Texas residents who were lucky enough to maintain their power during the recent winter storm that hit the region are now facing utility bills that could run into the five-figure range, the New York Times reports.

Sixty-three year-old Army veteran Scott Willoughby, who was getting by on a Social Security check each month, drained his savings account to pay the power bill of more than $16,000 that had been automatically charged to his credit card.  That 70 times the amount he normally pays each month.

Famous for its lack of regulation, many Texas have their power bills linked to the wholesale price of electricity, which has skyrocketed as the storm hit.  CNN reports on people charged $7,000; the Dallas Morning News report that some people racked up $5,000 in charges over five days.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott is facing criticism from all fronts as his administration’s response to the crisis comes under fire.  The commission that oversees the state’s power grid, appointed by the governor, failed to upgrade the grid after widespread outages due to a 2011, even though such improvements were recommended by a federal energy oversight committee.

Abbott called an emergency meeting of the legislature Saturday to discuss the exploding utility bills being charged to customers.  The meeting failed to produce any action.

“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are a result of the severe winter weather and power outages,” Abbott said in a statement after the meeting. He said members of both parties would work together to make sure people “do not get stuck with skyrocketing energy bills.”