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I get that this is an unfolding disaster. People are trying to push through as best as they can. And I really don't know anything about the Texan energy-market.
by lolc 6y ago
I get that this is an unfolding disaster. People are trying to push through as best as they can. And I really don't know anything about the Texan energy-market. But the quotes in this article rub me the wrong way.
> Stressing that he is hoping for a relief package from the state to help with the bill, Pierce said he is just living under the assumption “this is a later problem.”
A twisted form of privatizing the gain and socializing the losses. First they went with Griddy so they didn't have to pay for future capacity during exceptional events. Now they're out-bidding everybody else on the spot-market. And they hope that those bids will be paid by the community.
And then Griddy adds their tune: “We want what’s right by our consumers, so we are encouraging them to leave.”
Oh you didn't tell them about this risk did you? You said it would be cheaper, didn't you? And now you hope your customers will go quietly and won't try to hold you liable for not telling them. I'm not even sure at this point Griddy doesn't bet against their own customers in this. I mean, others are doing it too, why shouldn't they? And Griddy can observe first-hand who's flexible on price.
> “I think people are greedy. It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “I am dumbfounded. There is no compassion or grace for people.”
Said somebody after becoming the sucker on a market they'd embraced as long as it worked out in their favor.
I mean, I can very well see myself in that situation. Not having thought about the consequences. Having to rely on a provider that's connecting me directly to the leeches who assure everybody how much efficiency they're providing. It's not the time for reflection. I just worry that when this blows over people will be right back not wanting to pay for critical infrastructure because that's something communism.
- nickysielicki 6y agoIf everyone in Texas was on Griddy, demand would have been properly modulated by price and these rolling blackouts would have never occurred. The insurance that flat rate power plans provide are precisely why people feel comfortable wasting electricity on computers and televisions instead of using the bare minimum. Their neighbors in a different cell are freezing in the dark, but when the incentive to reduce usage is $0.10 an hour, who the hell cares? In a world with cell phones and smart things, Griddy makes perfect sense. It's ecologically friendly. It's economically efficient. You do care about the planet, don't you? A lot of power companies are going to be bankrupt after this. Griddy will not be.
- lolc 6y agoOh I can see those dynamics too. The thing is that people want stable pricing. And when they don't get it, they look around for somebody to blame. From what I read, I get the impression that they understand they're the suckers in a racket but can't get out. One customer even hopes to get compensated for out-bidding their neighbours over the privilege of heating. You could say that that was just a newspaper fishing for quotes. That most Griddy customers are not like that and happy how it works. But that would be a different argument from saying they should want it. > You do care about the planet, don't you? You like asking loaded questions, don't you?
- toomuchtodo 6y agoDemand would not have been modulated by price when the need is inelastic. People would’ve used what they would argue they needed for heat, and then default on the exorbitant bill, just like American healthcare.
- kumarvvr 6y agoCertain markets are best of being regulated. Energy is essential to survival and when your child is freezing and you have to pay exorbhitant prices for heating, the first step is to identify the culprit. And the culprit is not the greedy energy company, but a society that holds money as the ultimate gauge for progress. Stop voting against buzz words. Modern society requires a healthy mix of capitalism and regulation. Withoit which, society will swing like a pendulum on resonance and break itself apart. With every unforseen event pushing it further away from equilibrium.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- bluesign 6y agoActually griddy was little misleading but not totally dishonest. “The highest the price can go to is $9/kWh (which has only ever happened 0.005% of the time.) Most of the time, though, 96% to be exact, it stays below the Texas Average of 6¢/kWh”
- lolc 6y agoThanks for that quote. Turning this around we get: "On about fourteen days within the year we'll be above the average price. And on half a day in the average year we'll charge 150 times the average price." And now this is not the average year.