ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) – The winter storm has passed, and the lights are back on, but what happens when the electric bill is due?

One Odessa man checked his account to discover that his bill was quadruple the average amount.

“My problem is how am I gonna pay for this,” said Griddy customer Johnny Sagnileni.

Johnny Sagnileni is talking about his twelve thousand dollar electric bill.

He usually pays around 14 cents per kilowatt of electricity – but when demand for power in Texas soared this past week, Sagnileni was spending nine hundred dollars per kilowatt.

“They want me to do a pay plan. On a pay plan, on a pay-as-you-go…if I admit to that pay plan, I’m admitting to that amount. I’m not gonna admit to that amount. That’s a lot of money,” said Sagnileni.

Sagnileni is a Griddy customer – a company that sells wholesale electricity.

Customers end up paying whatever the price per kilowatt because they are using the electricity. After all, there is no fixed rate.

It’s a little bit like playing the stock market with your electricity bill.

“I feel like Griddy is taking advantage of people like me. I’ve noticed online and gone on the news channels NBC, Dallas, Fort Worth… they’re all people complaining about this,” said Sagnileni.

Sagnileni says he is always trying to think of others first, so he’s not sure what to do now that he needs a helping hand.

His multiple attempts to contact Griddy have gone unanswered.

“There has to be some help somewhere, some relief that I don’t have to pay that kind of money,” said Sagnileni.

Copyright 2021 KOSA. All rights reserved.

___
https://www.cbs7.com/2021/02/22/odessa-man-receives-12000-electric-bill/