DALLAS — Griddy Energy customers are off the hook for their outrageous electric bills, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The attorney general’s office sued Griddy under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act on behalf of 24,000 customers who have a cumulative $29.1 million unpaid electric bills from the week of freezing temperatures in Texas last month.
The action Paxton took was to release Griddy’s former customers from the Griddy’s bankruptcy, which it filed for Monday in Houston. Texas won’t move forward with its state court lawsuit and investigation, and “Griddy will work with it in good faith to resolve these matters,” the attorney general said.
Paxton’s office also said it’s working with Griddy to get some “relief” for people who have already paid Griddy in some cases several thousand dollars each.
“Griddy and my office are engaged in ongoing good faith negotiations to attempt to address additional relief for those Griddy customers who have already paid their storm-related energy bills,” Paxton said in a statement.
Griddy sold electric plans with rates tied to the spot price of power on the Texas grid, and that was allowed to go to a maximum price of $9,000 a megawatt hour during the winter storm, up from about $25 or $30 under normal conditions. Customers couldn’t switch to another company’s fixed plan fast enough and ended up with unprecedented electric bills.
