By Gary McWilliams | Reuters
HOUSTON – The Texas power grid operator on Friday canceled Griddy Energy LLC’s access to the state power grid and moved all of its customers to other utilities, according to a message from the grid operator.
Griddy was the power marketer who sold consumer power at wholesale prices, which racked up to $ 9,000 per megawatt hour for days when cold weather hit the state last week. A request for comment was not immediately answered. A phone number on the website was disconnected on Friday afternoon.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said it had begun handing over about 10,100 Griddy customers to one or more competing providers on Friday. Retail energy suppliers that do not pay their bills within 72 hours can have all their customers transferred to other electricity suppliers.
ERCOT has faced a storm of criticism from residents and government officials this week after being caught poorly preparing for a serious cold. It called on utilities to cut power to protect the grid, leaving 4.3 million people without heat or light.
Seven of ERCOT’s 15 directors stepped down this week and one candidate has withdrawn. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said public anger was justified and blamed ERCOT for not acting faster to prevent generators from going offline.