AUSTIN- Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Griddy today for hitting customers who had variable rate plans with exorbitant energy bills as Winter Storm Uri froze Texas.
“Griddy misled Texans and signed them up for services which, in a time of crisis, resulted in individual Texans each losing thousands of dollars,” Paxton said. As Texans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy made the suffering even worse as it debited outrageous amounts each day.”
During the February freeze, Texas power companies failed to withstand the winter storm and left millions of Texans without power and heat during lethal, record-low temperatures across the state.
Compounding this disaster, Griddy passed skyrocketing energy costs to customers with little to no warning, resulting in consumers paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars each day for electricity, a press release states.
Paxton is alleging Griddy violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act through false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices.
“As the first lawsuit filed by my office to confront the outrageous failure of power companies, I will hold Griddy accountable for their escalation of this winter storm disaster,” said Paxton. “My office will not allow Texans to be deceived or exploited by unlawful behavior and deceptive business practices.”
A $1 billion class action was filed against Griddy last week.
Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee gave the following statement on the AG’s lawsuit: “I am glad to see today the Attorney General sued Griddy for its deceptive practices and its charging Texans, including Harris County residents, excessive electricity rates during Winter Storm Uri. This is but a first step to hold companies accountable for the suffering Texans experienced during and after the power grid failure.”
The lawsuit is seeking injunctive relief from Griddy to ensure that the Texans it serves will receive truthful and accurate energy service in the future, and to have the court order refunds from available sources.