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Heisman Winner [137749]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 63736
Joined: 10/22/00
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I remember during Hugo some stores in the Lowcountry
Feb 22, 2021, 10:04 AM
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getting popped for price gouging on things like chainsaws and generators. Gouging in the midst of crises has long been illegal, to various extents according to local statutes. But, apparently, that only applies to peasants. Billionaire? Gouge away, as the Pixies say. A disabled vet on Medicaid and social security got a $16K power bill, but it's cool...it's like surge pricing on Uber.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/21/texas-high-electric-bills/
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Oculus Spirit [97649]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 64785
Joined: 7/13/02
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Wonder if Elon Musk is having 2nd thoughts?***
Feb 22, 2021, 10:08 AM
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Lot o points [155581]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 65689
Joined: 5/6/13
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I think this is like triple German,
Feb 22, 2021, 10:11 AM
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but I've read about this case and I'm on the fence....
Sounds like the guy was signed up with a company called Grid-y or something similar, and it was like the Sam's club of electricity. You pay a membership fee, and get wholesale pricing on your electricity. Most of the big bill scenarios I'm hearing about in TX came from this exact company or ones with their business model.
Anyway, it's a risk/reward scenario....the customers of this company enjoyed some legit cheap bills MOST of the time, but this situation is a given in extreme circumstances like this. It also sounds like this company encouraged all of their customers, multiple times, to change electricity providers when the storm was on the horizon. This guy didn't.
I'm fine with the business model and I don't consider it gouging. Where I'm on the fence is regarding whether this guy should have been allowed to be on such a plan in the first place. Feels like it should be reserved for business and industry only, just to protect people like this guy from themselves.
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Oculus Spirit [97649]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 64785
Joined: 7/13/02
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Depending, it may have been cheaper to flip your main
Feb 22, 2021, 10:13 AM
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breaker and wing it on frozen pipes.
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Orange Blooded [4365]
TigerPulse: 80%
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Joined: 1/4/17
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Re: I think this is like triple German,
Feb 22, 2021, 11:28 AM
[ in reply to I think this is like triple German, ] |
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O
I wonder how easy it was for this guy to check the prices hour to hour, so that he might make informed decisions about how to best proceed.
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Lot o points [155581]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Quite easy, apparently.
Feb 22, 2021, 3:05 PM
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From the article I read last night, there was a smart phone app that allowed you to see hour by hour usage. I'm not heartless and indifferent to this guy's plight, but it feels more like he was an uninformed consumer moreso than the victim of a heartless corporation. Their energy costs were 100% actual wholesale market rates....it was a true pass-along. The Texas PUC (who approved the $9/kwh rate, setting this provider's rates) would be the ones to question, but I understand their point of view as well.
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All-TigerNet [10866]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 15034
Joined: 8/6/10
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price gouging is good. Laws against it cause shortages.***
Feb 22, 2021, 11:29 AM
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