The analysis found that consumers purchasing power from the deregulated electricity market have paid significantly more than state residents whose sources were traditional electric utilities.
The report comes after widespread power outages in Texas that left millions of residents without power for days amid freezing temperatures. That was followed by many households receiving sky-high electricity bills, with warnings from experts that consumers are likely to be hit with covering the costs for grid upgrades.
The decision to have a deregulated electricity market stems back to 1999 when legislation was first introduced to deregulate the market in Texas. Supporters of the bill said it would create more competition in the sector and lower prices for consumers.
However, households under the deregulated market paid rates 13 percent higher than the nationwide average from 2004 to 2019, according to the Journal. Those who used traditional utilities in Texas paid 8 percent less than the national average during that time frame.
The data used for the analysis came from the federal Energy Information Administration.
Although deregulation in Texas was designed to allow for more competition, mergers in the industry have left Texans with two main retail electricity providers.
Source: Texas’s deregulated electricity market raised consumer costs by $28B: WSJ | TheHill
