This is a misleading article quoting the wholesale market rates that are normally paid by factories, utility providers, etc. The vast majority of Texans pay a set rate every month to their utility provider, who ideally generates enough to cover demand, but has to buy from the wholesale market if they fall short (or can sell back to the wholesale market if they over-produce).

There's a small number of people who pay wholesale rates for their residential service, but many of them learned their lesson after that big freeze a few years back. Generally that kind of plan is geared to people who have their own generator, solar, etc and only buy from the grid in rare situations.

[–] btaf45@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

This is a misleading article quoting the wholesale market rates that are normally paid by factories, utility providers, etc.

Of course they are the wholesale rates. Nobody thinks they are retail rates because we all know our retail rates are fixed. Not "misleading" to anybody -- they just assume readers have basic common sense. But the retail rates obviously depend on the wholesale rates, so goodluck when you have to renew your rates.

[–] HairHeel@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Hopefully the lemmy user base is smarter about this than Reddit was, anyhow. God knows enough people over there got confused every time a story like this was posted.

I get the feeling the author of this article, who described it as “The rate Texas residents pay for energy” might be confused on the difference between wholesale and residential rates though.

[–] btaf45@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Okay I see what you mean. That is a weird way to describe wholesale rates.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 1 points 2 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The rate Texas residents pay for energy has skyrocketed in recent days, as hotter-than-usual temperatures cause demand for electricity to soaring across the state.

Demand for electricity hit a record-setting 83,593 megawatts on August 1, the energy provider said Friday, adding that there could be another record broken this week.

ERCOT issued a weather watch for Monday, warning customers that the state may see higher temperatures, which will in turn put heavier demand on its electrical grid.

Temperatures are expected to reach between 108 and 102 degrees in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

This week's expected electricity demand will mark ERCOT's first big test since its grid crashed during a 2021 ice storm that caused a blackout and knocked out power to millions of homes.

But operators of the state's grid have entered recent summers warning of the possibility of lower power reserves as a crush of new residents strains an independent system.

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