Texas power provider Griddy filed for bankruptcy Monday and blamed the state network for destroying its business.
In a statement on its website, the company claimed that the actions taken by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to price energy at extremely high levels during a massive winter storm last month affected both its customers. as well as the business itself.
“Our bankruptcy plan, if confirmed, provides relief to our former customers who have been unable to pay their electricity bills as a result of unprecedented prices. ERCOT has worsened the situation for our customers by continuing to set prices at $ 9,000 per megawatt “One hour after the firm’s charging depot instructions stopped. Our customers paid 300 times more than the normal price for electricity during that time,” said CEO Michael Fallquist.
Griddy and Texas officials blamed who was responsible for the price increases that led to many Texans facing shocking energy bills in the days following the deadly storm. Griddy, which allows customers to choose between different plans, advised users to switch to fixed-rate plans before the storm and many who did not wake up to face extremely high rates for energy use during the storm, just as much of the state’s electricity grid has failed.
A co-founder of Griddy, Gregory Craig, added in the company’s statement that its pricing plans would not have led to large energy bills “if the grid had not failed and regulators had not intervened”.
The company is accused of lowering prices in a class action lawsuit, and the state attorney general alleged in a lawsuit that Griddy violated the Texas Misleading Business Practices Act.
“While the Texans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy aggravated the suffering even more because he charged outrageous sums every day. Being the first lawsuit filed by my office to deal with the outrageous failure of power companies, I will blame Griddy for escalating this winter storm disaster, “said Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).
Dozens of Texans and others in the surrounding states died as a result of frost conditions last month, while millions were left without energy for days. Officials blamed the frozen cars at the natural gas plants, which provide much of the state’s power, for disruptions.