On Wednesday, Texas’s Public Utility Commission moved to cap wholesale prices at $9,000 per megawatt-hour, or $9 per kilowatt-hour. That freezing weather led to rolling blackouts throughout the state amid an increased demand for power in turn, that demand caused prices to spike, with wholesale rates soaring to about $8,800 per megawatt-hour in the Dallas area on Wednesday.Īccording to Reuters, the wholesale rate before this week’s storm was only about $50 per megawatt-hour. The problem is, weather isn’t always good - in Dallas on Tuesday, the low temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit, colder than in Anchorage, Alaska. Wholesale power plans, such as those offered by Texas energy company Griddy, can be attractive because during good weather, a customer on a variable plan will pay less than one on a fixed-rate plan, according to Public Utility Commission of Texas spokesperson Andrew Barlow. Texas, which has a deregulated electricity market, has a number of providers, both wholesale and fixed rate.įixed-rate customers pay an agreed-upon rate for their power, but wholesale buyers pay a variable rate whatever the current price per kilowatt-hour of electricity is. Specifically, it’s Texas residents who rely on a wholesale power plan, rather than a fixed-rate plan, who have seen their bills climb after the demand for power jumped dramatically across the state this week as Winter Storm Uri struck and temperatures plunged. In Texas this week, freezing temperatures overwhelmed the state’s power grid, triggering rolling blackouts, multi-day power outages - and, catastrophic electric bills.Īccording to the Dallas Morning News, some Texans have been hit with power bills totaling as much as $17,000 for only a few days of electricity, many times more than the usual cost of power in Texas.
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