AUSTIN, Texas (TBEN) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott held an emergency meeting with lawmakers on Saturday to deal with spikes in energy bills in the wake of this week’s devastating winter storms.
Abbott said he had met with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, President Dade Phelan and many senators and state officials as residents continued to see the effects of the storms.
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Millions of people are still recovering from power outages that lasted for days after storms severely affected the state’s electricity grid. But now, many residents are facing spikes in their energy bills.
READ MORE: Dallas resident says he received an energy bill of nearly $ 7,000 as the effects of winter storms continue
A man from Dallas, DeAndre Upshaw, told TBEN that he received a bill for $ 7,000 from his utility company, Griddy.
“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are the result of harsh winter weather and power outages,” Abbott said. “Today’s meeting has been productive and I commend the Republican and Democratic Members of the Legislative Assembly for putting aside partisan politics to work together on this challenge. We are moving quickly to alleviate this issue and will continue to work collaboratively throughout this week on solutions to help Texas families and ensure they don’t end up with skyrocketing energy bills.
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Although no official action has been taken, Texas officials have discussed plans to resolve the billing issues. According to the governor, they talked about the need to calculate the total cost of energy bills and find a way to reduce the burden.
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