View Full Version : Texans getting kicked while their down
Last hard class
02-21-2021, 23:52
The state of Texas has been through a lot with these storms. Now the utilities are sending out crazy power bills to some of the residents.
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-texas-residents-hit-with-soaring-electric-bills-winter-storms-2021-2
LHC
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says power companies can NOT stick customers with huge bills after deadly winter storm... but will those who have paid up to $17K get their money back?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9285579/Texas-Gov-Greg-Abbott-says-state-utilities-stick-customers-huge-bills.html
Sign up for the wholesale plan and see low bills most of the time - but a disaster comes along and now the wholesale price is through the roof.
What's "fair" is not always the easy answer. If you were one of the many, many folks paying regular prices while the wholesalers had been paying lower prices wouldn't you be a bit ticked if they get a break now?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says power companies can NOT stick customers with huge bills after deadly winter storm... but will those who have paid up to $17K get their money back?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9285579/Texas-Gov-Greg-Abbott-says-state-utilities-stick-customers-huge-bills.html
Sign up for the wholesale plan and see low bills most of the time - but a disaster comes along and now the wholesale price is through the roof.
What's "fair" is not always the easy answer. If you were one of the many, many folks paying regular prices while the wholesalers had been paying lower prices wouldn't you be a bit ticked if they get a break now?
We'll just file that with the student loan forgiveness...we'll see how that works out...
atticus finch
02-26-2021, 11:31
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says power companies can NOT stick customers with huge bills after deadly winter storm... but will those who have paid up to $17K get their money back?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9285579/Texas-Gov-Greg-Abbott-says-state-utilities-stick-customers-huge-bills.html
Sign up for the wholesale plan and see low bills most of the time - but a disaster comes along and now the wholesale price is through the roof.
What's "fair" is not always the easy answer. If you were one of the many, many folks paying regular prices while the wholesalers had been paying lower prices wouldn't you be a bit ticked if they get a break now?
A valid point.
I'm on contract for a set rate while they essentially gambled with rates. They got a lower rate when times were good, ie: low rates.
however they lost this bet and it is due to their own choice.
It is arguable that the utility companies setting rates this high is questionable owing to the root causes of this situation.
A tough question to answer.
Myself I never turned the heat on, I used the fireplace as I normally do to heat the house and had propane to supplement that.
I have electric heat as does everyone else here however I never trusted it so I use the fireplace to heat the house, a lot of work but far more reliable and it paid off in this situation.
Maybe in the interest of 'safety' and 'fairness' we should eliminate wholesale rate plans, variable interest rate loans, 40+ year mortgages, and any other financial obligation models that provide typically low payments but can suddenly and unexpectedly skyrocket due to market variability. Heck, let's get rid of publicly traded stocks for the same reason--no one that games the system should actually lose money when things go sideways.
atticus finch
03-05-2021, 10:03
Maybe in the interest of 'safety' and 'fairness' we should eliminate wholesale rate plans, variable interest rate loans, 40+ year mortgages, and any other financial obligation models that provide typically low payments but can suddenly and unexpectedly skyrocket due to market variability. Heck, let's get rid of publicly traded stocks for the same reason--no one that games the system should actually lose money when things go sideways.
there is plenty of blame to go around for what happened.
People who were responsible for operating the grid, failed.
so-called 'green energy' failed.
Governor Abbott didn't tell fed, 'eff your emissions standards, we need the coal plants and we're cranking them up whether you like it or not'
people did not pay attention to the weather reports and take responsibility for themselves to prepare for this.
sky-high electric bills? blame on both sides, grid operators as well as individuals.
there is plenty of blame to go around for what happened.
People who were responsible for operating the grid, failed.
so-called 'green energy' failed.
Governor Abbott didn't tell fed, 'eff your emissions standards, we need the coal plants and we're cranking them up whether you like it or not'
people did not pay attention to the weather reports and take responsibility for themselves to prepare for this.
sky-high electric bills? blame on both sides, grid operators as well as individuals.
Exactly. All that can be summed up as "shit happens", which introduces volatility into economic markets. If you deliberately choose to take chances to make or save a buck, you have to be prepared for shit happening.
Ret10Echo
03-05-2021, 13:20
....and the trickle-down effects begin to rear their head.
How many of you that are NOT in Texas have received notification on changes to your homeowner’s insurance?
"damage caused by "off premises" power outage" are no longer covered….or require additional, elective coverages (at additional cost)
:munchin
Not sure where this will end, but they found on problem
The operators of the Texas power grid overcharged wholesale electricity customers by $16 billion due to a pricing error during the weather emergency last month that triggered extended blackouts and left more than 4 million Texans shivering amid subfreezing temperatures, a monitor reports.
Potomac Economics, a Virginia-based firm that's paid to provide an arm's-length assessment of the Texas grid, is recommending that the overcharges — billed to retail electric providers and others — be reversed.
The overcharges occurred because the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the grid and is commonly known as ERCOT, left wholesale prices at the maximum level allowable — $9,000 per megawatt hour — for about a day and a half too long during the emergency, Potomac said in a letter to state regulators Thursday.
The overcharges represent only a part of the costs racked up during the calamity by generators, distributors and retailers of electricity, however.
According to Potomac, real-time market costs on the Texas grid totaled about $47 billion from Feb. 14-19 because of the power outages and sky-high wholesale prices — compared with about $10 billion in real-time market costs for all of 2020.
Still, Potomac's recommendation represents a stinging rebuke to ERCOT, which already has been reeling in the wake of the disaster. Bill Magness, ERCOT's CEO, was fired Wednesday night after defending the agency's performance during legislative hearings last week about the grid failure, while a number of ERCOT board members resigned prior to the hearings.
link: (https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/03/04/ercot-pricing-error-spurred-16-b-grid-overcharges-monitor-says/4582419001/)
....and the trickle-down effects begin to rear their head.
How many of you that are NOT in Texas have received notification on changes to your homeowner’s insurance?
"damage caused by "off premises" power outage" are no longer covered….or require additional, elective coverages (at additional cost)
:munchin
This has always been a problem in the Keys. With the power coming from Mijammie, 150 miles away, we had continuing troubles. BUT our insurance never hick-up'd.
:munchin
JJ, which key you living on these days? Can you still find some relatively affordable hooches north of Stock Island?