Whenever they have a spike in demand, the de-regulated prices go up by several hundred percent. Example

  • remotelove@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    6 months ago

    More questions here than answers, unfortunately.

    It’s my understanding that there is a cap at $5000/MwH ($5/kwH). That is still hella expensive, but would only be for a day or two at maximum?

    For the headlines of +$16000 power bills, that is probably a one-off for heavy power consumers, like businesses that have massive freezers and such, correct?

    • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      57
      ·
      6 months ago

      Not correct.

      I have coworkers in Texas that got hit with multi thousand dollar bills during brown outs.

      Deregulating critical services never ends well for the consumer.

    • Kalkaline @leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      6 months ago

      I have a friend from high school that got hit with a something like $20,000 bill because he signed up for some discount program on his electric bill. The freeze a couple years ago did similar things to demand and he got hit with a massive bill.

      • remotelove@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        6 months ago

        Ok, that clears up my misunderstanding then. I was thinking that the cap applied across the board. (That does change things a bit, don’t it?)

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      6 months ago

      A properly insulated industrial freezer should consume less electricity than a house with AC, even if it’s set at a reasonable temp.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        I’m curious as to how this would compare to a properly insulated home?

        most the houses in texas are uninsulated to keep construction costs down. (despite the fact that even a minimal amount of insulation would pay for itself inside of a year or two.) (Why would you want to insulate against heat, right? global warming is a woke-ist hoax! /s)