Texas Staff, Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc. Say Full or Partial Settlement of Revocation Proceeding "May" Result

Staff of the Public Utility of Texas and Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc. have said in a status report that continued settlement negotiations may result in a resolution, entirely or in part, of a pending Notice of Violation proceeding against Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc., and parties asked for a delay in the procedural schedule to permit ongoing negotiations.

In the proceeding, Staff is seeking, among other things, the revocation of the Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc. REP certificate based on allegations that Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc. fails to meet the requirements of P.U.C. SUBST. R. 25.107(g)(1)(D), which holds "[a]n individual that was a principal of a REP that experienced a mass transition of the REP's customers to POLR shall not be considered for purposes of satisfying this requirement, and shall not own more than 10% of a REP or directly or indirectly control a REP."

Staff alleges that Gary Mole, the majority shareholder of Glacial Energy Holdings, which owns Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc., previously had an ownership interest and experience with Franklin Power Company, a REP that experienced an involuntary mass transition of customers to POLR in 2005. See prior story for background

Concerning a potential settlement, Staff and Glacial Energy of Texas, Inc. said in a joint status update filed on November 5:

"Settlement negotiations are ongoing in this matter. An agreement has not been reached regarding all contested issues at this time, however, the Parties believe that settlement negotiations are progressing and that continued negotiations will be fruitful and may result in a resolution of this matter entirely, or in part. Thus, the Parties are requesting an extension of the current procedural schedule in order to continue settlement negotiations."

Parties had previously asked for a delay in certain deadlines, including the filing date for testimony, to permit ongoing settlement negotiations, but in such prior requests parties had not indicated any belief that a partial or full resolution via settlement could be reached.

In the most recent status update, parties requested an additional one-month delay, which would push the first deadline for filing testimony (Staff direct) to December 13, with the hearing pushed back to a date after February 21, 2013, as determined by an ALJ.

Parties proposed to update the ALJ on the status of settlement talks by December 5.