Texas electric retailer Griddy is the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging it price gouged customers after last week’s winter storm knocked out power across the state.
The lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, Lisa Khoury, said her bill spiked to more than $9,000 as electricity prices skyrocketed during the storm.
“It went through my mind how are we going to pay this, what are we going to do, this is life-changing,” said Khoury, who lives outside of Houston.
The suit rests on the allegation that Griddy violated Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act when it allowed customers to be charged exorbitant amounts for electricity.
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“I think the state of Texas should get involved,” said attorney Derek Potts, who represents Khoury. “State law is clear you can not charge excessive and exorbitant prices for fuel, electricity, etc during a natural disaster and that’s exactly what we had here.”
NBCDFW has reached out to Griddy for comment but has yet to hear back. The company’s website says they are experiencing high call volume. A company spokesperson did tell NBCDFW news partner The Dallas Morning News in part that “the lawsuit is meritless and we plan to vigorously defend it.”
