The people who are getting these huge bills are the same people who have been benefitting for years from the cheap wholesale prices.

So basically, they have been living with no insurance, and now that they have hit some serious price volatility, they can't afford it.

I'm not sure the best solution for this, but I don't think it should be for the state to just step in and absolve everyone involved.

Obviously, the practice of wholesale billing has to be regulated more strictly. I get the free market intention behind it. Users will be more likely to limit their usage when prices increase. But the problem is that in cases like these winter storms, electricity can mean life or death.

You can't have a truly free market unless we are willing to let people die if they don't have the money.

It's the same reason totally free markets break down with healthcare. If someone chooses not to buy insurance, we are not the kind of country that will turn them away at the hospital and let them die. And if you aren't willing to do that, then that is not a free market.