Biden declares a winter emergency for Texas.

[s0me0nesmind1]

Sounds like an obvious risk of their business model to me. A lot of their customers probably don't even have multiple thousands of dollars to pay the bills sent so good luck getting blood from those turnips.

I entirely agree. Which is why when my neighbor was pitching it to me I was just like... ehh.... I'll stick to fixed rates. Not worth the risk/reward to save $20 to $40 a month or whatever it would net me. Admittedly though, that very well could be a good $300 - 500 savings over the course of a year. To a lot of people that is a big deal. Like I said though - it comes with risk. Plenty of people are too stupid to understand risk. Christ, I have an umbrella insurance policy - and plenty of people would scratch their head as to what that is for.

It's not a bad concept in nature. Typically prices would go up during peak summer-temperatures - and I have no problem turning off the AC and unplugging electronics for a while during peak times. Which is honestly overall a good concept for folks to conserve energy when it's running low.

The problem is obviously when it's not a "peak" and it's a day or week-long ordeal.

 

[fskimospy]

I entirely agree. Which is why when my neighbor was pitching it to me I was just like... ehh.... I'll stick to fixed rates. Not worth the risk/reward to save $20 to $40 a month or whatever it would net me. Admittedly though, that very well could be a good $300 - 500 savings over the course of a year. To a lot of people that is a big deal. Like I said though - it comes with risk. Plenty of people are too stupid to understand risk. Christ, I have an umbrella insurance policy - and plenty of people would scratch their head as to what that is for.

It's not a bad concept in nature. Typically prices would go up during peak summer-temperatures - and I have no problem turning off the AC and unplugging electronics for a while during peak times. Which is honestly overall a good concept for folks to conserve energy when it's running low.

The problem is obviously when it's not a "peak" and it's a day or week-long ordeal.

I agree it’s a good concept in a broad sense, however it seems like they had a real failure in risk management there. This storm was not a black swan event, something similar happened 10 years ago. Griddy should have known that there’s no way in hell a lot of their customers were going to be able to pay surprise electric bills of $5,000-$10,000.

 

[sandorski]

No - they just have a huge influx of going from the majority of customers paying their bill to an epic fuckton that aren't paying their bill.

If only someone took the effects of the Pandemic seriously....oh well.

 

[K1052]

Not what you want to see if you are Abbott. Anecdotally most of the people I know were relatively ambivalent about him as governor, less so after the last few weeks.

 

[Jhhnn]

Sounds like an obvious risk of their business model to me. A lot of their customers probably don't even have multiple thousands of dollars to pay the bills sent so good luck getting blood from those turnips.

Yeh, but it was a nice racket while it lasted. I'm surprised they only found 29K suckers in Texas who'd buy into to the notion that they could beat the system.

 

[Wreckem]

Sounds like an obvious risk of their business model to me. A lot of their customers probably don't even have multiple thousands of dollars to pay the bills sent so good luck getting blood from those turnips.

Their business model was based on the fact Texas had a cap on maximum charges. No one expected Texas to lift that cap and let charges go to $9k a MWh. Nor did they think Texas, ERCOT, and PUC essentially let power generators to get about $5billion in free money because of billing errors that PUC and ERCOT refuse to fix.

 

[allisolm]

It's wrong to say that Griddy charged thousands of dollars to customers. The MARKET rate that they signed up for in order to get electricity isn't determined by Griddy. They play zero factor in that and literally can't control that.

Don't pick nits. It's not wrong to say that Griddy charged thousands of dollars to customers. That's exactly what happened. They charged customers thousands of dollars each. It would be indeed be wrong to say they set the market rate and, amazingly enough, I didn't say that.

 

[fskimospy]

Their business model was based on the fact Texas had a cap on maximum charges. No one expected Texas to lift that cap and let charges go to $9k a MWh. Nor did they think Texas, ERCOT, and PUC essentially let power generators to get about $5billion in free money because of billing errors that PUC and ERCOT refuse to fix.

If I’m not mistaken Texas does have a cap and it was unchanged, it’s just that the cap was $9k per mwh.

 

[sdifox]

If I’m not mistaken Texas does have a cap and it was unchanged, it’s just that the cap was $9k per mwh.

Pretty sure my hydro bill is under 4k a year.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Pretty sure my hydro bill is under 4k a year.

