Those Outrageously High Texas Utility Bills

[ret5hd]

10. The instances I am hearing about have to do...

with people that signed contracts for their electrical service that based their rates on the wholesale price of electricity. I don't know how granular this pricing is (weekly, daily, minutely, secondly?) but let's say daily. They agreed to these because the rates were slightly lower per kWh...during normal times. They essentially put themselves in the same "market" as the big-boy wholesale energy traders, but without the same abilities to hedge. Not a smart move, IMO.

I read a news story yesterday that one of these companies had been contacting their customers and telling them to find another provider NOW. Not tomorrow...NOW! They stated their reasoning was they would be better off in the long run by being honest with their customers.

Most people (our household included) have a contract that specified a price per kWh. Those bills were unaffected. I checked ours online yesterday and it was high compared to most months...but the heater was working harder also. But definitely not bankruptcy numbers. Not even close.

I don't know what the answer is. They gambled and lost...but don't deserve THAT.

on edit: I see someone else has mentioned this:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215140216