The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) has taken its stance when it comes to the $16 billion in charges that customers accrued during the recent winter storm. And to no one’s shock, at least not mine, they’ve decided to back the companies instead of the consumers who are being burdened by overwhelmingly excessive charges.
Take, for example, consumer Shannon Marrs. According to NPR, this mother lives in a Dallas suburb with her husband and three kids. In January they paid $257 for electricity. When the winter storm hit, everything changed. Their bill for February skyrocketed to an overwhelming $10,180.76—a number no one should have to pay for keeping their house warm during a winter storm.
Now imagine being told by PUC that the price gouging bill you’ve received is something you have to pay because Texas PUC Chairman Arthur D’Andrea thinks the following when it comes to reversing said charges: “You don’t know who you’re hurting. You think you’re protecting the consumer and turns out you’re bankrupting a co-op or a city. And so it’s dangerous, after something is run, to go around and redo it.”
I’m sorry, but I didn’t know that charging consumers $10,000 a month for electricity during a severe winter storm is a reasonable thing that happens. Silly me. I’m supposed to think about the companies who made $16 billion in charges, right? No, that doesn’t sound right to me. These companies profited off a disastrous storm and are getting away with it.
Texans are suffering right now. Some have lost their homes entirely, some still don’t have power at all, and some don’t know where their next meal with come from. And PUC is telling them to buck up, get it together, and pay astronomical bills. They’re suffering, PUC. They’re rebuilding their lives after a game-changing storm. This is no time to be throwing down a $16 billion dollar bill and holding your hand out to be paid.
And that’s without taking into consideration what’s happening in Texas due to COVID-19. Citizens of Texas were already worried about their safety when it comes to the virus and have been dealing with job losses and lack of unemployment federal aid for over a year now. That was happening before, during, and after the winter storm, but the PCU doesn’t seem to care, not one bit.
This lack of consideration for what Texans are going through paints a stark picture of who is important to those in positions of power in Texas. It’s not its citizens, that’s for sure. It’s the businesses that stand to make $16 billion in charges that are important, and who will receive the state’s support to continue what they’re doing in the face of disaster.
That backwards way of thinking is what has inspired a Chambers County woman to file a class-action lawsuit against electric company Griddy. With a $9,340 bill nipping at her heels, she decided to fight back and take Griddy on due to their deceptive practices during a time where all of Texas was facing a devastating winter storm.
Here’s hoping that more people follow in her footsteps and call out electric companies and the PUC for the jackals they are. Here’s also hoping that companies listen to their consumers and consider the economic harm high charges will have on the people trying to rebuild their lives after a winter storm and during a global pandemic.
(image: Thomas Shea/AFP via Getty)
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