average of $5,100 per household more than comparable markets under state regulation. During the February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, due to the deregulated electricity market and the spike in demand, wholesale electricity prices shot up in some places by 10,000 percent. As a result, Texans who pay wholesale prices such as with retailer Griddy received exceptionally expensive electric bills as high as $450 for one day of use. New competition The price to beat seemed to accomplish its goal of attracting competitors to the market during the period through January 1, 2007. It allowed competitors to enter the market without allowing the incumbents to undercut them in price. It has also given energy consumers the ability to compare energy rates offered by different providers. The less-regulated providers undercut the price to beat by only a small margin given that they must balance lower prices (to attract customers and build market share) with higher prices (needed to reinvest in new power plants). Due to the small difference in competing prices and slow (yearly or so) "buying" process, price decrease due to competition was very slow, and it took a few years to offset the original increase by "traditional" electric providers and move to lower rates. One of the benchmarks of a successful free market is the range of choice provided to customers. Choice can be viewed both in terms of the number of firms active in the market as well as the variety of products those firms offer to consumers. In the first decade of retail electric deregulation in Texas, the market experienced dramatic changes in both metrics. In 2002, residential customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area could choose between 10 retail electric providers offering 11 price plans. By the end of 2012, there were 45 retail electric providers offering 258 price plans to residential customers in that market. Similar increases in the number of retail electric providers and available plans have been realized in other deregulated electricity market areas with the state. Environmental impact In environmental impact, results are mixed. With the ability to invest profits to satisfy further energy demand, producers like TXU proposed eleven new coal-fired power plants in 2006. Coal power plants were cheaper than natural gas-fired powerplants, but produce more pollution. When the private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Texas Pacific Group announced the take-over of TXU, the company, which was known