Energy Choice
                            

Matters

Wal-Mart's Hendrix: No Rational Reason For Choice Not To Be Offered at Entergy Texas, SPS, NOIEs

October 1, 2015

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

There is "no rational reason" for electric choice not to be offered at Entergy Texas, Southwestern Public Service, and the ERCOT municipals and cooperatives (non opt-in entities, or NOIEs), Chris Hendrix, Director of Markets and Compliance for Wal-Mart, told attendees at the Gulf Coast Power Association fall conference.

"Now is the time to really look at," whether choice should be expanded in Texas, Hendrix said.

Hendrix noted that Entergy Texas, SPS, and the NOIEs are all now located in, "viable," RTOs, whether it be the Midcontinent ISO, Southwest Power Pool, or ERCOT. Unlike when the transition to competition was suspended at the non-ERCOT utilities, Entergy Texas and SPS are now within RTOs that offer a day-ahead market

It's been about a decade since many of the suspensions of the transition to competition, and Hendrix cited a void in the retail electric provider (REP) community for the lack of progress in expanding choice in Texas.

"[T]here's not enough REPs that have gotten involved and that want to," push the issue, Hendrix said

Indeed, and we stress this is our own opinion and not something raised by Hendrix, EnergyChoiceMatters.com has noted that customers (both large and small) have been out in-front of the industry in nascent movements to expand choice in Texas, whether it be at Sharyland-Cap Rock (successful), El Paso, Austin Energy, or Pedernales Electric Cooperative.

As ECM repeatedly said at the time, the Entergy Texas RTO selection proceeding was the prime opportunity to begin discussion about reviving a transition to competition there, since its RTO selection would directly impact its ability to meet qualifying power region and other standards set forth in statute for introduction of choice

Indeed, as ECM has noted and which reflects solely our own opinion, many of the largest competitive suppliers in Texas, which also own generation, seem to have directed their resources to a fruitless effort to remove customer choice from Texas through introduction of mandatory capacity purchase obligations, instead of expanding customer choice to new utilities

Turning back to Hendrix's remarks, Hendrix sees a combination of grassroots customer support and REP lobbying as key for expansion of choice.

Rudy Garza, Vice President or Government and Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy CPS Energy, said that there was no "sea change" at the legislature under which lawmakers would believe that competition should be forced on any NOIE.

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Customer Support and Retention Rep -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Contracts Analyst -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Pricing Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Billing Analyst -- Retail Provider -- Houston
• NEW! -- Energy Services Program Director - $230K
• NEW! -- Senior Retail Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Manager, Retail Pricing -- Retail Provider
• NEW! -- Retail Commodity Pricing Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Director of Pricing, Risk & Portfolio -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Manager/Director, Customer Retention and Satisfaction -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Bilingual Rep Support Specialist -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Commercial Sales Support Analyst -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Financial Analyst -- Retail Energy Supplier
• NEW! -- Sales Executive -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Manager, Power Retention -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Team Lead, Billing -- Retail Provider -- Houston
• NEW! -- Business Development Manager -- Retail Supplier -- DFW