I'm in MA, and it's about $120-200 per month for me. We have a pile of electronics running, so it's not shocking, I turn off whatever / whenever I can to try and keep the cost down.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm in MA, and it's about $120-200 per month for me. We have a pile of electronics running, so it's not shocking, I turn off whatever / whenever I can to try and keep the cost down.

Solar dude....solar.....
The SRECs make it possible to pay for the system in around 8 years, plus free electric.
**above figure is dated but I think it is still true**

My wife talking me into solar panels was a smart thing. The whole SREC market thing is confusing and I had trouble getting my head around it. Think of it as a market, your panels produce clean energy credits (sort of like a bitcoin there is something of value but it is not physical). Companies that produce a lot of waste buy these credits to off set their wasteful ways. These purchases make solar much more affordable.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Solar dude....solar.....
The SRECs make it possible to pay for the system in around 8 years, plus free electric.
**above figure is dated but I think it is still true**

My wife talking me into solar panels was a smart thing. The whole SREC market thing is confusing and I had trouble getting my head around it. Think of it as a market, your panels produce clean energy credits (sort of like a bitcoin there is something of value but it is not physical). Companies that produce a lot of waste buy these credits to off set their wasteful ways. These purchases make solar much more affordable.

It's in mind, but I really don't want then ON my house. I got about an acre of wooded hillside land next to the house, I really wanna park it there. We face east, so it would be perfect.for about 6-8 hours of energy daily

 

[Fanatical Meat]

It's in mind, but I really don't want then ON my house. I got about an acre of wooded hillside land next to the house, I really wanna park it there. We face east, so it would be perfect.for about 6-8 hours of energy daily

Yeah you could even get the semi motorized panels that track the sun. More production that way, good stuff.
I just don’t have the land for that.

 

[PingSpike]

It's in mind, but I really don't want then ON my house. I got about an acre of wooded hillside land next to the house, I really wanna park it there. We face east, so it would be perfect.for about 6-8 hours of energy daily

That seems like the way to go to me. Then you don't have to deal with them when its time to replace the roof, probably easier to clean snow off if that's a thing. You have to mow under them though.

There's a bunch of solar farms they put up in fields around here. They have sheep that are penned in under them to take care of the grass.

 

[ch33zw1z]

That seems like the way to go to me. Then you don't have to deal with them when its time to replace the roof, probably easier to clean snow off if that's a thing. You have to mow under them though.

There's a bunch of solar farms they put up in fields around here. They have sheep that are penned in under them to take care of the grass.

The costs of sheep / goats might be comparable to no-grow + stone under them

You're right, the foilage grows fast around here, it wouldn't be long before trees were pressing in on them

 

[snoopy7548]

The costs of sheep / goats might be comparable to no-grow + stone under them

You're right, the foilage grows fast around here, it wouldn't be long before trees were pressing in on them

*Foliage.

 

[ch33zw1z]

*Foliage.

U know, spell check flagged but I just kept on going 🤪

I mean, I don't pronounce it foil-age, so wtf brain - fingers

 

[Fanatical Meat]

@ch33zw1z let me know when tree cutting happens. I like chopping up trees.

 

[Bitek]

Houston in all honesty - is the least of people's worries. We had roughly 2-3 days (depending on what side of town you lived on) of below freezing temperatures. Dallas and even Austin are much more north and had MUCH longer below freezing.




/facepalm, I've explained this numerous times - The only people who have high energy bills are idiots that deserve it. End of story. You won't find a single person that lives in Texas on this board that has a high energy bill from this.

99.8% of Texas residents aren't stupid and have a locked in fixed-rate energy provider. Personally, I did away with having to find new plans every 1-2 years and opted to have a 5-year set rate at 10cents/kwh... Which at this point was a fucking awesome decision on my part.

This has nothing to do with capitalism, it has to do with idiots that knew the risks they were taking and after getting hit by the risk they want someone to cover their losses. Fuck em. Do you have sympathy and want to give someone a 2nd chance when they bet 50,000 on black in Vegas? It's the same shit.

even if you didn't sign in for a fixed rate contract you should still expect a certain preparedness and performance from your utility service - not this total level of incompetence when they've been warned about it multiple times, something within the control of man to fix.

It's not like Texas is unique in implementing market choices for power suppliers. Other states do this, and it's great in that it gives consumers options on pricing and sources as they wish.

What is uniquely Texan is complete collapse into a third world country on account of some unusually severe weather.

