Transfer of Sharyland SPP Load to ERCOT Approved, Opening Door for Customer Choice

The PUCT approved without modification a stipulation among Sharyland Utilities, PUCT Staff, and other parties to move Sharyland's Stanton and Colorado City load from the Southwest Power Pool to ERCOT, potentially allowing for the introduction of retail choice (39070).

A study of a potential move to ERCOT for the Stanton and Colorado City divisions, formerly owned by Cap Rock Energy, was required as part of the acquisition of Cap Rock Energy by Sharyland (see 1/14).

The approved stipulation will move all of the Sharyland Stanton and Colorado City assets into ERCOT by January 1, 2014, with the exception of the Borden to Midland transmission line and related facilities.

While the Borden to Midland facilities will remain interconnected with SPP, all retail load associated with the Stanton and Colorado City divisions will move to ERCOT. The settlement also contemplates that the Borden to Midland facilities could eventually be moved into ERCOT should Southwestern Public Service no longer need the line for its SPP load.

The approved stipulation notably finds that the transfer of Sharyland's Stanton and Colorado City division customers from SPP to ERCOT is expected to lower retail rates paid by residential, commercial, and industrial customers in those divisions. The transfer will also make it possible to provide customer choice to Sharyland's Stanton and Colorado City division customers, "which is not currently feasible in SPP," the stipulation notes.

None of the former Cap Rock areas now owned by Sharyland -- including those previously within ERCOT in addition to the Stanton and Colorado City divisions -- offer retail choice.

The adopted stipulation provides that Sharyland's plan regarding whether to move the former Cap Rock customers within ERCOT to retail choice shall be filed with the PUCT on or before July 13, 2011.

Furthermore, the settlement provides that as part of this retail filing, Sharyland will include as an option a scenario under which all of Sharyland's customers in ERCOT that do not currently have customer choice, including customers in the Stanton and Colorado City divisions that will be transferred to ERCOT as a result of the stipulation, plus the Brady and Celeste divisions that are currently in ERCOT, should be moved to retail competition by January 1, 2014.