[국제]Texas, US,’water shortage’ after cold wave… even electricity bill bomb over 10 million won

[앵커]

The state of Texas, USA, suffered severely from a winter storm last week, as the weather eases, and electricity supplies are resumed and restoration work is underway.

However, nearly half of the residents are still suffering from water shortages, and some residents were struck by an electricity bill of over 10 million won.

Reporter Lee Dong-hun.

[기자]

Vehicles in Texas, USA, have a long tail.

These are vehicles waiting to receive a bottled water ration.

[에이샤 라이트 / 휴스턴 주민 : 수돗물이 조금씩 나올 뿐입니다. 물이나 물 같은 것을 구할 수가 없습니다.]

Although restoration work has been underway since last weekend as the weather clears, nearly half of Texas residents are still suffering from water shortages.

[텍사스 주민 : 물이 나오지 않습니다. 끓인 물이 전부입니다.]

This is because water pipes froze and burst in various places while water facilities were shut down due to a power outage caused by a cold wave.

Power outages caused by massive power grid failures and surges in electricity demand have mostly returned to normal.

But last week, a toll bomb hit some of the villagers who received electricity.

From thousands of dollars to more than ten thousand dollars, electricity bills came out over ten million won in our money.

As those who used electricity on a variable rate plan, the burden has been passed on to consumers as the wholesale price of electricity has risen more than 10 times due to the shortage of electricity supply due to the cold wave last week.

The state government, working on a solution, stopped sending electricity bills and prevented them from shutting down electricity for non-payment.

[그레그 애벗 / 미 텍사스 주지사 : 주의회가 이 문제의 중요성을 인식하고 있습니다. 완전히 해결할 수 있도록 빠른 속도로 움직일 것입니다.]

It is pointed out that Texas’ policy of leaving the power system to market autonomy and not regulating anything caused the crisis.

This is YTN Dongheon Lee.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]