Future energy bills draw concern
As you listen or read national coverage about energy bills you will hear or see horror stories of people paying thousands of dollars. In Dallas Morning News, Karen Cosby was quoted as saying that her cost is $5,000 for usage since Saturday at her 2,700-square-foot house in Rockwall. Governor Greg Abbott signed two orders from an emergency meeting Saturday that they would instruct utility companies to temporarily stop disconnections for non-payments and would direct the utility companies to stop sending out bills or estimates until issues are worked trough.
Governor Greg Abbott released a statement saying, “It is unacceptable for Texans who suffered through days in the freezing cold without electricity or heat to now be hit with skyrocketing energy costs,” said Governor Abbott. “To protect families, I am actively working with the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House and members of the Legislature to develop solutions to ensure that Texans are not on the hook for unreasonable spikes in their energy bills.”
Before Abbot’s Saturday meeting, Peter Main from SWEPCO Corporate Communications told the Journal-Sun that the high prices that people are seeing in the Dallas area aren’t a representation of the prices and services that SWEPCO provides, “The customers in the Dallas Morning News article live in the deregulated part of Texas. They buy their electricity from their choice of Retail Electric Providers (REPs), who offer a wide variety of pricing and other contract provisions.”
“These companies operate in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market, where REPs, transmission and distribution (wires) companies, and power generation companies are separate companies.”
“SWEPCO is a regulated electric utility with rates governed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).”
“Any change in rates must be approved by the PUCT, typically after an extensive regulatory review process. SWEPCO is a fully integrated utility that operates in the Southwest Power Pool and is not part of the deregulated ERCOT market,” says Main.
Main did say that “customers likely will see higher bills due to this month’s extreme temperatures. They can get an idea of their increased energy usage by comparing the kilowatt-hours used for the billing month to the same billing period a year ago, which is also displayed on the bill.”
“We recognize that customers are concerned about higher bills during both winter and summer months, especially with the impact of COVID-19. If you’re struggling to pay electric bills during the pandemic, it’s important to reach out to SWEPCO so we can work together to find a solution. We have a number of payment options, including extended payment agreements, and we’re ready to work with you, so please contact us. Three ways to contact SWEPCO are SWEPCO.com/Assist, Customer Solutions Center at 1-877-446-7211 and on Facebook or Twitter (Facebook.com/SWEPCO or Twitter.com/SWEPCOnews),” explained Main.
Main says that Customers who are struggling to pay bills may also find other sources of assistance through their county’s community action agency or through the Texas state Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP).
An unknown representative from media relations for CenterPoint Energy issued a statement to the Journal-Sun saying… “Last week, our communities faced an unprecedented weather event. Throughout this difficult time, Center-Point Energy’s focus remained on ensuring that our customers had natural gas service by managing the need for natural gas supply in real time. Our natural gas systems performed well.”
Media relations when on to say that “In preparation for the extremely low temperatures, we took proactive steps to lessen the impact to our customers, including working closely with regulators. We anticipate that this weather event will result in incremental costs for our customers. At this moment, it is too early to speculate on potential price impacts. Soon, we’ll be able to better quantify the impacts to customer bills.”
Like SWEPCO, CenterPoint also encouraged their customers to reach out to them for payment assistance. “As always, customers who need payment assistance can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/PaymentAssistance or log into CenterPointEnergy.com/ MyAccount to request a payment extension or arrangement.”
As of Monday, at 10:00 a.m., Bowie-Cass Electric Cooperative had not returned an email from the Journal-Sun.
For information on incentives for lighting, smart thermostats and other energy efficiency measures, visit SWEPCO.com/save.
Please check out casscountynow.com for updates from this ongoing situation