Sen. Ted Cruz has never been shy about the fight for deregulation:
In the Senate, I've fought for lower taxes, deregulation, and preserving the Constitution! pic.twitter.com/ru3fKnadYH
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 25, 2018
He even bragged about how the “principles of free enterprise & low regulation” are behind the success of Texas’ energy industry:
Success of TX energy is no accident: it was built over many years on principles of free enterprise & low regulation w more jobs & opportunities as the constant goal. We work to export this recipe for success to more & more states so that all Americans enjoy the same prosperity. https://t.co/8wRLRWEVrN
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 13, 2019
Which is why it was odd to see Sen. Cruz share this Dallas Morning News article on how customers who switched over to an energy provider that sold electricity at the wholesale price and who are now seeing sky-high bills all of sudden need “state and local regulators” to “act swiftly to prevent this injustice”:
This is WRONG. No power company should get a windfall because of a natural disaster, and Texans shouldn’t get hammered by ridiculous rate increases for last week’s energy debacle.
State and local regulators should act swiftly to prevent this injustice. https://t.co/Qo2e4pwv4z
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 21, 2021
The article above is about the company, Griddy, which GOP Texas State Rep. Jared Patterson talked about here in this long thread explaining what is going on:
Recommended
Extremely High Electricity Rates
Have you seen extremely high electricity rates posted in the media and online? The media loves outrageous headlines. They post them just to get everyone riled up. Here’s what you really need to know: 1/
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) February 21, 2021
It’s important to point out that not everyone in Texas is getting these enormous bills:
The media is highlighting exceptionally high electricity bills mainly from just a few consumers (restively speaking) who use a company called Griddy. Griddy is a retail electricity provider that sells power at the real-time market price for electricity. 6/
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) February 21, 2021
And Griddy’s customers paid less for their electricity “most of the time”:
It’s very low most of the time, but during extreme circumstances it’s incredibly high. The risk is not worth the return for residential consumers. I feel bad for these folks, but they entered into a contract for real-time pricing. 7/
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) February 21, 2021
Cruz calling out Griddy, however, did earn Rep. Ted Lieu’s (D-CA) approval and he’s using Sen. Cruz’s tweet to bash deregulation and the free market:
Pleased to see a Republican Senator call for governmental regulation of the market. We’ve learned time and time again that industry in many cases is unable to regulate itself. Adam Smith’s failed invisible hand theory is exactly that, invisible. https://t.co/IlumE2zKzZ
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 21, 2021
And other libs are pretty psyched to see his apparent new stance on regulation:
Great point. Now apply this logic to literally every other industry https://t.co/PXY4Id0cLS
— Adam Serwer ? (@AdamSerwer) February 21, 2021
Cancoup man turns against unregulated energy markets! https://t.co/IWme7AFREd
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 21, 2021
Ted Cruz calling for regulation of power pricing is today's ????? https://t.co/jXkPMYIh20
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) February 21, 2021
tfw gov intervention is suddenly good https://t.co/mx7zduJgzM
— alex (@alex) February 21, 2021
Whoa, Ted Cruz decrying the free market? https://t.co/Ps5nnd6ifA
— Jesse Hawken (@jessehawken) February 21, 2021
Of note, these price *were* approved by regulators:
You’re late on this, Ted.
“the state’s Public Utilities Commission ordered that the price cap be raised to its maximum limit of $9 per kilowatt-hour”https://t.co/FiMvihJy7D
— Doremus Jessup (@DoremusJ) February 21, 2021
But there *IS* a real problem here as many of these customers have no way to pay these bills. As Texas figures out what to do next, they’re putting a halt on collections and will prevent companies from cutting off power and water to those who can’t pay:
Texas officials have signed an order temporarily preventing electricity providers from sending bills to residents.
The order is a stopgap measure to give officials time to address a spike in some residents' bills. https://t.co/9M5ts1oUQt
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 21, 2021
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