Overhead power lines are seen during record-breaking temperatures in Houston, Texas, Feb. 17, 2021.
Adrees Latif | Reuters
Texas power companies have paid less than $ 345 million for electricity and other services incurred during last month’s cold snap, the state grid operator said Monday.
The state’s deregulated electricity market was shaken last month when 48% of power plants went offline, yielding up to $ 9,000 per megawatt hour (MWh) spot rates and $ 25,000 per MWh service costs. Those charges brought a provider into bankruptcy on Monday.
In total, electricity prices in the state’s wholesale market rose $ 47 billion over the roughly five-day period when cold weather drove demand and power plants failed, estimates Carrie Bivens, a vice president at Potomac Economics, who controls the Texas electricity market. .
Her figure does not include additional fees or defaults, which are significant and spread across all companies using network services under ERCOT rules, she said.
“It’s a lot of zeros,” said Bivens of the extra fees.
In total, electricity providers skipped $ 2.46 billion in power and service costs, grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said. It used $ 800 million of collateral and other bills to reduce the cumulative deficit to $ 1.66 billion.
ERCOT did not disclose which companies did not pay the bills, but said it will start naming companies and the amounts they have not paid in the future.
The state-controlled operator acts as a clearinghouse, collecting money from marketers who buy power, and sends it to the companies that supply electrons to its grid.
Texas could save about $ 2 billion in taxes on municipal utilities, marketers and generators by cutting some fees, Bivens said. The governor could also use part of the state’s emergency fund to cover certain costs.
On Monday, electricity supplier Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc., the state’s largest and oldest energy wholesaler, filed for bankruptcy over $ 1.8 billion in debt to ERCOT. The filing underscored the financial pressure on energy marketers and utilities as a result of the price increases.
A spokeswoman for Governor Greg Abbott declined to comment on Monday’s bankruptcy filing or on proposals that the state public utility commission reverse fees that skyrocketed during the power outage.
Abbott is monitoring the situation “as ERCOT and their financial advisers work to ensure that the ability to provide electricity is not interrupted,” said spokeswoman Renae Eze.