, look for customers when gas prices are low.

It looks like the scam in Texas is operating on the reverse basis: they sign people up when electric prices are low, so they can gouge them when prices rise.

and before some retard mentions anything green or political, this is ENTIRELY on ERCOT. They were given authorization to raise rates and they did so. Exponentially.

Link to Emergency Declaration 202 21 1

a reply to: JAGStorm

How tf does something like this happen in a first world country, us none the less.

Same with some extended hospital visits.

To me living in a tiny country with universal healthcare and plenty of green energy this is insane. I know its not the same for a country of 330 million. But the us seems to be spending trillions on relieve that isnt even for americans. When people are dying of hypothermia in texas and have to pay over 100k for a hospiital visit. Its so backwards it beggers believe.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Up here, we sometimes get ads from companies like that, except it's for natural gas. The pitch is some variant of "Protect yourself from high gas prices! Lock in your gas price now at our low, low rates!!!"

I get those ads here in Wisconsin too!

I saw this the other day. In particular, an article mentioning how the cost to charge a Tesla at home overnight shot up to like $900.

I don't know how this is allowed. I get there are savings to be had with pricing tracking to the market demand, but I think most homeowners would rather have consistency. I rather pay say a few bucks more with no surprises than save a few bucks a month only to get slammed during an unexpected surge. If surge pricing is going to be allowed, there has to be some caps in place to ensure pricing is reasonable during periods of unexpected demand.

What is crazy is that if a convenience store or gas station started gouging for bottles of water charging say $10/gallon or a gallon of gas based on demand during a natural disaster, the government would be all over it trying to prosecute but they are going to let utility charge someone $17,000 for a few weeks of electricity during a power outage? WTF?

a reply to: Edumakated

What is crazy is that if a convenience store or gas station started gouging for bottles of water charging say $10/gallon or a gallon of gas based on demand during a natural disaster, the government would be all over it trying to prosecute but they are going to let utility charge someone $17,000 for a few weeks of electricity during a power outage? WTF?

Oh it gets more crazy. Some stories I read said something like the accounts were connected to their banks and were basically draining them. Some people had to take all their money out and switch to a new bank.
That's a WTF. What happened to having a bill and paying it online?

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Edumakated

What is crazy is that if a convenience store or gas station started gouging for bottles of water charging say $10/gallon or a gallon of gas based on demand during a natural disaster, the government would be all over it trying to prosecute but they are going to let utility charge someone $17,000 for a few weeks of electricity during a power outage? WTF?

Oh it gets more crazy. Some stories I read said something like the accounts were connected to their banks and were basically draining them. Some people had to take all their money out and switch to a new bank.
That's a WTF. What happened to having a bill and paying it online?

That's why I don't do auto-debit. I pay all my bills online but I have to initiate the payment. I don't believe in the company being able to auto-debit out my accounts. I don't care if they do offer me a discount.

Aint deregulation grand!! thank god you there are freeeeeeeeeeeeeee from govt interference..and regulations!!

I do feel bad for people struggling.

a reply to: Edumakated

That's why I don't do auto-debit. I pay all my bills online but I have to initiate the payment. I don't believe in the company being able to auto-debit out my accounts. I don't care if they do offer me a discount.

Me either. I like to see the bills each month. It helps track if there is something odd... you know like a 17K electric bill.

originally posted by: samuelsson
a reply to: JAGStorm

How tf does something like this happen in a first world country, us none the less.

Same with some extended hospital visits.

To me living in a tiny country with universal healthcare and plenty of green energy this is insane. I know its not the same for a country of 330 million. But the us seems to be spending trillions on relieve that isnt even for americans. When people are dying of hypothermia in texas and have to pay over 100k for a hospiital visit. Its so backwards it beggers believe.

Exactly. WTH America?
Too much money spent on military, overseas 'aid'. Its sad to see these headlines in this day and age. I'd expect it in an African country or South American.

a reply to: Edumakated

I think this will change the way a lot of people do banking in the future. I too got burned with the auto debit, many years back, I won't have anything to do with it. It is an invitation to be ripped off.