This is the difference in competence and care. Other states will write in safeguards to encourage choice but also protect against disaster. There shouldn't be an option to bankrupt yourself, your supplier, your water systems, your food systems and shut down the economy due to a bit of snow.

It's just pure fing stupidity to design something this way.

But that what Texas does, and expects FEMA bailouts when it all goes predictably to shit.

 

[Jhhnn]

It's not like Texas is unique in implementing market choices for power suppliers. Other states do this, and it's great in that it gives consumers options on pricing and sources as they wish.

What is uniquely Texan is complete collapse into a third world country on account of some unusually severe weather.

This is the difference in competence and care. Other states will write in safeguards to encourage choice but also protect against disaster. There shouldn't be an option to bankrupt yourself, your supplier, your water systems, your food systems and shut down the economy due to a bit of snow.

It's just pure fing stupidity to design something this way.

But that what Texas does, and expects FEMA bailouts when it all goes predictably to shit.

The whole notion of choice in power providers is contrived. You can't choose the fuel source, the actual generator of power or the distribution network. All you can choose is which marketing outfit to buy from. It's just a wayto create another layer of profit taking in the supply chain that forces the necessary entities into a cheaper is better race to the bottom.

 

[Bitek]

The whole notion of choice in power providers is contrived. You can't choose the fuel source, the actual generator of power or the distribution network. All you can choose is which marketing outfit to buy from. It's just a wayto create another layer of profit taking in the supply chain that forces the necessary entities into a cheaper is better race to the bottom.

That's not correct. In many states you can choose the generation type along with pricing and contract structure. CO has not deregulated electricity, so don't mistake that for the rules across the country.

The distribution network choices has constraints, but were talking about a different issue here.

If you believe in green power, you can absolutely choose a contract that's renewable, say 100% wind power.

Choice gives consumers a chance to vote and act with their wallets.

The left should embrace this, along with cutting carbon industry subsidies, so that the market is on a level playing field and green will out-price dirty fossil fuels. Better tactics rather than heavy regulation, new taxes and "attacking" carbon industries and getting into ugly politics. Let the market and innovation do its work.

Who has deregulated. 17 states in all. Some just gas, some elec, some both.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

That's not correct. In many states you can choose the generation type along with pricing and contract structure. CO has not deregulated electricity, so don't mistake that for the rules across the country.

The distribution network choices has constraints, but were talking about a different issue here.

If you believe in green power, you can absolutely choose a contract that's renewable, say 100% wind power.

Choice gives consumers a chance to vote and act with their wallets.

The left should embrace this, along with cutting carbon industry subsidies, so that the market is on a level playing field and green will out-price dirty fossil fuels. Better tactics rather than heavy regulation, new taxes and "attacking" carbon industries and getting into ugly politics. Let the market and innovation do its work.

Who has deregulated. 17 states in all. Some just gas, some elec, some both.

Correct-o.

For example, my plan goes 100% towards renewable energy:



Powertochoose.org lets you select this as a filter as well:

 

[Jhhnn]

That's not correct. In many states you can choose the generation type along with pricing and contract structure. CO has not deregulated electricity, so don't mistake that for the rules across the country.

If you believe in green power, you can absolutely choose a contract that's renewable, say 100% wind power.

Choice gives consumers a chance to vote and act with their wallets.

So what? I can choose from a variety of Xcel Energy plans. I just don't pay for contrived middleman profits. I'm also hooked up to the national grid system which enhances reliability of service.

 

[Jhhnn]

Correct-o.

For example, my plan goes 100% towards renewable energy:

If you believe the power coming to your house actually comes from 100% renewable energy then you're goofier than I thought. Renewable energy just provides as much power to the grid over time as you consume. When renewable energy supply is strong, providers cut back production from other sources. When renewable production is low, the opposite is true. The reason is that the system is largely incapable of storing energy other than through pumped hydro storage like the Mt Elbert power plant.

 

[Jaskalas]

I agree it’s a good concept in a broad sense, however it seems like they had a real failure in risk management there. This storm was not a black swan event, something similar happened 10 years ago. Griddy should have known that there’s no way in hell a lot of their customers were going to be able to pay surprise electric bills of $5,000-$10,000.

Pyramid schemers don't care how it ends. They just want to soak in as much profit as they can fit under their golden parachutes.
A trap for consumers? PROFIT!