VOICE opposes extra fees and price hikes from ONG
[Excerpts]
Nick Singer [a leader] with Voices Organized in Civic Engagement, or VOICE, . . . said energy companies should be held responsible for their lack of planning.
"We didn't upgrade any infrastructure, we didn't weatherize anything, we didn't put caps on natural gas," he said. "This could all happen again tomorrow. If we got hit by a record cold front, it would happen all over again. They left themselves very exposed to broken commodity markets and they need to share in that burden and be held accountable." . . .
Singer said instead of relying on the customers to pay it back, ONG and other energy companies should pay the bill themselves.
"They have other options," he said. "They're doing this because we let them. If they were told they have to eat this, they would eat it. Frankly, shareholders and executives should bear some of this cost."
He questions how long it will be before another storm hits Oklahoma and the costs rise again.
"We pay our bills every month expecting to have energy when we need it," Singer said. "They failed to deliver and now they're sticking us with the bill."