Paraplegic man hit with $3,000 power bill after Texas winter storm
Nicholas Milazzo says his need to keep the temperature up because of his condition has left him with a bill he can't pay.
After a deadly winter storm left millions of Texans without power and facing shortages of food and clean water, some residents are now seeing exorbitant electricity bills.
Nicholas Milazzo, a quadriplegic, told "America Reports" on Monday that his need to keep the temperature high because of his condition has left him with an energy bill he can't pay.
"I have to keep the temperature up because I have trouble regulating my body temperature," Milazzo explained to host Sandra Smith.
Milazzo said he was urged by his electric provider to switch as wholesale prices skyrocketed during the storm, but not before he was charged $3,000 for heating his home.
SOME TEXANS' ELECTRICITY BILLS SKYROCKET AS HIGH AS $17,000
"No providers were allowing me to switch immediately and basically I got stuck with a $3,000 bill that I don't know how I'm gonna pay right now."
Griddy, a wholesale electricity provider in the state, addressed the price hikes in a statement on its website last Thursday, writing "We know you are angry and so are we. P-----, in fact."
The company explained wholesale prices shot up because the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) took control of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, on Monday and raised the wholesale price to $9 per kilowatt-hour until the grid could manage the demand caused by the winter storm.
TEMPERATURES TO RISE IN THE SOUTH FOLLOWING HISTORIC WEEK OF SNOW, COLD AND ICE
Milazzo said the experience has been "pretty tough" on him, as statewide power and water outages have left him without help.
"I have a nurse that comes every day to help me out and she lost water and she lost power so I've been without help the entire week," he said. "I'm worried that my electricity is gonna go out, that my water is gonna go out, so I've had to fill my bathtub, fill my sink with water just praying that nothing bad happens."
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Despite it all, Milazzo is doing his best to maintain his optimism, acknowledging that he is "one of the lucky ones that I still have power," and vowing to "be strong for everyone" as his state begins a long recovery.
Fox News' Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
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