Texas Moves to Protect Residents from Extreme Spike in Energy Bills

Leaders of Texas’ executive and legislative branches met on Saturday to protect Texans from an expected spike in their energy bills. The meeting took place via a conference call attended by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, and key legislative committee chairs.

“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are a result of the severe winter weather and power outages,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a written statement provided to Breitbart News. “Today’s meeting was productive, and I applaud Republican and Democrat members of the Legislature for putting aside partisan politics to work together on this challenge.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker of the House Dade Phelan were joined in the conference call by:

• Senate Jane Nelson – Chair of Senate Finance Committee
• Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. – Vice Chair of Senate Finance Committee
• Senator Kelly Hancock – Chair of Senate Business and Commerce Committee
• Senator Robert Nichols – Vice Chair of Senate Business and Commerce Committee
• Senator Royce West – Vice Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee
• Representative Greg Bonnen – Chair of House Appropriations Committee
• Representative Chris Paddie – Chair of House State Affairs Committee
• Representative Ana Hernandez – Vice Chair of House State Affairs Committee
• Representative Craig Goldman – Chair of House Energy Resources Committee

Governor Abbott briefed the state’s leaders on assistance that will come from the federal government in response to the emergency declarations put in place following the historic winter storm that left millions of Texans without electricity or drinkable water.

The Governor discussed the need to ensure that Texans are not left with unreasonable utility bills they cannot afford because of the temporary massive spike in the energy market, officials with the governor’s office reported.

Multiple news outlets are reporting that one Texan claims to have received a $16,752 electric bill. His previous month’s bill was reported to be about $600.

The New York posted added:

Royce Pierce, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Willow Park, said the electricity bill for his three-bedroom home soared to  $10,000 over the past few days.

“We are hoping there will be relief,” Royce said. “This is something maybe we can skate by and tackle as time goes on but how many people can’t? A lot.”

The primary focus of this meeting was to focus “on the need to quickly calculate the total cost of these energy bills and how the state can help reduce this burden,” the governor’s office stated.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also called for consumers to be protected from the coming spike in their bills. He said the expected spike in utility bills are “not the fault of consumers.”

“We are moving quickly to alleviate this problem and will continue to work collaboratively throughout this week on solutions to help Texas families and ensure they do not get stuck with skyrocketing energy bills,” Abbott concluded.