$ 16,752 electric bill

[VitaMan]

People that have variable rate electric service are seeing whopping electric bills. The PUC of Texas raised the rate to a maximum of $ 9 per KW during the emergency outages.

Any horror stories to tell ?

[aznlvr11]

we shall see when the bill comes...

[Russ38]

Should’ve went with balanced billing.....

[pxmcc]

the PUC Board members should have to pay those bills..

[TryWeakly]

before or after they bailout....er...resign?

[boardman]

Originally Posted by pxmcc

the PUC Board members should have to pay those bills..

Why? Did PUC force them to sign those contracts?

[pxmcc]

Originally Posted by boardman

Why? Did PUC force them to sign those contracts?

did the PUC give a clear explanation of possible downsides of the plan to its customers that wasn't written in legal jargon that only lawyers understand, and 7 point font? that's called disclosure of material terms of the contract that PUC-or its authorized agents-should provide to its customers who were in a position of unequal bargaining power. (how many non-attys can read that fine print and have any clue wtf it means?) there is a doctrine called unconscionability that applies when a contract meets all the legal requirements, but ends up in a result where a consumer gets fucked just because he didn't have the technical wherewithal to understand exactly what he was getting himself into. if it applies, courts take the contract, rip it up, and then go from there to analyze the case.

the standard is what a reasonable consumer would understand from all that fine print; not limited to what a retard would understand, but also a reasonable consumer is not held to the standard of what a legal eagle would infer. if your electric bill can fly to 9$/kWhr under the plan, that information-plausible and outrageous-must be disclosed to John Q. Consumer, as he might find that info material to his choice of what electric plan to pick, and from what company. failure to disclose as required is a material omission with some remedies provided by the law.

i don't have time to research this just for fun, as i'm not practicing, but if i was a practicing consumer law liar, i'd pull out the TX Deceptive Trade Practices Act and look for some more-than-plausible causes of action. the dtpa comes with treble damages for knowing and wilful fuckery. A jury would be all over that, as that conduct does not pass the smell test. everyone understands that a 10k bill from your electric company after your power went out and you almost froze to death is some serious fuckery, and the DTPA is all about remedies for the little guy for corporate fuckery. Texas does have some great laws, with the DTPA and consumer bankruptcy laws being among the best imo.

[VitaMan]

Rates go down.....enjoy
Rates go up......beg for government help


There are clear fixed and variable rate contracts.
Get a variable contract to get lower rates.....you take the risk.
Get a fixed contract.....pay a little more with no risk.

[CryptKicker]

http://tcaptx.com/downloads/HISTORY-OF-DEREGULATION.pdf

[boardman]

Originally Posted by pxmcc

did the PUC give a clear explanation of possible downsides of the plan to its customers that wasn't written in legal jargon that only lawyers understand, and 7 point font? that's called disclosure of material terms of the contract that PUC-or its authorized agents-should provide to its customers who were in a position of unequal bargaining power. (how many non-attys can read that fine print and have any clue wtf it means?) there is a doctrine called unconscionability that applies when a contract meets all the legal requirements, but ends up in a result where a consumer gets fucked just because he didn't have the technical wherewithal to understand exactly what he was getting himself into. if it applies, courts take the contract, rip it up, and then go from there to analyze the case.

the standard is what a reasonable consumer would understand from all that fine print; not limited to what a retard would understand, but also a reasonable consumer is not held to the standard of what a legal eagle would infer. if your electric bill can fly to 9$/kWhr under the plan, that information-plausible and outrageous-must be disclosed to John Q. Consumer, as he might find that info material to his choice of what electric plan to pick, and from what company. failure to disclose as required is a material omission with some remedies provided by the law.

i don't have time to research this just for fun, as i'm not practicing, but if i was a practicing consumer law liar, i'd pull out the TX Deceptive Trade Practices Act and look for some more-than-plausible causes of action. the dtpa comes with treble damages for knowing and wilful fuckery. A jury would be all over that, as that conduct does not pass the smell test. everyone understands that a 10k bill from your electric company after your power went out and you almost froze to death is some serious fuckery, and the DTPA is all about remedies for the little guy for corporate fuckery. Texas does have some great laws, with the DTPA and consumer bankruptcy laws being among the best imo.

You lost me with the first sentence. Maybe I should ask the question a different way.
How is it the responsibility of the PUC to protect someone from their own ignorance or inability to read fine print? By that logic the TABC should be held responsible for every drunk driving fatality.


At any rate the State(Dan Patrick anyway) is promising to "take care of it" which means, in the end, I'll be paying for someone else's stupidity...again!

[Slitlikr]

Exactly Cat man
The Griddy idiots should have learned that when they got burned in our last heat wave.

[boardman]

A guy called into Michael Berry's show this morning about this. He is a variable rate customer and knew exactly what he signed up for. It's high risk but high reward if everything works out well. His attitude was that you're going to have glitches in the system. Michael Berry equated it to sitting on 20 when the dealer has 12 and he pulls a 9. Some times shit happens.
Anyway the guy was saying that even with his $1600 or $1800 bill this month he feels like it's something that will be covered over time. It's just a hard hit to take when you aren't expecting it so you have to be prepared for that eventuality or take less risk. Pretty simple and reasonable mindset.

[bbkid]

Oh, the gubment needs to bail me out for my being stupid.

You know, just like y'all need to help me pay off my student loan that I acquired going to school to get my basket-weaving degree.

[VitaMan]

I just hope Melania read the fine print on her prenup

[DEAR_JOHN]

Some thought that under the deregulation of the electric industry that electricity would be too cheap to meter. Too bad they had to learn their lesson the hard way.