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The people who got absurd bills are the ones who explicitly opted in to paying the wholesale prices on the grid. In the good times that could mean paying very l

by khuey 3y ago

The people who got absurd bills are the ones who explicitly opted in to paying the wholesale prices on the grid. In the good times that could mean paying very low (or even negative) prices[0]. But that was a gamble, and in the ice storm they lost hard. Now perhaps retail customers shouldn't be allowed to be directly exposed to the wholesale grid prices for their own protection, but it's not like these were people buying a perfectly normal electric plan who then got wacked over the head with a $16k bill. [0] https://www.facebook.com/GoGriddy/posts/2740589872846248/ https://www.facebook.com/GoGriddy/posts/2740589872846248/

WalterBright 3y ago
A more reasonable solution is, in the contract, have the power shut off if the price exceeds some pre-determined value. It's also clear that the people who ran afoul of this paid no attention to the wholesale price. I doubt they'll repeat that mistake.
- jonhohle 3y ago
  In the winter outage case, shutting off the power may have resulted in freezing to death. Should choosing the wrong power contract result in death while you sleep?
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    You seem to be coming from the position that there was enough power for everybody. That was not the case. Besides, how hard is throwing on an extra blanket, layering up shirts, wearing a couple jackets, etc. A house doesn't instantly cool down, either. It may take a day or two for the temp in the house to decline. You'll still get solar gain through the windows, and some coming up from the ground.
    - 20after4 3y ago
      In that the kind of extreme cold, it cools off very fast and to levels where an extra layer or two won't do the trick.
to11mtm 3y ago
> But that was a gamble, and in the ice storm they lost hard. It wasn't necessarily a fair gamble. It was determined after the fact that for 2 of the 3 days, it shouldn't have been kept that high. There's still questions as to why, and who stood to benefit. As I recall, that $9000/MWh cost actually went primarily to power distribution companies, who, to my understanding, had been somewhat neglectful at making sure their systems could handle such adverse conditions... Which is a sort of 'insult to injury' in that a decade prior a similar situation happened.
- shagie 3y ago
  > As I recall, that $9000/MWh cost actually went primarily to power distribution companies, There was a power company ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddy ) that offered wholesale spot rates to retail customers. As this was often lower than other retail prices and the customers were intend to be savvy of the demands they were putting on the grid (and turning off things when prices went too high), this lead to some rather large bills. His Lights Stayed on During Texas’ Storm. Now He Owes $16,752. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/us/texas-storm-electric-bills.html?unlocked_article_code=LC7nQc4qsptfGDtx-AUjoMoEWqIOeeGf-S6pUOfkPvdPNbYfaKeIL_Iaw-26y4dHF9JCm-Mt8QY1cRBi6p-WjTHodBolrsVta4pqnHuU_eCoyOHPJhSvNsrDj0feENeYkgBkBWCgFbywog885BdLxvCwEfZVGkQJ4o0pMnEHg2exm4ynTlDNr5sc-Ql-7zcxkMQCSSpisKMuju4kf7z7EDH_msVBO0u74pwV5QHygkYb1DvzIdfvoxr7oDftrrkj2n3eOUHVj7EYETvDmxDH2tnsO_oSp96fiumw6Hkd0cSIVRee8uoxhpj2rZ8jSp2eWXYh0PTq_ligMz_A-iCR&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/us/texas-storm-electric-b... > Many of the people who have reported extremely high charges, including Mr. Willoughby, are customers of Griddy, a small company in Houston that provides electricity at wholesale prices, which can quickly change based on supply and demand. > The company passes the wholesale price directly to customers, charging an additional $9.99 monthly fee. Much of the time, the rate is considered affordable. But the model can be risky: Last week, foreseeing a huge jump in wholesale prices, the company encouraged all of its customers — about 29,000 people — to switch to another provider when the storm arrived. But many were unable to do so. > Katrina Tanner, a Griddy customer who lives in Nevada, Texas, said she had been charged $6,200 already this month, more than five times what she paid in all of 2020. She began using Griddy at a friend’s suggestion a couple of years ago and was pleased at the time with how simple it was to sign up.
smokeydoe 3y ago
A lot of people don’t explicitly opt into these plans. In Texas there are dozens of private companies to choose from when getting setting up an electricity plan. Some of these companies pull shady tactics like starting you on a discount plan for one year then automatically rolling you to the wholesale price plan. They have salesman at the grocery store signing vulnerable people up. You could still call that opting in because they signed the deal.

