Blunder Sent Power Prices Surging 24,000% and Texans Pay Up
- Calpine worker mistake pushed prices to $9,000 a megawatt-hour
- Grid operator didn’t correct price, prompted broker complaint
Houston, Texas.
Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg
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When Kristen Kern left for work the morning of May 30, she switched off the lights in her Houston apartment and turned down the air conditioning.
Two weeks later, she was unpleasantly surprised to see her monthly electric bill had soared to nearly $200 -- more than 40% higher than normal. Kern, it turned out, is among the untold number of customers saddled with big bills after a single error by a Calpine Corp. technician made Texas’s power market go haywire for a few moments, sending prices spiking.