Texas PUC Commissioners Prepared To Approve Lubbock Power & Light Integration Into ERCOT

This story was first published on February 15, with an alert to our email alert subscribers

Commissioners of the Public Utility Commission of Texas are prepared to approve the integration of 470 MW of Lubbock Power & Light's load into ERCOT

While no formal vote was taken at today's open meeting, Commissioners directed that an order approving various stipulations among the parties governing the integration be drafted, with certain conditions and revisions to the language included in the final order.

The Commission also today agreed on integration issues unrelated to the wholesale or retail market, such as the parties responsible for certain transmission construction implicated in the integration

LP&L, the third largest municipal electric utility in Texas, serves over 104,000 electric meters in the Lubbock area. It is seeking to have 470 MW ("Affected Load"), of its total load of approximately 600 MW, join ERCOT effective June 1, 2021. LP&L also acquired distribution facilities serving approximately 170 MW in Lubbock from SPS in 2010. LP&L's partial requirements contract with SPS related to that 170 MW of load expires in 2044 and is not addressed by the proposed ERCOT transition.

As previously reported, a stipulation in the case, which includes ARM as a signatory, provides that, "LP&L intends to exercise its right to opt-in to retail competition for the Affected Load as soon as is practicable, but with a goal of doing so effective upon the Integration Date. Parties acknowledge that, once the City of Lubbock's City Council adopts the resolution described in PURA § 40.051(b), that statute mandates that the decision is irrevocable."

As previously reported, LP&L's utility board and the Lubbock, Texas City Council have passed resolutions which express an "intent" to provide retail electric customer choice to the 470 MW of load at Lubbock Power & Light which the utility would transition to ERCOT from SPP.

Per the resolutions, LP&L will engage in a study of how to implement customer choice. Any decision on adopting customer choice is subject to a future vote.

About 70,000 customers would be included in the transition to ERCOT, and therefore receive customer choice under the Council's statement of intent

See our prior story for more details on the potential for introduction of customer choice at LP&L, including the role of LP&L in the market.