by khuey 3y ago

WalterBright 3y ago

A more reasonable solution is, in the contract, have the power shut off if the price exceeds some pre-determined value. It's also clear that the people who ran afoul of this paid no attention to the wholesale price. I doubt they'll repeat that mistake.

jonhohle 3y ago
In the winter outage case, shutting off the power may have resulted in freezing to death. Should choosing the wrong power contract result in death while you sleep?
- WalterBright 3y ago
  You seem to be coming from the position that there was enough power for everybody. That was not the case. Besides, how hard is throwing on an extra blanket, layering up shirts, wearing a couple jackets, etc. A house doesn't instantly cool down, either. It may take a day or two for the temp in the house to decline. You'll still get solar gain through the windows, and some coming up from the ground.
  - 20after4 3y ago
    In that the kind of extreme cold, it cools off very fast and to levels where an extra layer or two won't do the trick.

to11mtm 3y ago

> But that was a gamble, and in the ice storm they lost hard. It wasn't necessarily a fair gamble. It was determined after the fact that for 2 of the 3 days, it shouldn't have been kept that high. There's still questions as to why, and who stood to benefit. As I recall, that $9000/MWh cost actually went primarily to power distribution companies, who, to my understanding, had been somewhat neglectful at making sure their systems could handle such adverse conditions... Which is a sort of 'insult to injury' in that a decade prior a similar situation happened.

shagie 3y ago
> As I recall, that $9000/MWh cost actually went primarily to power distribution companies, There was a power company ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddy ) that offered wholesale spot rates to retail customers. As this was often lower than other retail prices and the customers were intend to be savvy of the demands they were putting on the grid (and turning off things when prices went too high), this lead to some rather large bills. His Lights Stayed on During Texas’ Storm. Now He Owes $16,752. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/us/texas-storm-electric-bills.html?unlocked_article_code=LC7nQc4qsptfGDtx-AUjoMoEWqIOeeGf-S6pUOfkPvdPNbYfaKeIL_Iaw-26y4dHF9JCm-Mt8QY1cRBi6p-WjTHodBolrsVta4pqnHuU_eCoyOHPJhSvNsrDj0feENeYkgBkBWCgFbywog885BdLxvCwEfZVGkQJ4o0pMnEHg2exm4ynTlDNr5sc-Ql-7zcxkMQCSSpisKMuju4kf7z7EDH_msVBO0u74pwV5QHygkYb1DvzIdfvoxr7oDftrrkj2n3eOUHVj7EYETvDmxDH2tnsO_oSp96fiumw6Hkd0cSIVRee8uoxhpj2rZ8jSp2eWXYh0PTq_ligMz_A-iCR&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/us/texas-storm-electric-b... > Many of the people who have reported extremely high charges, including Mr. Willoughby, are customers of Griddy, a small company in Houston that provides electricity at wholesale prices, which can quickly change based on supply and demand. > The company passes the wholesale price directly to customers, charging an additional $9.99 monthly fee. Much of the time, the rate is considered affordable. But the model can be risky: Last week, foreseeing a huge jump in wholesale prices, the company encouraged all of its customers — about 29,000 people — to switch to another provider when the storm arrived. But many were unable to do so. > Katrina Tanner, a Griddy customer who lives in Nevada, Texas, said she had been charged $6,200 already this month, more than five times what she paid in all of 2020. She began using Griddy at a friend’s suggestion a couple of years ago and was pleased at the time with how simple it was to sign up.

smokeydoe 3y ago

A lot of people don’t explicitly opt into these plans. In Texas there are dozens of private companies to choose from when getting setting up an electricity plan. Some of these companies pull shady tactics like starting you on a discount plan for one year then automatically rolling you to the wholesale price plan. They have salesman at the grocery store signing vulnerable people up. You could still call that opting in because they signed the deal.