One calamity can hide another.
As millions of homes in Texas were left without electricity, heating and drinking water during a week when their state faced a polar cold snap, with temperatures reaching -10 ° C at night per places, others have had the unpleasant surprise of receiving a staggering electric bill in their mailbox, showing five-figure amounts: 5,000, 10,000 and even $ 17,000 for just five days, US media reported.
Read also: The cold causes power cuts in Texas
Texas is indeed the only state whose energy distribution network operates in a vacuum, and its electricity market is completely deregulated.
Many homes have contracts whose monthly price varies according to demand, and the latter exploded with the cold snap.
With the extreme weather conditions, energy use has skyrocketed, pushing wholesale electricity prices to over $ 9,000 per megawatt hour, compared to a seasonal average of $ 50 per megawatt hour.
Furious, many residents of the "lone star state" tweeted the photo of their bill to their governor as well as to their senator Ted Cruz, who had gone to take refuge in a seaside resort in Cancún, Mexico in the midst of chaos.
Local elected officials protested against this astronomical increase in the cost of electricity linked to the lethal cold wave that hit the country.
"These bills, these prohibitive costs should be paid by the State of Texas, and not by the individual consumers who are not responsible for this catastrophe"
, launched Sunday Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston - fourth American city, on NBC .
"Everything that happened this week was predictable and preventable,"
he added, adding that it has long been clear that Texas' independent power grid is vulnerable to extreme weather conditions.
"We have a responsibility to protect Texans from increases in their energy bills which are the result of very harsh winter weather and power cuts
,
"
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also assured Saturday.
Second declaration of emergency
President Joe Biden has signed a new declaration of emergency for Texas, releasing funds that could help pay residents' electricity bills, according to Republican elected official Michael McCaul.
“It's the current plan, with federal assistance, to be able to help homeowners,” he
told CNN.
In the meantime, federal and local authorities in Texas have called for an investigation into this energy crisis.
Democratic Senator Tina Smith has called for the opening of a federal investigation into the exponential jump in natural gas prices during the polar cold snap across the United States, in Texas but also in the Midwest.
Read also: Between resilience and exasperation, Texans face a historic cold wave
This extreme weather episode, which has wreaked havoc across the southern and central United States this week, has claimed the lives of at least 70 people, according to U.S. media.
Sunday February 21, some 30,000 homes were still without electricity, the rescue teams have not yet been able to repair all the power lines blown down by bad weather, according to the Poweroutage site.
Millions more were also without electricity.
The cities of Houston and Galveston, however, on Sunday lifted the recommendation for residents to boil water before consuming it.
