Frozen pipes upstairs

sucks2beme

and for the final indignity.
The bloated electric bill for those who didn't lose power.
Thank you state officials for adapting the California utility model.

txcoastal1

I had options for variable or fixed rate 2 year contract. Variable was cheaper but forecasting is a gamble and chose fixed rate.

I also chose a company that is a subsidiary of a national power company. I see that this fiasco will likely bankrupt the smaller in state companies.

Jstas

Sorry it's a Facebork link, I can't find the video anywhere else.

"Texans have taken to TikTok to share what’s happening there after days of below freezing temps with rolling power outages or no power at all"

https://www.facebook.com/508905038/videos/10159382684075039/

rooftop59

sucks2beme wrote: »

and for the final indignity.
The bloated electric bill for those who didn't lose power.
Thank you state officials for adapting the California utility model.

Yes we are lucky as we have green mountain energy fixed rate: our electric bill for last week was $282!!! That's close to our monthly average for the year! I heard on NPR that a family in Frisco (Dallas suburb) was charged over 10 grand for last week alone with a variable rate plan.

I will refrain from making any political remarks about this situation. I would kindly ask that others do the same...

Viking64

"There are currently 321 callers ahead of you."

"WHAT THE F....."

BlueFox

sucks2beme wrote: »

and for the final indignity.
The bloated electric bill for those who didn't lose power.
Thank you state officials for adapting the California utility model.

Really? I have never heard of that issue in CA.

Jstas

Jstas wrote: »

Sorry it's a Facebork link, I can't find the video anywhere else.

"Texans have taken to TikTok to share what’s happening there after days of below freezing temps with rolling power outages or no power at all"

https://www.facebook.com/508905038/videos/10159382684075039/

What's really terrible about this is that all those houses and apartment buildings with the water damage will have to be gutted to find all the water damage, remediated for mold and such and then rebuilt. Additionally, any electrical that was impacted will need to be ripped out and replaced as well otherwise electrical shorts from corrosion will cause problems. Everything from broken lights/sockets/switches to fire.

The owners/renters will be unable to occupy them while the work is happening and with the amount of damage to hotels and apartment complexes, there's going to be a HUGE number of displaced people that have no where to go.

Additionally, building supplies are in short supply because of the last year and this is only going to make it worse in Texas. So even with the massive number of claims to insurance, things are only going to be able to happen so fast.

So if you're a contractor looking for work, Texas is the place to be.

But there's going to be many corners cut and poorly remediated damage from people who didn't have adequate insurance. They might get some FEMA help but they will likely just patch up the damage, hide it under new paint and trim and sell as quickly as they can.

Is it a disaster? Yeah, definitely 'cause this is damage on the scale of coastal flooding from a storm. Was it avoidable? Entirely and that's was so aggravating and terrible about it. All these people with all the loss and no protections aside from insurance, if they were covered. But you can't live under an insurance contract. So what are they supposed to do until insurance fixes their homes? Some folks in Texas need to be held accountable for this and the power supply deregulation policies need to be revisited 'cause this is just absurd.

rooftop59

BlueFox wrote: »

sucks2beme wrote: »

and for the final indignity.
The bloated electric bill for those who didn't lose power.
Thank you state officials for adapting the California utility model.

Really? I have never heard of that issue in CA.

Texas has a privatized power grid with very little regulation...

rooftop59

Jstas wrote: »

Is it a disaster? Yeah, definitely 'cause this is damage on the scale of coastal flooding from a storm. Was it avoidable? Entirely and that's was so aggravating and terrible about it. All these people with all the loss and no protections aside from insurance, if they were covered. But you can't live under an insurance contract. So what are they supposed to do until insurance fixes their homes? Some folks in Texas need to be held accountable for this and the power supply deregulation policies need to be revisited 'cause this is just absurd.

Mayor of Houston said this was MUCH worse than the last hurricane...

BlueFox

rooftop59 wrote: »

Texas has a privatized power grid with very little regulation...

I believe Texas is the only state that has that model for electricity.

txcoastal1

I lived in San Antonio during the 1985 13" snow storm

I remember my mother going outside a moving our car from the covered parking...we had lived in Colorado and she knew that the covered parking we had in San Antonio was going to collapse.

Go to 5:20 of the video...

https://youtu.be/1-hpfj03--s

pitdogg2

Smart woman!!

Joey_V

Yeah dudes... some of us definitely got lucky. I need to be more prepared for the next hit whenever that may be. I feel bad for the others who didn’t fare so well.

txcoastal1

txcoastal1 wrote: »

I had options for variable or fixed rate 2 year contract. Variable was cheaper but forecasting is a gamble and chose fixed rate.

I also chose a company that is a subsidiary of a national power company. I see that this fiasco will likely bankrupt the smaller in state companies.

And this is my electric provider
https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2021-02-23/champion-energy-confirms-weather-events-will-have-no-impact-on-residential-customer-rates

Kex

What do you Texas Polkies make of this story?

[Electric firm Griddy loses access to Texas grid]

Excerpt:

”Griddy was the power marketer that sold consumers electricity at wholesale rates, which rose to $9,000 per megawatt hour as cold weather struck the state last week. Unable to cope with demand, utilities cut power to 4.3 million residents as temperatures fell below freezing.
Grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) “effectively shut down Griddy,” the electricity marketer said in a statement on its website. Requests for further comment were not returned.”

Joey_V

Kex wrote: »

What do you Texas Polkies make of this story?

[Electric firm Griddy loses access to Texas grid]

Excerpt:

”Griddy was the power marketer that sold consumers electricity at wholesale rates, which rose to $9,000 per megawatt hour as cold weather struck the state last week. Unable to cope with demand, utilities cut power to 4.3 million residents as temperatures fell below freezing.
Grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) “effectively shut down Griddy,” the electricity marketer said in a statement on its website. Requests for further comment were not returned.”

I believe Griddy is a variable rate and typically its customers have been getting lower rates compared to perhaps what I’ve been getting. However, because of the spike in energy cost, they got screwed.