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Entergy Texas Addresses Impact Of Sought New Generation On Retail Choice Transition
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In support of its application at the Texas PUC for CCNs to build and own about 1,200 MW of new gas-fired generation (Dispatchable Portfolio), Entergy Texas, Inc. (ETI) addressed whether the new generation would impact any potential transition to retail competition in its service area
According to a June 2024 sample residential bill on ETI's website, a residential RS Entergy Texas customer using 1,000 kWh would pay $146.52 per month (excluding state, city or local taxes).
This is about the same per kWh rate as the lowest standard, fixed rate competitive retail offers on Power to Choose in the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric service area (the service area closest to ETI), which are 14.6 to 14.7 cents per kWh, reflecting four different REPs. Two of these 14.7 cent plans are 100% renewable
Several competitive retail plans in the CEHE territory with usage-linked credits have an average rate, at 1,000 kWh, of just under 12 cents per kWh
In the application at the Texas PUC, a witness for ETI said, "Commission approval of ETI's application to add the Dispatchable Portfolio to its
CCN would not affect the process to transition to retail competition, nor would it
create any incremental market power concerns."
"To my knowledge, there are no plans
at this time to initiate a transition to retail competition in ETI's service area, and if a
transition were to occur, it would not be for many years," a witness for ETI said
ETI noted that the legislature in 2009 halted work on a transition to competition plan at ETI
While the PUC generally retains authority to direct a transition to competition at ETI, subject to necessary statutory findings and requirements in order to do so, a witness for ETI noted that, under revised statute, the PUC may not approve a transition to competition plan at ETI until at least four years after the PUC certifies a power region as meeting certain statutory requirements concerning, among other things, wholesale open access and independent system operation
"The four-year waiting period would provide the Texas
Legislature with an opportunity to address whether and how to implement retail
competition in ETI's service area if it chose to do so. Following any order approving
the transition plan, additional time would be required to implement it," a witness for ETI said
Since 2009, the PUC has not initiated a transition to competition process for ETI, and ETI's witness stated, "I am
not aware of any plans to do so."
A witness for ETI said that the new power plants for which authority is sought would not meaningfully impact any market power issues under a future transition to competition plan, because the issues implicated by the new generation, including potential market power and measures to address it, would still exist even without their construction, due to the existing utility resources on the system
"These issues would have to be addressed in any [transition to competition] plan, regardless of whether
the Commission approves ETI's CCN application for the Dispatchable Portfolio. The
extent of actions taken to address them could be affected by virtue of ETI having
additional generating capacity, but ETI needs additional capacity to serve its
customers, and when it conducts long-term planning, it plans to meet its needs using
physical capacity, not PRA capacity credits. Thus, the addition of the Dispatchable
Portfolio should not affect the way in which market power is addressed or the extent
of actions taken to address it in any potential future transition plan in any meaningful way because if ETI was not planning the Dispatchable Portfolio, it would be planning
another portfolio of physical resources to meet its needs," a witness for ETI said
A witness for ETI noted that, in a prior proposed decision for the utility's earlier Orange County Advanced
Power Station (OCAPS),
the
Administrative Law Judges had found that, "the addition of necessary dispatchable
power and related regional reliability outweigh any potential effects on customer
choice."
"There is no basis for a different conclusion with regard to ETI's current
application," a witness for ETI said
Docket 56693
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June 7, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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