Texans now have to deal with the aftermath of the storm and it is not going to be pretty. There are still people that do not have power, grocery stores are being emptied daily by panic buyers, many towns are on a boil water notice including Del Rio, there are busted pipes statewide and very few plumbers to address the situation...and these are just a few trivial ones.
I am scared that our electric bill is going to be in the thousands of dollars since we never lost our power. While the first nights, we were warm...I then started seeing reports of electric bills being sky-high...in many instances a 10,000% mark-up. Many from $3,000 to $17,000 for only a couple of days. Today I learned that the already much disliked Texas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones owns one such company that benefited from selling power to ERCOT and made millions in a couple of days while Texans froze.
The lady below is named Nora Flores an Edinburgh, Texas resident that works at a local nursing home making $11.25 an hour and for just a few days got a bill for $3,315.01 she has no savings or any way to pay it. Is her electricity going to be turned off?
On the other side of the spectrum, there was a gentleman that got a bill for close to $17,000 and it had already cleared his bank since he was on this form of payment. If you have that much in your checking account you are a person of means but I still think it was too much and he was not happy about it either.
By coincidence, my CPL bill was debited from my checking account today that is why I did not cancel my autopay last week but I think I will do so soon. Would like to hear from other Texans that are on this plan how they are going to handle it?
San Antonio's energy provider is CPS and they have decided to cancel everyone's autopay and are blocking the Manage My Account page where customers can see what their bill is.
Turns out Ted Cruz's "let's go on vacation while everyone else is freezing" is not unique to him. Today we learned that the controversial Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton and his wife Sen. Angela Paxton went to Utah during the Texas freeze. What a despicable character this man is!
The only good thing is that our temperatures are back to normal. We had a sunny day with a high of 73 degrees.
Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.
Aunty Acid Saying of the Day
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Glad our Electricity is cheaper then that. Here in our apartment it's included in the rent.
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing on CNN that some politicians are saying the state of Texas should be responsible for the damage done to people's homes.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
You guys are lucky to have your electric bill included in the rent. Only upscale condo short-term rentals have that here.
DeleteI have not seen that on CNN but if you did it must be from Democrats since it was the Republicans that came up with ERCOT to keep the federal government regulations out of Texas.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry went as far as to say that Texans would endure blackouts to keep the Federal Government out of their business. Oh yeah, Rick Perry? Why don't you ask us? He can freeze his ass off I am not willing to freeze mine!!!
I have been alarmed by what I am seeing about the electric bills people are experiencing, along with bare shelves in the grocery stores. It is all but impossible to even get plumbing supplies, let alone a plumber. Nearly the entire state is suffering because of the water situation. What is next? Locusts?
ReplyDeleteVery little is being said about crop failures due to this bizarre storm. The Rio Grande Valley was all but wiped out. So much is impacted when things are so badly mismanaged. I don't think the full impact has even been realized by most of the people.
I saw that five on the board at Ercot have resigned. Pockets stuffed with money. And Jerry Johnson saying he had hit the jackpot!
I spoke with friends near College Station and the kept their electric and water through the storm. But I was appalled to hear they aren't worried about it happening again, so will not be prepping further. And the stupid get more stupid. I didn't even bother to reply.
I do hope your electric is reasonable and agree you should pull your auto pays. That could cause a chain reaction.
Paxton and wife went to Utah to escape the storm.
I am still wondering why Bill Barr is so mysteriously absent during Garland's confirmation. Or at all.
We are expecting more cold weather here, but it looks like the normal temps. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Love the Auntie Acid. That is hilarious.
Stay safe and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.
I agree the full impact of this situation is not yet known and it will be a while before it is as this is far from over. Do not feel like the Lone Ranger some of my friends are of the same mindset as yours they think it was a fluke and it will never happen again!
DeleteWhile national TV is not covering the crop losses local stations are. They interviewed some farmers in the valley who said they had lost this year's grapefruit crop. Closer to San Antonio in Poteet, Texas they lost the exposed strawberry crop but think they might salvage the ones that have not sprouted yet.
I have not had a chance to watch either the Garland senate confirmation or the insurrection hearings. Do not know why Bill Barr would attend as he was with the past administration. Is it normal that a past Attorney General be present? I have never watched an AG confirmation before.
I have meant to tell you that I watched a show about Montana but with my CRS I do not recall its name...Big Skies? It follows local realtors as they show out-of-state people who are looking to move to Montana and buy a house. I was SHOCKED how high the real estate prices are there. I suppose in comparison to prices in California and New York City they are a bargain.
