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Texas will pay for the 2021 freeze for the next 30 years. Literally.
The 2021 winter storm is responsible for the loss of millions of dollars for private electricity and gas providers that supply the Texas power grid. To offset these costs, the Texas Public Utilities Commission approved $3 billion in bonds for electricity providers and $3.4 billion for gas providers, Chron reports, citing a report from The Dallas Morning News.
How will these bonds be paid off? Your power bill. The $6.3 billion in bonds will take at least 30 years to reach their final payout. "A Texas baby born this year will be almost 30 years old when Texans make the final payment on 30-year bonds used to bail out electricity and gas providers," The Dallas Morning News' Dave Lieber reports.
On the contrary, Lieber reports that the state has a "rainy day fund" of $13.6 billion in addition to a $27 billion budget surplus. This money could be used to pay off the $6.3 billion loan, but the cost was transferred onto customers.
As you'll recall, the 2021 Texas Freeze lasted three days up to a week in some parts of the state. Millions lost power and millions were left without potable water. The death toll from the power crisis crept into the two hundreds.
It's unclear how much of an increase you'll see on your power bill. Reach out to your power provider with any questions.