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Parties Seek To Abate Sharyland Smart Meter Proceeding Given Potential Future Affiliation With Oncor (Potential To Leverage Oncor's AMS System)

October 27, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com

Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Office of the Public Utility Counsel (OPUC), the St. Lawrence Cotton Growers' Association, and the Texas Energy Association for Marketers (joint parties) asked that a proceeding examining the deployment of advanced meters at Sharyland Utilities be abated given that Oncor may potentially become affiliated with Sharyland, which could allow Sharyland to leverage Oncor's AMS system

Various affiliates of Sharyland have sought to purchase Oncor in a case pending before the PUCT.

The joint parties noted that in the application in the Oncor change-in-control proceeding, it is even suggested that there may be a possible business combination between one of the companies established to complete the Oncor purchase and InfraREIT, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns the transmission assets currently operated by Sharyland

"The AMS Proceeding involves a substantial capital investment by Sharyland to install smart meters and the associated communications and information systems," the joint parties noted. "Sharyland is proposing that Landis+Gyr provide the advanced meters, the infrastructure to support communication from the meter to the collection system, the collection system, and meter data management system. Landis+Gyr also provides the AMS technology for Oncor. The Joint Parties believe that if the Oncor Proceeding is granted, it would prudent for the Commission to consider a possible collaboration between Sharyland and Oncor so that Sharyland could utilize infrastructure that is already in place with Oncor for data communication and/or data management for the AMS. Such an arrangement would allow Sharyland to reduce the costs that would be charged to ratepayers for an AMS deployment. This is especially critical for Sharyland's customers, considering the current concerns about rate increases in its service area," the joint parties noted

The joint parties asked that the Sharyland AMS proceeding be abated until the Commission has made a final determination in the Oncor change-in-control proceeding. If the transaction is approved, the joint parties further propose that Sharyland conduct the appropriate analysis to determine the potential benefits of utilizing Oncor's AMS systems and submit the information for consideration in the current AMS docket.

Docket 44361

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