Griddy: Texas AG Says Over $ 29 Million In Unpaid Electricity Bills Will Be Forgiven As It Sues Griddy Energy

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“My office sued Griddy Energy, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, to hold them accountable for the escalation of last month’s winter storm by debiting huge sums from accounts receivable as Texans struggled to survive. the storm, ”AG Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, noting more than $ 29 million owed to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the state’s electricity grid. This form of bankruptcy allows a business to restructure its debts and reorganize itself to repay its creditors over time.

Through the bankruptcy plan, Griddy “will release all outstanding payment obligations for Texas consumers who were unable to pay their energy bills due to the high prices charged during the storm,” the attorney’s office said. general.

And Paxton said his office was working with the company “as part of ongoing good faith negotiations to try to address further relief” for customers who have already paid energy bills resulting from the storms.

Griddy did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. In an online article announcing the bankruptcy filing, Griddy blamed ERCOT.

“The actions of ERCOT have destroyed our business and caused financial harm to our customers,” Michael Fallquist, CEO of Griddy, said in a statement.

‘No choice but to turn off’

While most Texans and Americans pay a flat rate for electric power, Griddy works by connecting customers to the wholesale electricity market – which is more volatile – for a monthly rate of $ 9.99. When power generators broke down in storms last month and demand for heat increased, ERCOT raised the price of electricity to the legal limit of $ 9 per kilowatt hour and kept it going for several days.

Griddy customers who did not lose power were hit with massive electricity bills that were automatically debited from their bank accounts. The state attorney general’s office received more than 400 consumer complaints against Griddy in less than two weeks, he has previously said.
Texas energy company that billed huge electricity bills during bankruptcy storm

ERCOT days after the storm revoked Griddy Energy’s right to work in the state’s electricity market for default. Following this decision, Griddy said he had “(n) o choice but to pass away.”

The Attorney General announced this month that he was suing Griddy Energy and Griddy Holdings for “false, deceptive and deceptive advertising and marketing practices”, alleging that the company had misled customers and downplayed the incredible risk of its system. pricing, which charges the most when customers are most vulnerable.

An independent observer for the Texas Utilities Commission recently found that ERCOT kept prices too high for almost two days during the storm, resulting in overcosts of $ 16 billion.

Another public services commissioner resigns

Meanwhile, another commissioner from the Texas Utilities Commission resigned this week, according to a statement from Governor Greg Abbott. Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea has resigned at Abbott’s request, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“I will appoint a replacement in the coming days who will be responsible for charting a new course for the agency,” Abbott said. “Texans deserve to have faith in the Public Services Commission, and this action is one of many steps that will be taken to achieve this goal.”

Commission chair DeAnn Walker and Commissioner Shelly Botkin also resigned following the winter storm, CNN reported. D’Andrea had been the PUC commissioner since 2017 and was appointed by the governor to head the commission after Walker’s departure.

CNN’s Eric Levenson and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

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