I'm seriously disappointed in HN when the only responses to consumers getting $16K power bills are them getting blamed or instructed on how to live without electricity.
Now pretend that child belongs to another set of parents that live far away, and the parents happen to have the same mindset as the child.
What do you do?
If you take on risk your should fully assume that risk. The same way that if your insure your house for half its price to save on monthly payments you don't go around expecting the government to bail you out.