If it's too much, people can always go with one of their local long-time providers and choose a fixed rate plan. There are lots of websites out there to help people choose. I hadn't heard of anyone being switched from fixed to variable before - that seems unfair. I also hadn't heard of any companies that require real time payments until this Griddy thing hit the news. Which others did you find? That's interesting. Most people I know of pay a bill once a month for last month's power. Some prefer a variable plan, some prefer to pay the same amount every month, to smooth out the ups and downs. At my house, we just brace ourselves every July to pay $500 plus per month through September.

nvm

Well, I don't know. 😀 Griddy is the only one that I've seen in the stories about people who are seeing bills in the thousands of dollars. There was the one woman in your OP article, who is a variable rate customer with Reliant. She was worried about her bill for next month being roughly double the $63 she paid earlier this month. I was trying to check what's going on with my usage/bill, but TXU's website seems to be down.

As @Dreamergalindicated, the governor and others are looking into this issue. I'm sorry for these people. I really am, but I think they bear some responsibility for their choice of electric provider. A two minute Google search brought me to this article from August 2019: https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/08/20/griddy-customers-report-dramatic-spike/#:~:text=The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is the,BBB claimed Griddy violated its code of advertising. Another quick search led me here (also August 2019): https://www.texaselectricityratings.com/blog/my-experience-with-griddy/ Did these current Griddy customers spend even 15 minutes looking into their one-of-a-kind deal? Did they see anything that gave them pause? I feel sure that some sort of relief will be offered them.

I was just coming here to ask about your water situation. Yay! 😄

Austin's forecast shows temps in the 50s today and the 60s beginning tomorrow. I hope they'll be able to turn on the water for her sooner.

Local media and city governments are recommending this. Turn off the water (at the curb, around here) and open the faucets in hopes that the thaw will let water run out of faucets instead of walls. I do think we can learn from past mistakes, though.

(Here I am, still meandering...) I think this is different. People selling disinfecting wipes or hand sanitizer at crazy prices didn't pay crazy prices to obtain their products. I don't think the electric provider is doing the gouging. That may be occurring upstream. (I don't know how energy trading works.) I would think that a company providing a variable rate electricity product buys energy on the open market to pass on to its customers, marking it up to make a profit. The CEO of Griddy (the company being highlighted in many of these stories) probably had enough experience to know that power was about to become very, very expensive. He didn't want that, if for no other reason than it would ultimately damage his business! That's why he warned his customers. But surely he has already purchased the power, so if his customers don't pay him, he takes a huge loss. That isn't right. Consumers who sign up for stuff like this are thrilled to pay flexible (lower) market rates under normal circumstances. I've seen advertisements for such plans before, and they just seemed too good to be true (but then I'm even wary of taking out a variable rate mortgage!). This is sort of related to the preparation issue of personal responsibility v government. Should state governments fully regulate and control utility companies, or should they allow consumers to shop for their power according to their needs? If consumers shop for their power, should governments step in when those consumers don't like the way the scenario has played out? I'm willing to bet that the contract the Griddy customers signed is loaded with warnings about possible dangers of variable rates. I think it will all be sorted eventually.

I've heard a story or two about it on the radio. I think some people choose electric providers who offer variable rates, which can be cheaper under normal circumstances. It's not cheaper now. (At least that's how I understand it.)

I think that was the initial intention. Threads, like conversations, tend to meander. 🙂 ETA: I'll stop meandering now.

@Vintage81, do you mind sharing your location?

