Power went off

Well, not that I agree with the outrageous electric bills these people received, but they are also culpable as they knew that the price of electricity from Griddy was variable both up and down. In fact that was the lure of their service is that unlike fixed rate plans they could get electricity cheaper during off peak months. They've capped the rate at $9000 per megawatt hour and so they should have known that their electric bills in theory at least could get a little crazy.Edited by kjsimons, : No reason given.

Yeah I was amazed at their usage as well. I live in Orlando, FL in a 1700 sq.ft. house and I rarely exceed 800 kw in a month (less than $100). I'm not sure that it's possible to drain the water pipes in most newer houses in Texas or Florida as they tend to be built on slabs so you don't have any access to the pumping except where is comes out of a wall.

I do have a water cutoff at the house as well as at the meter, but I can't drain the pipes, just de-pressure them. Even with the taps open the pipes will all still be full of water. Up North with basements it was possible to drain the pipes pretty easily.

Yep, the put in all the piping and drains in, usually the pipes sticking about three feet above where the top of the slab will be and then they pour the concrete. My shutoff valve is located under a plastic cover and is only six inches down in the dirt. So the pipe is actually exposed to air but is covered. My water meter is the same deal exposed except for a cover and only inches deep. Since we don't normally freeze there is no "frost line" depth to consider. I remember my house growing up in Rochester, NY had the plumbing coming in six feet deep into the side of the basement.