Texans setting thermostats to 'unsafe' temperatures to save money, report says

More people in Texas kept their homes at a temperature that felt unsafe or unhealthy in the last year than folks in any other state in the country, according to a report based on U.S. Census Bureau data. The report, from online home improvement marketplace HomeAdvisor, found that 26.3 percent of Texans kept their homes at uncomfortable temperatures at least once in the past year, compared with the national average of 18 percent. At the same time, almost 28 percent of Texans reported being unable to pay their energy bill at least once in the past 12 months compared with 20.1 percent of ratepayers nationwide. HomeAdvisor analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

The study also found the rate of Texans forgoing necessary expenses — like food or medicine — to pay an energy bill was second only to the rate of those living in Mississippi. About 37.7 percent of the Texas respondents said they skipped other necessities to keep the lights on, while about 28.2 percent of all respondents said the same. Much of those discrepancies can likely be chalked up to the winter freeze and subsequent blackouts of last February. Single-digit temperatures across much of the state knocked power generators offline and thrust millions into frigid darkness. Electricity bills soared for most Texans and for those with retail electric plans with prices that floated with the market, they ran into the thousands. “The winter storm aside, I think the climate in Texas has a pretty broad range between low to high temperatures than most people realize,” said Christian Worstell, the study’s author and a senior writer with HelpAdvisor.com. “Combine that fluctuating climate with the fluctuations of the deregulated power market, it’s easy to understand how over a third of the people there find themselves in a situation where they have to cut back to pay for power.”