For almost a week now, millions of Texans have been fighting a brutal winter storm, in dark, freezing households, revealing not only the severity of our climate crisis, but also the faultiness of our fossil fuel infrastructure. While some households were still able to run their electricity throughout the storm, they must pay a severe price for it— literally. Scott Willoughby, a 63 year old Army Veteran from a Dallas suburb received a $16,752 electric bill— 70 times the price of his usual utility bills combined. Willoughby is one of the many Texans who have been left with enormous electric bills for simply leaving their lights on, running their fridge, etc. On the other hand, fossil fuel billionaires like CFO Roland Burns are profiting off of this disaster, saying “This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices.” This situation highlights the corrupt powers that are benefiting from the catastrophic bills Texas communities are facing.
In our first Econ assignment, we ranked and graded the broad goals of any economic system, which strongly relates to Texas’ unique energy market. Economic freedom entails the freedom of consumers to spend their incomes/savings; similarly, Texas’ unregulated energy market allows for customers to choose their own electricity supplier out of about 220 on their market-driven system. The architects of this system claim the purpose is “to balance the market by encouraging consumers to reduce their usage and power suppliers to create more electricity.” However, when the storm struck, Texas’ Public Utilities commission raised the price cap to be 9 dollars per kilowatt-hour, which skyrocketed customers’ costs. Like many of the other Texans who are suffering with these bills, Willoughby is a consumer of a small electricity company called “Griddy,” whose wholesale prices largely depend on supply and demand.
Now, Texans are calling for accountability and change. Mr. Upshaw, a Griddy customer who was charged $6,700, states that “It’s a utility— it’s something that you need to live...I don’t feel like I’ve used $6,700 of electricity in the last decade. That’s not a cost that any reasonable person would have to pay for five days of intermittent electric service being used at the bare minimum.” Houston mayor Sylvester Turner joins Upshaw, stating that “Those exorbitant costs should be borne by the state of Texas and not the individual customers who did not cause this catastrophe this week.” After a meeting with Texas lawmakers, Governor Greg Abbott blocked utility companies from billing their customers. These costs are clearly a result of vulnerable fossil fuel infrastructure, and the system continues to negatively impact low income communities and benefit billionaires. Those with index or variable rate plans shouldn’t be obligated to pay excessive amounts for climate crisis driven disasters and corrupt energy systems. Lawmakers from both parties must collaborate in order to provide security for their constituents.
Some questions to consider:
How can Texas better support those who are receiving the sharp increases in their energy bills?
Do you think that Texas needs to open up their power grid, and revise their market driven energy system?
1 comment:
This is a really unfortunate situation for Texans because nobody caused this natural disaster to happen. I side with Houston's mayor, Sylvester Turner, as the state should take care of those costs and lift the weight off of the shoulders of those that were highly affected by the storm, a disaster in which close to nobody was prepared for. I understand that some companies benefit from these disasters, but it's still sad to see that others are thrilled that they are billing people enormous amounts of money for just trying to get through the cold nights. I feel like it would be wise for Texas to open up its power grid in the case of another natural disaster. This is the first time that the snow has had an extreme impact on the state and the second time that it's snowed there in the last month. I would take the cautionary measure to attempt to expand its power grid so that Texans don't have to face another bill like this again.
Post a Comment