[ad_1]
Wholesale retail electricity supplier Griddy Electric missed required payments to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), causing Griddy to lose its right to operate in the state while around 10,000 customers have been transferred to other services.
“It was not a choice we made,” defended Griddy in a statement posted Friday on Twitter.
According to a contract notice, Griddy’s participation in the market was formally revoked on the same day under the ERCOT protocols due to a “payment violation”.
The move comes after Texans suffered multi-day power outages caused by unusually harsh winter conditions, with residents facing devastating electrical charges worth several thousand dollars.
Griddy was among the vendors who sent out huge invoices, shocking customers.
“We have always been transparent and customer-centric at every step,” Griddy’s statement read. “We wanted to continue the fight so that our members are relieved and that has not changed.”
Griddy explained why the fees were so high in a February 18 blog post, stating that the Texas Utilities Commission (PUCT) had asked ERCOT to increase prices to $ 9 / kWh to reflect the scarcity of the supply during the storm – but PUCT then kept those prices high. even after the power started to turn back on for Texans.
“To date, 99% of homes have their electricity restored and the available production was well above the 1,000 MW cushion,” the blog read. “Yet the PUCT left the directive in place and continued to force prices to $ 9 / kWh, about 300 times higher than the normal wholesale price.”
Griddy charges his clients $ 10 a month. However, some customers faced costs close to $ 10,000 for storm week, according to The Texas Tribune.
Ron Jenkins / Getty Images
Griddy’s exclusion from the market is the latest in what is becoming a huge financial fallout in Texas caused by the severe storm.
ERCOT said in another procurement notice on Friday that, overall, Texas electricity providers have failed to make $ 2.12 billion in required payments. Electricity providers normally pay ERCOT, which operates the state’s electricity grid, according to the Tribune. More payments than usual were due this time around due to soaring costs for every hour of electricity caused by the winter storm.
ERCOT has now decided to crack down on its unpaid bills, causing Griddy to shut down in Lone Star State.
“The same day that ERCOT announced that it was $ 2.1 billion short, it decided to take this action against a single company which is a tiny fraction of the market and that deficit,” Griddy said in his statement Friday.
ERCOT said on Friday it would use $ 800 million from an income account to cover part of the deficit, according to The Wall Street Journal, leaving a gap of $ 1.32 billion that it will have to close.
On Wednesday, ERCOT apologized to Texans for the severe power cuts amid mounting lawsuits from frustrated residents.
Newsweek contacted PUCT, ERCOT and Griddy for their comments.
[ad_2]
Source link