Many of the costs from the 2021 freeze have started trickling down to the average...
Estimated overcharges for wholesale electricity during the recent calamity on the state's power grid have been revised downward by a large amount. Throughout his campaign for governor, Democrat Beto O'Rourke has emphasized again and again the fallout from last year's winter blackouts, pinning the failure of the grid and its vast financial toll on his opponent, Gov. Greg Abbott. He's evenmost Texas electricity customers have seen since the storm:"the Abbott tax.
Since the storm, the costs have only added up. First there was the $2.1 billion the Texas Legislature approved to securitize certain charges that help stabilize the grid when consumption ramps up — a move that Abbott supported. Then there was the $800 million to bail out electric cooperatives and municipally-owned utilities that were financially underwater. Then the more than $3 billion in profits
On top of that, there's inflation and the war in Ukraine is tightening global markets and driving up demand for natural gas, which in turn increases electricity prices. That would add stress to the grid this winter, making the next several months yet another test of the governor's reliability claims.