Fort Hood’s Electric Bill is “Ginormous” Following Winter Storm

Fort Hood received its electric bill following the winter storm that rolled through Texas in February, and it's "ginormous."

February's winter storm resulted in power outages across the state and left thousands of people with sky rocketed electric bills, not to mention water issues that resulted in broken pipes and flooding.

"Ginormous" may not be the scientific term, but it's the one Clay Thorp with the Killeen Daily Herald used in a lengthy article the paper published Wednesday. Given the dollar amount, the word seems more than appropriate.

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Fort Hood Director of Public Works Brian Dosa told the Herald that the February electric bill for Fort Hood is expected to be around $30 million. Guys, that's one month's bill.

Thirty. Million. Dollars.

Dosa said the base's bill for all of 2020 was $25 million. Apparently, Fort Hood isn't immune to the market forces that drove up the bills of everyday people, and Roger Williams, R-Austin, who also represents a portion of Fort Hood, says Fort Hood's electric bill for February is actually closer to $36 million.

Williams and Congressman John Carter, who is also on the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Appropriations and sits on the Defense Subcommittee, are both extremely upset about that monster bill, and can you blame them?

Carter says the bill shouldn't fall on the shoulders of Texans or Ft. Hood, and it's hard to disagree with that. He's promising action, so we'll see.

Thorp and David A. Bryant published a really eye-opening and informative article for the Herald today that I highly recommend checking out. There's even a section on power that Fort Hood generates itself and how that factors into things, plus information on the water challenges faced by the installation.

If you received a massive electric bill after the storm, you are definitely not alone. One of our employees got this whopper of a bill from Griddy, which has since filed for bankruptcy and is now working with the Texas Attorney General's Office to forgive over $29 million in unpaid bills, according to NBC News.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Griddy's maximum price rose as high as $9,000 per megawatt-hour during the storm.

So, will we be better prepared for extreme winter events going forward. There are efforts in the Texas Congress to mandate winterization and updates to the grid, but a recent editorial from the Houston Chronicle's Chris Tomlinson points out that progress has been slow.

Let's hope some lights a fire under our representatives before we're lighting fires in our yards to stay warm next February.