Texas to stop billing customers for power
TEXAS utility regulators will temporarily ban power companies from billing customers or disconnecting them for non-payment, after the deadly winter storm that caused widespread blackouts, Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday.
Abbott called an emergency meeting with state lawmakers on Saturday after reports of many customers receiving bills for thousands of dollars for just a few days’ electricity service while Texas was gripped by frigid temperatures.
“Texans who have suffered through days of freezing cold without power should not be subjected to skyrocketing energy bills,” Abbott told reporters on Sunday.
He said the Public Utility Commission of Texas will order electricity companies to pause sending bills to customers, and will issue a temporary moratorium on disconnection for non-payment. The state will use the time to find a way to protect utility customers, he said.
“The issue about utility bills and the skyrocketing prices that so many homeowners and renters are facing is the top priority for the Texas legislature right now,” he said.
Texas has a highly unusual deregulated energy market that lets consumers choose between scores of competing electricity providers.
Some providers sell electricity at wholesale prices that rise in sync with demand, which skyrocketed as the record-breaking freeze gripped a state unaccustomed to extreme cold, killing at least two dozen people and knocking out power to more than 4 million people at its peak; some 30,000 people were still without power on Sunday, Abbott said.
As a result, some Texans who were still able to turn on lights or keep their fridge running found themselves with bills of US$5,000 for just a five-day period, according to photos of invoices posted on social media by angry consumers.
The Dallas Morning News said one provider offering a wholesale tariff plan had urged its thousands of customers to switch suppliers ahead of the storm to avoid high prices, but many found it would take too long to change their provider.
“The bill should go to the state of Texas,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
WITH the new school semester beginning yesterday, students from local primary, middle and high schools returned to class after the winter holiday.
At Minhang Experimental Primary School’s Chuncheng Campus, many students were dressed in traditional Chinese outfits instead of school uniforms.
Teachers dressed in red greeted them, holding ox dolls to mark the Year of the Ox.
At the entrance, a temporary wall was erected with decorations such as balloons and figures of lions and children.
Zhang Jun, principal of the campus, said students were told to record happy moments with their families and explore traditional Chinese culture during Spring Festival.
“On the first school day after the winter break, we allow students to wear festive clothes and share their memories and findings with classmates,” Zhang said. “They can also bring festive items to decorate their classrooms.”
Many students brought things like plants, spring door couplets, fu characters — representing good fortune in Chinese — and lanterns.
Zhang said the celebration will continue the entire week until Friday’s Lantern Festival, when students will be encouraged to express their best wishes for teachers and classmates via cards, lanterns and clay soup balls.
The first day back included the customary class on public safety presented by the Shanghai police.
At Penglai Road Kindergarten’s Huangpu District campus, Huang Yi, a police officer and public safety speaker, spoke to a group of 6-year-olds.
Through interactions and games, Huang advised students to look out for cars when crossing streets and avoid taking elevators if a fire breaks out.
“We try to impart useful information to students in an interesting way through friendly dialogue,” he said.
Traffic is usually busier on Monday mornings, especially on parts of the North-South Elevated Road.
Around the city, police officers and their assistants ensured student safety around schools and carried out safety inspections of school buses.
Health status
In Huangpu, police have asked school officials to file daily reports regarding the health status of security guards working in their institutions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Although the local government appealed to residents not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary due to the pandemic, students from Shanghai Huangpu Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School enjoyed a full and happy holiday.
A third-grade student’s
mother surnamed Zheng said they normally travel in China or abroad during the holiday to expose her child to the world but did not do so this year.
“Many people normally leave the city during the holiday for family reunions. However, this would have increased the risk of infection, so we took our son to many local places during the 30-day holiday — including Shanghai Disneyland and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum,” she revealed.
Many non-Shanghai-native families chose to visit their relatives and friends online during the holiday, and Luwan’s headmaster Wu Rongjin said the majority of students from these families stayed put.
Fourth-grade student Ma Jingding said he and his parents had a video call with his grandparents who live in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, during nianyefan (Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner).
“My parents and I always go
to Lanzhou to celebrate the festival with my grandparents, but this year we couldn’t,” Ma said. “I totally understand because my father told me we should sacrifice for others to prevent the spread of the virus.”
Some students did something heartwarming for school workers who had to stick to their posts during the festival. First-grade student Wang Yuqing wrote fu characters and made four boxes of tanghulu, or crispy sugar-coated haw, for them. “My mom told me this snack is a traditional Spring Festival snack, so I made some for the staff to let them feel warmth and love,” he said.
Eight students cooked more than a dozen dishes — including four appetizers, nine hot dishes and two desserts — for 22 of their school’s staff members who weren’t able to return to their hometowns for the holiday. “I prepared diced beef with black pepper because it’s the Year of the Ox,” fourthgrader Sun Jiashang said.