Our caring government at work, is constantly allowing the big businesses to rip us off, and then they balk at a $1200.00 stimulus check, that they are going to take back, over time. Yet they think it is okay to allow companies to charge people in a crisis, ridiculous amounts of money for life saving utilities.

Maybe now some of my friends and family, that thought that I was being dramatic, when I told them the government, local, federal, or national, in any form, does not give a damn about the American people. The quicker we realize this, and turn away from the government and work together, the better chance we have of getting back on our feet and out of this mess we are in.

If you are going to end up with nothing, at least if you stop looking for a corrupt, greedy government, to come to your rescue, you get to choose what you let go of and what you keep.

originally posted by: vonclod
Aint deregulation grand!! thank god you there are freeeeeeeeeeeeeee from govt interference..and regulations!!

I do feel bad for people struggling.

If this where true you would be able to disconnect your home from utilities that also is not the case

Deregulation is just a bs slogan pushed it goes away fast once you want to supply your own power

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Yeah, people don't get that government is not our friend. This is not to say I am an anarchist or don't believe in good governance. However, the issue is once you cede power to government it is very difficult to get it back. Corruption, bureaucrats, etc are all dangerous in government as well because there is little recourse and ways to hold them in check.

I fear it is too late. The feds have gotten too big and corrupt at all levels. I just don't see it turning around.

a reply to: JAGStorm

If I paid that much for power I would generate the power myself and save money, $20 a day is a lot to run a generator but at that price its a steal. To run the generator would cost $620 a month thats a little more than twice what I pay now. What a scam!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Greetings JAGStorm, this Texas mess is truly a disaster... MY friend lives there and he has had a pretty chilly life recently..

He is a survivalist type of guy, ex military, and he even said it was "good" for him to go through it, to "test" methods and equipment out in case of a long power outage, etc.

There were "mandates" out to utilities in Texas to NOT use certain power assets, due to greenhouse gases etc, This was a federal mandate. Essentially, certain power sources were not allowed to be used or "dispatched" for load demands. (So, in some sense, it WAS a political mandate that contributed to the frozen mess.)

Texas was also the victim of too much "green energy" being injected into the power sources for the region.

The wind and solar are great things; as long as the weather conditions are within tolerances for the two types of green energy.

The wind must be above a certain velocity for them to generate power, but if the wind reaches a certain higher velocity, the windmills MUST shut down, and "feather" their props, because the bearings and generator can't handle those extra load forces on them.

The solar, of course, needs the sun, so if cloudy, or night, ZERO power output... or dang near zero if cloudy.

I have worked in the utility business all of my working life, and am familiar with Megawatt hours and prices and how they change drastically in just a 24 hour period.

In Australia, not too long ago, the state of South Australia got hit with a statewide blackout. The perfect storm hit, too cloudy for solar to work , and too windy for windmills to operate; combines with not enough power sources to rely on that weren't inclimate weather tolerant.

When a power company builds it power "portfolio", it needs to be very diverse, and robust. If a power company puts too much into the green energy type of power sources; those green sources can become a liability if you are hit with the right conditions to take them out, and not have enough "other" sources of power generation to bring online to meet load demand.

The price for megawatts can be very volatile... and the introduction of all of this "green energy" has been a giant factor in this volitility.

When the sun goes down, or the wind stops, these power assets become money chewers, and electricity eaters, as back up power needs, and piping heating needs, keeping an energy source in standby or shut down mode.

When you overload your power sources with too much "green" energy, you face MASSIVE load swings in demand over a 24 hr period. These demands must be switched back and forth amongst your power assets. Hydro, Gas fired, coal fired, solar, and wind power. In these over load situations is when the price goes negative. It balances out with the super high prices, or TRIES to; but in some situations you get hit with a prolonged high price period and then all the customers get bled dry.

I can't help but wonder if it isn't some sort of a scheme for some of those evil elite.

What I am meaning is.... Like a lot of people make a LOT of money betting on the highs and lows of the stock market, is there ALSO a thing like that for electricity????

