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Sen. Charles Perry
With the recent problems surround the severe winter storm, State Senator Charles Perry has expressed concerns about Lubbock Power & Light flipping the switch and joining the Electric Reliability Council of Texas [ERCOT] in about four months.
Thus far, the city has spent years and about $200 million updating its infrastructure in preparation. Given what happened dur
Given what happened during the recent winter storm, many customers are concerned about ERCOT and wondering if there is a way to pull out after witnessing the millions of current ERCOT customers who without electricity this past week.
According to Perry, decisions this big require commitment and resources because a lot of buying must be done. “That said, because of
“That said, because of what’s happened in the last five days, I think there’s a window, if you will, for reasonable conversation as to, do we want to do this?” said Perry.
Perry, who spent hours during the week talking with Texans without power or heat, said Lubbock had mostly avoided the situation since Lubbock currently gets its power from a different source than the rest of the state.
“Had Lubbock experienced what my districts experienced around the state, you bet your bottom dollar there would be heads rolling,” Perry said.
Lubbock is on the Southwest Power Pool, but that began to change after LP&L was forced into making one of two choices as the contract with Xcel Energy was set to expire in 2019.
It could either build its own power supply, at an approximate cost of $1 billion or ERCOT for $400 million.
The latter seemed more cost-effective until the recent winter storm was unleashed on the state.
“I think we came dangerously close to blowing up the grid, I mean, literally having a grid implode to where we couldn’t start it back up for months if not years,” Perry said.
ERCOT provides power to 90 percent of the state and Perry is questioning its reliability.
“Every year that I’ve been in the legislature, every summer, I’ve had rolling brownouts. Now, brownouts are not that bad of a thing... but that indicates a grid that is not whole,”
The issue began in 1999 when the state passed Senate Bill 7, deregulating the energy market in Texas.
Former Lubbock Representative Carl Isett said it didn’t make sense for the city to join at the time.
“When we crafted that bill, Lubbock was already under competition,” said Isett. “We had two providers and we had a choice. We had very cheap electricity already, so I didn’t see any way being in competition would do anything but raise our prices.” It appears the system was
It appears the system was unprepared for the spike in demand because of deregulation, as energy providers only produce enough to meet typical market demand. ERCOT also cannot pull resources from other states, like the Southwest Power Pool can.
Perry said the hope is that the current energy crisis will create a more reliable grid that Lubbock will soon be a part of in June.
“Time will tell, and being in an ERCOT grid has its advantages, you just have to kind of weigh the risk. Is it worth it in these kinds of events?” Perry said.
According to the plan, not every LP&L customer will be switched over right away, with 30 percent remaining on the current provider to fulfill an existing contract. The complete switchover should be completed by 2023.