【美國日記】21.02.20 天價電費發威了！二選一：凍得要死！貴得要死！_風聞

天價電費已經開始徵收了，2天的電費600美元！美國的國難財“真香”！真不愧是作為航空城所在地的德州，連電費也這麼NASA，如火箭般上漲。

休斯頓-數百萬的德克薩斯人仍然斷電，有些已經有好幾天了。

還有像薩凡納·蒂格彭這樣的人，他們有電。

她説，她一直在竭盡所能節約用電，但是在兩天之後，她正在看着一張超過600美元的賬單。

蒂格彭説：“在我星期二晚上上牀睡覺之前，我收到了另外一筆通知，説那是負453美元。”

那是在週一支付近200美元之後。

蒂格彭獨自一人住在休斯頓Spring Branch地區的一間單卧室的公寓裏。

11月，她轉到德克薩斯州的批發電力供應商Griddy。他們根據用户的個人用電量為客户收取市場價格。

她做出了嘗試，以節省最後一分錢。和許多人一樣，她因大流行而失業。

“他們實際上為我省了很多錢。我每千瓦支付5美分，而不是10和15美分。所以他們在星期天早上告訴我們，它可能升至每千瓦1至3美元，”蒂格彭説。

蒂格彭説，自從四個月前加入以來，她的賬單從未超過50美元，這幫助她在這次COVID-19大流行中生存了下來。

德克薩斯州是一個自由市場，這意味着您可以選擇由誰來為您的房屋供電。 Griddy的服務很簡單，但並非沒有風險。

在週日晚上的一次罕見的舉動中，Griddy向所有29,000個客户發送了一封電子郵件，敦促他們改用其他提供商。蒂格彭説，她在週一早上嘗試過，但沒有一家公司接收新顧客。

蒂格彭説：“週日晚上，我們收到了一封電子郵件，通知我們電價正在上升，如果可以切換的話，可以這樣做。但是那是週日，沒有一個地方開放。”

她在家裏沒有將自己的恆温器調到的華氏60度以上。

蒂格彭説：“我只是預測我將必須為一週的電支付1000美元以上的費用。”

蒂格彭在社交媒體上聯繫了我們在休斯頓的姊妹電台ABC13，因為她説她知道自己並不是唯一面臨這一嚴峻形勢的人。

Griddy告訴客户，對於有賬單的人，如果他們有未付款的賬單，那麼現在他們不會斷電。蒂格彭説，現在她所能做的就是拭目以待。她希望自己的一些賬單能被豁免，或者希望Griddy提供付款計劃。她甚至不確定在這一點上切換到新的提供者是否具有經濟意義。她説，她將不得不付費以建立新服務，而任何額外費用加上每月增加的金額只會增加她的債務。

我們聯繫了德克薩斯州的一些提供商。他們沒有吸引顧客。有人説，當天氣有所好轉時，他們可能在下週三之前接受新客户。那是我們可以獲得的最早的“也許”答案。

將來，選擇電源供應商時您需要了解什麼？

除非您可以承受能源價格的重大變化，否則請選擇可以與您鎖定一段時間的費率的提供商。

HOUSTON -- Millions of Texans are still without power, some for days now.

Then there are others like Savannah Thigpen, who has power.

She said she has been doing all she can to conserve, but after just two days of barely any use, she is looking at a bill over $600.

“Before I went to bed Tuesday night, I got another notification that it was a negative $453,” Thigpen said.

That was after paying nearly $200 on Monday.

Thigpen lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Houston’s Spring Branch area.

In November, she switched to Griddy, a Texas wholesale electricity provider. They charge market price for customers based on their personal kilowatt usage.

She made the switch trying to save every last cent. Like so many, she is out of work because of the pandemic.

“They actually save me a lot of money. I pretty much pay 5 cents per kilowatt instead of like the 10, the 15 cents. So they let us know on Sunday morning that it could go up to $1 to $3 per kilowatt,” Thigpen said.

Since joining four months ago, Thigpen says her bill has never been more than $50, which has helped her survive during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas is a free market, which means you get to choose who powers your home. Griddy’s service is simple, but not without risk.

In a rare move Sunday night, Griddy sent out an email to all 29,000 of its customers, urging them to switch to a different provider. Thigpen says she tried Monday morning, but no one was taking new customers.

“Sunday night we got the email letting us know it was going up and if we could switch, to do that. But it was Sunday, and none of the places were open,” Thigpen said.

She hasn’t moved her thermostat above 60 degrees Fahrenheit in her home.

“I am kind of predicting I am going to have to pay over $1,000 just for one week of electricity,” Thigpen said.

Thigpen reached out to our Houston sister station ABC13 on social media because she says she knows she is not the only one who is being faced with this tough situation.

Griddy told customers, for those who have it, right now they will not turn their power off if they have an unpaid bill. Thigpen said for now all she can do is wait and see. She is hoping some of her bill will be forgiven or that Griddy will provide a payment plan. She’s not even sure switching to a new provider at this point would make financial sense. She says she will have to pay to set up a new service and any additional fees, plus the increased monthly amount, would only add to her debt.

We reached out to a few providers here in Texas. They are not taking customers. Some say they may accept new customers by next Wednesday, when they say the weather has improved. That was the earliest ‘maybe’ answer we could get.

In the future, what do you need to know when choosing a power provider?

Unless you can shoulder significant shifts in the price of energy, choose a provider with whom you can lock in a rate for a period of time.