See where I am coming from? There was something that was tried a while back, never hit off to a great start, it was called "Carbon Credits"... Al Gore was big on it, of course his "investments" were in green energy... hmmm McFly, seeing the picture some these turds paint?

I have seen the price of megawatt hour go from an actual negative price, to over several THOUSAND dollars in the course of a single day!

We almost always drop load when prices go low.... but sometimes the green energy overloads the system... where you need to either disconnect the green from the grid, or else shut down coal fired for example.

And to RESTART coal fired station you burn FUEL OIL in your ignitors, and boiler pre-warming oil fire "guns". This costs HUGE dollars. At $1.45 per litre for diesel fuel... it is not uncommon to burn through a FEW million dollars in fuel oil, especially if there is a prolonged turbine warming wait, if the turbine was COLD and on turning gear for a long time prior to unit start up.

So it is cheaper in the long run to keep the unit online, at a very reduced load, or turbine off line, and spinning, but the generator is off line... not synched, and then you are "bypassing" the turbine, and just recycling every bit of steam and water in a loop, until you need the power again. This also is quite expensive, as you are running big pumps, (11KV motors, etc) chewing upon power just keeping things idling along.

Our power dispatchers work hard to balance these power assets, to try and keep the prices down in Oz, and my company is a basically nonprofit, or small profit for the state government...

You can't shut down coal fired stations, which typically are your "BASE LOAD" units; and you fine tune your grid with hydros, and gas fired units to make up the day to day deviations in demand.

The TRUE PROBLEM is that now, and as you are seeing in Texas and other places; is that they have removed too much of that base load by shutting down power plants, or injecting into the grid system too high of a percentage of "green" power where it becomes the overwhelming driving economic factor in power prices..

And when a natural, or man made disaster comes along, as Texas is getting hit with.. you can't simply "flip a switch" and get big coal fired units back in the game of supplying power.

They take many hours, and sometimes up to 36 hours, up to several DAYS to go from cold start up to online at full load. By then, your national infrastructure is already damaged and burnt toast, or frozen cryogenically!

The huge extremes in power prices have been induced by too much green energy in national grids.

While this may or may not be good for the environment, it truly does wreak havoc in the economic swings of power provision to a country.

Even natural gas fired units which are extremely popular these days, as they can come online and be at full load in like half an hour or so... you have that entire infrastructure that is needed to "support" them too. Mainly wells, and pipelines. Where does that gas come from? FRACKING mainly! And we know what that does to water tables, and fault lines. Plus they STILL pump out CO2 when they are running. They are basically jet airplane engines attached to generators.

In Oz they tend sit off line when all the green energy is in play...and when prices go high, they come online, and skim off the "cream" from the power milk. This causes the big generators, usually coal fired units, to "lose out" on those high prices to offset the time when they operate at a financial LOSSES.

When the LOSSES outweighs the profits, they sell off, or shut down permanently the coal fired units. Which creates a big vacuum vortex, and removes them from what is called "spinning reserve power sources".

And I am wondering if this "volatility" is somehow now being used as another way to "milk the herd" of their money??

Sorry to be so long winded but it is a intense topic with many contributing factors, of which I only touched on briefly.

Pravdaseeker

a reply to: JAGStorm

I do "leveled billing" so my bill, over the course of a year, averages out each month and then after a year I pay pretty much the same every month. It helps tremendously in the Summer when I use my central air, but it's a little more in the Winter because while my central heat is electric, my furnace is natural gas. But my wife noticed, lately, that our bill was going down more and more. It went from $160.00 to $60.00 from October to the most recent. She noticed that our meter stopped turning. I don't know why it stopped and the tamper proof clip is still completely in tact so I've debated whether I should wait for them to ask about it or call and tell them about it. That $60.00 electric bill sure is nice.

I'm sorry for going kind of off-topic but I wanted to point out that leveled billing in a scenario like that would screw you over for a lonnnng time. More to the point, I don't get how this company can charge people that much and get away with it.

It would be cheaper to install a generator and power it from a propane tank. With no dependence on the power company you can use what ever is the most cost effective.