Georgetown hit with sky-high energy bill following winter storms

According to the mayor, ERCOT billed Georgetown $44.8 million for energy used during the storms, more than the city spends a year on electricity.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - The city of Georgetown was hit with a giant bill from ERCOT following the winter storms. They must pay $44.8 million by April 1st.

"Which is far beyond anything we could ever contemplate," said Mayor Josh Schroeder, who spoke with FOX 7 Austin about the unprecedented bill they received from ERCOT during the winter storms. "We got hit with an extremely outrageous bill for four days of energy."

According to Schroeder, the amount the city was billed for those icy days is roughly more than it spends a year on electricity. He said what they are experiencing is something the entire state is dealing with.

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Director of ERCOT’s emergency management division grilled during hearing

ERCOT has drawn blame for the way it handled the major power outage during the dangerous winter weather that claimed at least 80 lives.

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"I think it was a situation where the marketplace failed we had a ton of demand because of extremely long cold temperatures extremely long time we were below freezing and the failure of all types of generation whether it was natural gas renewables nuclear even coal plants were failing across the state and folks were demanding energy," Schroeder said.

While the bill is high, Schroeder said residents shouldn’t see an increase in their own bills as the city plans to go into debt to pay off what they owe to ERCOT. "We are going to seek tax-backed revenue bonds that will be paid off in the period of 10 years," he said.

Head of ERCOT fired as officials continue power outage investigation

The head of ERCOT, which operates the state's power grid, has been fired as state officials open an investigation to figure out who is to blame for the power outages during the February winter storm. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak has details.

According to a document from Potomac Economics, an independent market monitor for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT overcharged the state’s energy market by about $16 billion. Potomac Economics is recommending ERCOT correct the prices.

One thing which could change all of this is something happening at the state level. Right now the legislature is in session, so the city is hopeful they can come up with a solution to help out everyone impacted by these high bills.