Hope your weather gets warmer but if it doesn't that it won't be so cold.
I was worried you got cut off last night when I couldn't leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteI guess these low life Repubs didn't learn that no one is going to take anymore of their crap. I read where they have changed Cruz's first name to Turd, well he might as well join his buddy the orange turd on that shit show.
Hope it has warmed up now and you and your mom are OK and warm
OOPs should have made that more clear Turd Cruz
DeleteHow odd that you could not leave a comment last night. Maybe Blogger was making some adjustments? You just never know with them.
DeletePenelope mentioned on a prior post I think she is on Instagram or is it Twitter? that he was being referred to as Terd Cruz but I like Turd Cruz better :)
Can you believe that on a podcast today Turd Cruz had the nerve to call the person that shared his wife's texts where she was inviting the neighbors to join them in Cancun...are you ready for this?...he called them "an asshole" that is rich coming from him!
We have had nice weather for the past three days today we had a sunny day with a high of 77 degrees.
Hope your temperatures are just as nice.
I didn't think Bill Barr would attend the hearings. I just think it is odd that we haven't heard so much as a peep? I would think he must be facing some charges? Maybe he was the mole? Jajaja
ReplyDeleteI have watched that channel about real estate here in Montana. It is not a cheap place to live, at all, and prices for houses and property are just off the charts. I have the last best deal for my little cabin but it is scary to think what I would have to pay if I lost my place. I also have a good set rate on gas and electric and pay $69.00 per month. Until last month it was $49.00. My cabin is very well insulated except for the floor, so that is a big factor. It was built in 1862 with logs. During modern times it was insulated and drywalled inside plus stuccoed on the outside. 36" if insulation in the ceiling.
The biggest surprise for most newcomers to Montana is the sketchy internet and phone service. The price of everything here is much higher due to the remoteness.
This neighborhood has been selling off a lot of the log cabins at ridiculous prices. They tear them down and rebuild them on rich peoples ranches, mostly. With the proceeds, they build new homes. There are still quite a few original log homes, but thinning fast.
A comparable log home like mine would rent for about $700.00. I don't pay anywhere near that amount.
Barr may or may not face charges but that will be up to whomever they confirm as Attorney General. I would be very happy if he was charged but I am not holding my breath on it happening.
DeleteIt certainly sounds like you got a great deal on your cabin and 36" of insulation seems ideal for where you live. Your gas and electricity are so affordable for some reason I thought it would be so much more.
Who exactly is the CPL you pay for electricity? Is it a private company or municipal? I have electricity from Champion energy, and have for quite a few years. There is no municipal provider here. Champion is not the cheapest, but they have been stable price wise and reliable. They sent an email this past week saying the customers who have contracts will them will not be seeing any added-on charges, just for kwatts used, as usual. Now the next time I renew, I expect my bills to be higher. The municipal electric providers, like CPS in San Antonio, are having to struggle with this at present. But in the end, everybody's electric bill will be higher. Winterizing the grid is going to cost money and we will pay more. Period. Mayabe there will be a little pain down the line as well - the stockholders in gas/electricity production will not be getting their usual fat returns. But we'll see. Here's a piece from a writer I like a lot; he recently retired from blogging for Mother Jones. He is a numbers guy, and here's his piece on the Texas problem (note that he's using the Wall Street Journal, so he's not averse to recognizing good information when he sees it): https://jabberwocking.com/chart-of-the-day-the-great-texas-power-rip-off/
ReplyDeleteCPL is a private company that has served this area for years. We do not have a municipal provider. Like your energy company we also received an email saying we would not see any increases due to the winter storms of last week. I remain skeptical.
DeleteYou are right we are all going to see price increases in the near future to pay for the winterization of the power grid. I have learned more than I cared to about the way Texas regulates or doesn't its electricity.
All I can remember is when we got de-regulated, my bills started going up from my provider for many years. That was quite a while back. But every time my contract for electricity is up, and I do it for two years, I go online to look at prices and plans and how they're going to do it. It's complicated. Sheesh. I guess the words "public utilities" are forbidden, and have been a long time. Could be socialism at work you know. Or as the Colorado City mayor, recently resigned, said, just before he did so, survival of the fittest. What a state we live in.
DeleteDel Rio in the NY Times again.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/us/texas-winter-storm-del-rio.html?searchResultPosition=2
Hachita - I apologize your comment went into moderation and Blogger at least on my account has discontinued notifying me when I have said comments...I have to manually locate them.
DeleteI did find your link on a more recent post and I must say the writer did a great job and managed to encapsulate this part of Texas in a well-written article.
Thanks again.