When millions of people were left without any access to power, one of the state’s largest electricity retailer surged price so up that the clients received electrical bills up to 40 times more than a usual payment.

According to a lawsuit led by Lisa Khoury and backed by attorney Derek Potts, one of the residents of Chamber County, near Houston reportedly received an electric bill that amounted to $9,340 for a week.

Khoury’s complaint aims to secure an injunction that would block the retailer, Griddy, from acquiring payments from customers at increased rates.

Griddy described the lawsuit as “meritless” and expressed its intention to push back against it in court.

The spokesperson for Griddy defended Griddy’s action in a statement to Dallas Morning News. He said, “Griddy passes through the wholesale electricity price without mark-up.” He added, “The price charged is the direct result of non-market prices ordered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas last week.”

People across Texas have been skyrocketing energy prices as a result of storms which caused a large portion of the state’s power grid to fail.

The free-market logic has once again made the people pay up to $10,000 a week for electricity at the time when the power is required the most, while the Senate has been battling to set the minimum wage to $15 a week. Even with a $15 per week minimum wage, working more than 50 hours a week for three months is not enough to make that amount.