Texas Freeze

[MWmetalhead]

Griddly only had 29k customers in the whole state. I wonder how many other outfits like them exist?

There should be full disclosure of the risks for signing up for a service like that one.

[km1125]

...also that Griddy had sent their customers a warning over a week ago about the potential for prices to go very high, actually encouraging their customers to explore other providers. The interviewee admitted she did not want to go to another provider, because she would have had to 'lock in' for a year at their rates, which were not anywhere near Griddy's best rates.

Per the ABC 13 story, that email went out on a Sunday night. (Not many folks are checking emails on Sunday night, I suspect).

Less than 24 hours later, if I remember correctly, the storm hit. For someone whose energy usage was bare minimum over two days to suffer a $650+ bill is pretty extreme, if you ask me.

Changing electricity providers is not like changing phone companies. Lead time is required. There was not nearly enough lead time available in this instance.

Note that in the ABC 13 story, the major utilities in the Houston area were refusing new customers at the onset of the storm.

At the very least, with any type of notification you'd be able to cut your usage down considerably, even if they couldn't switch to another provider.

[jadednihilist]

You wrote all that to not prove a point???

Yay, insomnia!

This isn't about the average bill, and isn't about the average customer.

Folks who would be more aggressive in going to the cheapest plans would typically be those who consume quite a bit and the savings would justify the hassle.

Just using the same math to compute average monthly bills, except capping the rate at $9/kWh, would easily give you a $10k bill. There really isn't a scenario where a 10,000-20,000% monthly increase in energy cost rates offsets a 50-75% (on average) savings. Nor is it reasonable, unless clearly communicated, for the average consumer to expect a price hike of that magnitude for electricity. Otherwise we wouldn't be writing this much about electric bills on the other side of the country.

And, if I did get that kind of e-mail on a Sunday night (assuming I'd have read it), I'd shut off my main circuit breaker until the rates went down. You're almost better off without power at that point.

[Rate This]

You wrote all that to not prove a point???

Yay, insomnia!

This isn't about the average bill, and isn't about the average customer.

Folks who would be more aggressive in going to the cheapest plans would typically be those who consume quite a bit and the savings would justify the hassle.

Just using the same math to compute average monthly bills, except capping the rate at $9/kWh, would easily give you a $10k bill. There really isn't a scenario where a 10,000-20,000% monthly increase in energy cost rates offsets a 50-75% (on average) savings. Nor is it reasonable, unless clearly communicated, for the average consumer to expect a price hike of that magnitude for electricity. Otherwise we wouldn't be writing this much about electric bills on the other side of the country.

And, if I did get that kind of e-mail on a Sunday night (assuming I'd have read it), I'd shut off my main circuit breaker until the rates went down. You're almost better off without power at that point.

If the pipes freeze is that more or less cost effective than being charged out the ass?

[Lester The Nightfly]

You wrote all that to not prove a point???

Yay, insomnia!

This isn't about the average bill, and isn't about the average customer.

Folks who would be more aggressive in going to the cheapest plans would typically be those who consume quite a bit and the savings would justify the hassle.

Just using the same math to compute average monthly bills, except capping the rate at $9/kWh, would easily give you a $10k bill. There really isn't a scenario where a 10,000-20,000% monthly increase in energy cost rates offsets a 50-75% (on average) savings. Nor is it reasonable, unless clearly communicated, for the average consumer to expect a price hike of that magnitude for electricity. Otherwise we wouldn't be writing this much about electric bills on the other side of the country.

And, if I did get that kind of e-mail on a Sunday night (assuming I'd have read it), I'd shut off my main circuit breaker until the rates went down. You're almost better off without power at that point.

If the pipes freeze is that more or less cost effective than being charged out the ass?

At that point aren't you expected to burn your furniture for heat?

[jadednihilist]

You wrote all that to not prove a point???

Yay, insomnia!

This isn't about the average bill, and isn't about the average customer.

Folks who would be more aggressive in going to the cheapest plans would typically be those who consume quite a bit and the savings would justify the hassle.

Just using the same math to compute average monthly bills, except capping the rate at $9/kWh, would easily give you a $10k bill. There really isn't a scenario where a 10,000-20,000% monthly increase in energy cost rates offsets a 50-75% (on average) savings. Nor is it reasonable, unless clearly communicated, for the average consumer to expect a price hike of that magnitude for electricity. Otherwise we wouldn't be writing this much about electric bills on the other side of the country.

And, if I did get that kind of e-mail on a Sunday night (assuming I'd have read it), I'd shut off my main circuit breaker until the rates went down. You're almost better off without power at that point.

If the pipes freeze is that more or less cost effective than being charged out the ass?

That's a question I would never want to have to ask myself, which is why I'm arguing those rates are so problematic. In any case, local water companies were asking people not to run water even if you had electricity (https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17 ... l-notices/).

[jadednihilist]

At that point aren't you expected to burn your furniture for heat?

I would start with my utility bills and work my way up.

[MWmetalhead]

I think what we've all learned is this:
- Winterization procedures for power plants in Texas are inadequate
- Texas is disadvantaged by being removed from the two major U.S. grids (the panhandle does interconnect into the western states grid, I believe, and suffered almost no outages)
- Texas does not generate enough electricity within its own borders to be self-reliant in "high leverage" situations such as the polar airmass of last week.

The big story now is becoming the water supply. The combination of water plants having to shut down due to lack of power last week coupled with an epidemic of burst pipes & water mains is creating a gruesome situation for millions of folks.

No way in hell would I *EVER* move to the Houston area. Oppressive air masses half the year, horrible traffic during rush hours, epic rain storms, and overpopulation causing strain on utilities. Dallas - Ft. Worth? 100 degree weather, baseball sized hail, and urban sprawl galore. No thanks!

[Turkeytop]

Deregulation. How's that workin out for ya.

[MWmetalhead]

Panhandle is hooked into the eastern states interconnect grid.

El Paso county into the western states interconnect grid.

Those areas saw very few issues.

The rest of the state? Gigantic problems due to lack of power generation and delivery infrastructure, which was greatly exacerbated by generators at plants being disabled due to improper winterization. I agree that state governmental regulations and enforcement likely would've prevented such issues. There definitely would've been some outages but they would've been far fewer in number and shorter in duration.

[Rate This]

Panhandle is hooked into the eastern states interconnect grid.

El Paso county into the western states interconnect grid.

Those areas saw very few issues.

The rest of the state? Gigantic problems due to lack of power generation and delivery infrastructure, which was greatly exacerbated by generators at plants being disabled due to improper winterization. I agree that state governmental regulations and enforcement likely would've prevented such issues. There definitely would've been some outages but they would've been far fewer in number and shorter in duration.

But... but... the wind turbines and the green new deal....