Throughout the course of the power grid issues, many Texans were overcharged for power. An independent monitor concluded that Texas kept energy prices contrived for days longer than needed. This period alone is estimated to have caused over sixteen billion dollars’ worth of extra charges to customers in Texas.
Governor Greg Abbott created a panel which told the grid operator to raise the peak price of a megawatt hour to nine thousand dollars. These prices continued through the end of the state of emergency, rather than the end of the blackouts.
Last week, criticism led to the commission chair resigning. On Friday, the two remaining commissioners made it clear that they were not interested in repricing the previous megawatt hours, which were closer to twenty-two dollars an hour. Many believe that these enhanced prices were in effect for four days too long. Corporations and Texans in the energy field took the biggest burden of these costs.
Vistra Corp operates in Texas as a power generator and retailer. They estimate losses over a billion dollars. Wind farm operators are also in financial trouble. Many were required to continue purchasing energy at inflated costs due to the details of their contracts.
While the commission related to energy didn’t strike down the monitors’ idea regarding repricing, they didn’t necessarily show their support either.
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