re: Texans facing up to 10k electric bill

quote:

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Griddy's prices are controlled by the market, and are therefore vulnerable to sudden swings in demand. With the extreme weather, energy usage has soared, pushing up wholesale power prices to more than $9,000 per megawatt hour — compared to the seasonal average of $50 per megawatt hour.

And this is why we have regulated monopolies people.

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Who protects the power company who has to absorb sudden spikes in power costs? Sounds like people had the option to pay a fixed rate (higher than market rate which allows the power company to bank a reserve to pay higher costs during high demand) or a variable rate (lower costs but the consumer assumes the risk of spikes in demand and those higher costs). Should these consumers playing the market have saved up their own reserve to cover spikes in demand? Do we really need regulated monopolies to protect people from their own choices?