By Tom Kleckner
AUSTIN, Texas — The Public Utility Commission of Texas last week hinted it may be near a decision on Lubbock Power & Light’s proposal to move 470 MW of its load from SPP to ERCOT.
During their Feb. 15 open meeting, the regulators asked an administrative law judge to rule on some remaining questions and submit a final order before their March 8 meeting (Docket No. 47576).
Chair DeAnn Walker suggested the ALJ avoid a detailed discussion of exit fees and save that for a staff rulemaking. LP&L committed to paying an exit fee in a settlement agreement with intervenors, but as Walker pointed out, the utility has also chosen to participate in ERCOT’s competitive retail market.
“If they make that choice, they’re not going to be able to leave” ERCOT’s competitive market, she said.
Walker said the order should assign LP&L and Sharyland Utilities — which has proposed a $247.5 million, 345-kV project that overlaps with the facilities necessary to integrate Lubbock’s load into ERCOT — to coordinate the respective parts of the system for which each would be responsible.
“If they’re unable to agree, they will have to file a proceeding here,” Walker said.
LP&L officials, who had expected a final order, were nonetheless thrilled with the PUC’s action. In a statement, David McCalla, LP&L’s director of electric utilities, called it “the most important milestone to date in our case to join ERCOT.”
Lubbock’s power needs are currently met through two long-term contracts with Southwestern Public Service, one of which — 470 of 600 MW — expires in June 2021. LP&L says moving from SPP to ERCOT and allowing retail competition will give its customers access to a “diversified portfolio of reliable and affordable Texas power for generations to come.”
The utility reached a settlement agreement with SPS, PUC staff, the Office of Public Utility Counsel and other consumer groups last month. The Lubbock City Council and LP&L’s board of directors approved the settlement, which the utility filed with the PUC on Feb. 8. (See Lubbock Council, Utility Board Approve LP&L Settlement.)
LP&L has agreed to pay $22 million annually over five years to compensate ERCOT’s transmission customers for additional infrastructure costs, and to also make a one-time $24 million payment to SPS for previous infrastructure costs.
While thanking everyone for their efforts in reaching a settlement, Walker couldn’t resist needling LP&L attorneys Lambeth Townsend and Chris Brewster. “It would have been nice if it had been before the hearing,” she said, referring to the commission’s two-day hearing in January. (See Texas Regulators Noncommittal After LP&L Hearings.)
The commissioners discussed the need for a rulemaking on future transfers. Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative, which sits on the ERCOT-SPP seam in East Texas, has proposed transferring load and transmission facilities into ERCOT, while Walker alluded to holding a recent discussion about another transfer “that’s on the horizon.” (See “ERCOT, SPP Agree to Rayburn Country Migration Studies,” Public Utility Commission of Texas Briefs: Aug. 31, 2017.)
“I personally don’t think we learned enough with this [transfer] to get specific,” Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea said in agreeing to the need for the rulemaking. “I wonder if we can’t get into the weeds on some of the rules.”
The commission also asked staff to open a project within the docket that would require LP&L to file quarterly updates on the transition’s status.
