Energy & Science
Texas Cities Fret as Power Bills Mount in Wake of Blackouts
- Denton bought $207 million of power in the span of a few days
- Outsize bills could pull down credit ratings without aid
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The power supply shortages that slammed Texas last week drove spot electricity prices sky-high for some locally owned utilities, with one town on the hook for more than $200 million and other municipalities anxiously awaiting their bills.
Denton, northwest of Dallas, racked up at least $207 million in power purchases over the span of a few days, more than triple its entire electrical power costs for fiscal year 2020. It left the city of 140,000 without enough cash to keep buying power at market rates and said in regulatory filing it may need to borrow more money to cover the costs.