— a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.MIDLAND — Mary Ann Estrella sat on a rented couch last November and ate, by candlelight, her Thanksgiving Dinner: a bologna sandwich.She was four months behind on her electricity bill, owing $450.
“It’s not a surprise,” said Doug Hairgrove, director of energy programs at the Community Action Corporation of South Texas, an organization providing social, health and financial services to 8,000 households across 16 counties in South Texas, including Hidalgo, Cameron, Nueces and Starr counties. On average, the partnership helps 1,000 people a year with their electric bills. Households on average have owed $1,400, Hairgrove said.
The first is overseeing the grid, which manages 90% of the state’s electricity and serves about 26 million Texans. The grid obtains power from many sources, including oil and natural gas, coal, wind, and solar. Recently, the grid has alsoERCOT also buys that power from producers and resells it to companies that then sell it as a utility to consumers. Transmission and distribution companies, like Oncor and CenterPoint Energy, deliver that electricity, for which Texas customers also pay a fee.
A spokesperson for ERCOT said it is not responsible for how much electric retailers charge their customers. When the demand on the grid outweighs the amount of electricity the sources of power can generate, “the wholesale cost of energy could increase as more expensive generation would be required” to keep up, they said.Hirs said the existing generators cannot produce enough electricity to match the state’s growing population and keep costs low.
When families find themselves in a precarious financial position, they often wait until they are at a breaking point, said Sara Aguilar, executive director of Odessa Catholic Charities.That’s how Judy Ann Marquez felt when financial instability arrived at her doorstep. Last year in October, the 62-year-old took custody of her niece’s child, whose parents were unable to do so. Marquez said she quit her job as a cashier when her employer reduced her hours.