24,000 Texans Won't Have to Pay Electric Bills After Charges Jumped During Winter Storm

Approximately 24,000 Texans won't have to pay their electric bills after charges surged during last month's winter storm.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Tuesday that after filing a lawsuit against Griddy Energy, the company offered releases to former customers who owed roughly $29.1 million in unpaid bills.

"My office sued Griddy Energy, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, to hold them accountable for their escalation of last month's winter storm disaster by debiting enormous amounts from customer accounts as Texans struggled to survive the storm," Paxton said in a statement.

He went on, "I ensured that Griddy's proposed bankruptcy plan takes an important step forward by offering releases to approximately 24,000 former customers who owe $29.1 million in unpaid electric bills. Griddy and my office are engaged in ongoing good faith negotiations to attempt to address additional relief for those Griddy customers who have already paid their storm-related energy bills."

In addition to the release of all outstanding payments, Paxton's statement notes that "Texas will abate the state court lawsuit and Civil Investigative Demand and Griddy will work with it in good faith to resolve these matters."

He also that "Texas and Griddy will work in good faith to address relief for Texans who have already paid."

The announcement by Paxton comes after his office sued Griddy Energy. Some customers reported electrical bills totaling tens of thousands of dollars.

The surge in electric bill charges occurred after the severe storm left thousands without power. Texans who use wholesale electrical providers like Griddy saw their bills soar, and residents faced power outages. Wholesale electrical providers base their prices on real-time market changes.

In February, Royce City resident Scott Willoughby told KXAS-TV that he was charged $13,926.89 by Griddy for his home, which is around 3,000 square feet. Similarly, Susan Hilburn of Fort Worth told KXAS that despite not having power for 35 hours during the storm, she received a bill from Griddy for around $6,000.

Shortly after Texans reported their high electrical bills, Paxton announced that he was filing a lawsuit against Griddy "for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act through false, misleading and deceptive advertising and marketing practices."

"As Texans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy made the suffering even worse as it debited outrageous amounts each day," Paxton wrote in a statement on March 1. "As the first lawsuit filed by my office to confront the outrageous failure of power companies, I will hold Griddy accountable for their escalation of this winter storm disaster."

Newsweek was directed to Paxton's statement on Tuesday after reaching out to his office for comment.