So, I guess the point of my post above is that some people must have prepared a little - stores, individuals - so that they could have things to share. You wouldn't know it from the news (which has my fil calling us worried that we're dying), but many stores have had food and there's bottled water to be had. I was at Sam's yesterday, and while they were limiting bottled water to 5 cases per member, there was plenty of it -- it was stacked in the aisles. (Many of our DFW area cities are under boil water advisories.) Yeah people cleaned out the bread, milk, and eggs, at my Tom Thumb, but that's how it anytime we expect a major (for us) winter storm. Now that trucks can get through, which anyone watching the weather forecast could have predicted they would by today, stores are restocking. I don't mean to suggest that this wasn't a big deal. A lot of folks have suffered because of "rolling" blackouts that didn't roll. My brother's power was out for nearly 80 hours... my sister's not at all. We lost power, rolling more off than on, for a total of 36-ish hours, but we didn't go to one of the many warming stations - two within walking distance - or accept offers of shelter from family or neighbors. We checked on people around us and would have been happy to help, but no one wanted anything. Food pantry clients today were saying they had been very cold, but they made it through alright. One homeless lady said the same as we loaded her up with food and water and tried to arrange shelter for her (which she didn't seem to want). I don't know where she stayed during the worst of it. I guess I'm thinking that, as usual, the news outlets want to produce dramatic, horrible stories about people who are having a terrible time when just as many (more?) people are really just fine. It was uncomfortable and inconvient to an extreme for many, and it will cost a lot of money to clean up, but some of these stories, frankly, seem to be more about a political agenda than the plight of ordinary folks. (And I know people did suffer. It's terrible and very sad.) I'm in the camp of prepare as much as you reasonably can, get to know your neighbors, share with others, and hope the government will do its part. Since I claim to be a Christian, I should relax when I've done what I can and trust God to work as He will. (Sadly, I'm not always successful there.) I'm unhappy with our power grid situation and the way this played out, but I'd like to know more about the decisions behind our "energy independence", and I suspect citizens will push for needed changes. I hope so. Meanwhile, I will refine my own preparedness a little, based on our experiences these past several days, and I'll be watching our state government in hopes that they'll do the same. (This was more rambly than I intended. It has been a long week. 🙃)

Things are improving a bit. Looking at our state weather map, temps are in the mid-thirties and above, with the valley and much of the west in the low-fifties. Of course, it will drop again tonight, but tomorrow should be warmer still. Numerous water distribution events have already begun and will continue tomorrow, run by the TX National Guard, churches, and ordinary folks. At the food pantry, we began the day without much to share, but people absolutely came out of the woodwork to donate. 😊 We had TONS of "good stuff" to share and were running out of space to keep things when we closed for the evening.

This, absolutely. Discernment/judgement of actions, yes, but not final, eternal judgement. I hope that as death approached, Rush Limbaugh repented of the harm he caused to others, and that he turned to God for mercy and forgiveness. I hope that for all of us, though I'd prefer it to happen sooner rather than later.

I hadn't realized he was 99! They are a long-lived bunch!

I think the OP was just making a current events announcement about Limbaugh. Certainly I believe that people are responsible for their words, but again, I'm not his judge. It seems to me that this discussion would be a more fitting topic on the Politics Board (of which I believe you three are members 🙂), so I will bow out.

Hardly the high road. I'm no Limbaugh fan, but I'm not his judge.

You beat me to it.

Prob a good idea. You could also fill up some pitchers or a thermos or two.

Our power (Dallas) rolled off and on three times through the night. It's 8 degrees outside now and beautifully sunny. Rolling blackouts are planned throughout the day.

It can be really lonely to do the right thing, especially when it impacts your children. I can handle just about anything, but if my children are hurt by it... Sigh. I commend you for standing by what you believe to be right and best. Many hugs, @MercyA!

Ours is too, unless it rains or is super cold (as it is today). And nearly everyone still wears masks.

Or you can just put it in your car or in a container outdoors for most of this week.

I know. The meme upthread about how afraid Texans are of this kind of weather was funny, but I'll confess that I am frightened of these sustained low temps. Not so much for me -- I have a home, and I also have family in other parts of town if we suddenly didn't have power. My sister has a generator. Many of our most vulnerable folks don't have proper cold weather clothing. We gave away tons of coats and jackets at the food pantry this week, and I worry for the people out there who can't get out or who don't have the money to get what they need.