Keeping the Lights On in Texas
Providers like Direct Energy buy wholesale electricity and then sell it to residential customers. A meter, like this one on a home in Houston, measures the amount used. Photo by Dave Fehling/StateImpact TexasAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
By Dave Fehling, StateImpact Texas and KUHF
With hotter weather keeping air conditioners running longer in Texas, you might not agree with this statement: Electricity doesn’t cost enough. That contention is at the heart of a debate over what the state can do to avert future power shortages. For StateImpact Texas, Dave Fehling reports.
In Texas, the price people pay for electricity has been more than in the neighboring states of Louisiana, Oklahoma or New Mexico. And it could be about to go even higher.
“Somebody’s going to be paying for it,” said state Rep. Sylvester Turner, of Houston. “And I simply want to know, on behalf of consumers and businesses, what will the cost of that power be?”
Turner is concerned over what the Texas Public Utility Commission is doing and how it might raise the cost of electricity.
The commission is debating how to get power companies to build more generating plants to keep up with the state’s growing population. Failing to keep up could mean blackouts on the hottest, high-demand days. So the commission has an idea: Let power plants charge astronomical prices during those times of peak demand.
Read the rest of this story on the StateImpact Texas website.
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