Griddy customers moved to other electricity providers after ERCOT boots it from Texas market

[TexasTowelie]

by Neelam Bohra, Texas Tribune


Texans who receive their electricity from Griddy Energy are being shifted to other providers after the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the power grid for most of Texas, revoked the company’s rights to operate because it missed required payments to ERCOT, according to a market notice.

In all, Texas electricity providers failed to make more than $2.1 billion in payments that were due to ERCOT, according to another market notice Friday. The state entity depends on transaction fees from providers to help operate the state’s electric grid. Those missed payments came after the costs for a megawatt hour of electricity jumped from an average of $35 to $9,000 during the height of last week’s devastating winter storm that contributed to the near-collapse of the state’s power grid.

Griddy made headlines for sending massive bills to customers. One woman in Chambers County filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Griddy of price gouging. In the lawsuit, her attorney claimed the company charged her more than $9,000 for the week of the storm in stark contrast to her normal $200 to $500 monthly bill.

Griddy passes wholesale electricity rates directly to customers, who in turn pay the company $10 a month. This differs from fixed-rate electricity plans which offer a consistent rate regardless of market conditions. Wholesale prices spiked during the storm because the winter weather temporarily knocked many power generators offline, shrinking supply and skyrocketing demand.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/26/griddy-texas-ercot-electricity-costs/

[LeftInTX]

1. I knew it! This is about the only regulation we're gonna get. Griddy was low hanging fruit.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

5. Griddy is a scapegoat.

They probably sealed their fate when they attributed extremely low, and even negative rates after the disaster was over, to the wonders of wind energy.

The disaster cost me about $600 for eight days as a Griddy customer . But last year alone I feel like I saved well over $1000 over what I had been charged in previous years.

I’m going to miss Griddy.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. I remember getting junk phone calls several years ago

from outfits that sounded like this Griddy outfit asking me to sign up “for lower electric bills.” . I didn’t bite; I stayed with Austin, Texas’ city-owned utility. I’m glad I did.

[True Blue American]

3. $200 to $500?

That is still a huge bill for a state that is mostly warm. My electric bill would be half that on scorching months.

[abqtommy]

4. I agree. It's easy to follow the money on this one!

[marble falls]

6. A/C for the summer'll go to $300/month easy.

[True Blue American]

8. I have AC

And a gas furnace. My bill has never run $200.

We have a site where you can compare prices and sign up with the supplier at a set price.Funny thing, the company supplier is based in Houston. And I have a 2 story house with good insulation and new windows.

[intheflow]

7. Wow, ERCOT. Talk about gaslighting.

Griddy is not the problem. ERCOT is the problem. I wouldn't exactly call Griddy a whistleblower, but their billing practices were accepted by ERCOT and this event brought the problems inherent in the system to the fore. Of course it's easier to blame Griddy than it is to reform the entire grid.