As the state continues to recover from the deadly winter storm, the fallout continues over the power outages that left Houstonians and Texans without heat in freezing temperatures. The Public Utility Commission of Texas met Friday morning and decided on several issues.
The meeting started by detouring a bit and, instead of taking public comments, the PUC answered some questions from callers which included billing questions. There were two big takeaways from the agenda items.
For starters, the PUC voted to keep the “no disconnect” order in place, but electric and water companies can start charging late fees, so that is something for which consumers should be prepared.
“It’s not their fault. It just happened and they should give people a break,” said Peter Okpokpo, a resident of Houston’s Third Ward.
He has a fixed rate with Reliant. Okpokpo said he’s concerned about what this means for people like his colleague, who now owe thousands of dollars because they have a variable rate plan with their provider.
“She had a light bill for 25 or $2600. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it,” Okpokpo said.
He hopes the discussions that have taken place over the past few weeks since the storm leads to concrete changes that benefit the consumer.
“They should absorb the cost themselves. I think the government needs to take charge and regulate these companies better than having them just charge whatever they feel like charging,” he said.
Second, PUC representatives said they will likely not re-price the energy market like some senators and independent market monitors had suggested.
This could potentially translate into higher fees at some point because energy companies will have to pass on the economic hit they took during the storm
During Thursday’s Senate committee meeting, KPRC 2 learned the PUC allowed energy prices to hit the max, $9,000 per megawatt-hour during the storm, at ERCOT’s request.
ERCOT’s vice president Kenan Ogelman explained to state senators those storm-related prices are why it is owed more than $2 billion from energy companies that cannot pay their bill. Two companies have already filed for bankruptcy, and now lawmakers are worried this could lead to more fall out and a financial crisis.
State sen. John Whitmire (D) said the companies “were paying such high prices for the gas to keep the lights on that now the bills are due, they don’t have the revenue.”
Ogleman explained how energy prices spiked to the cap during the storm because it needed to ensure every possible power plant was pumping power into the Texas grid. He said the storm was causing fluctuating prices, which can inadvertently put a power producer in reserve status.
“The system was generating prices consistent with the protocols that we have had,” Ogleman said.
ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee has scheduled a special meeting at 1 p.m. to review the cold weather event.
