Call for Emergency Disconnection Rules

State Rep. Sylvester Turner has called upon Texas regulators to adopt emergency rules that would protect electric customers against disconnections during the dog days of summer.

In a petition filed before the Texas Public Utility Commission, the Houston lawmaker has proposed a ban on electricity disconnections in any area in which the heat index is forecast to hit 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

The move comes just as Texas cities begin to wilt under sweltering high temperatures. In Houston, for example, the high was 101 degrees on Wednesday – but with 40 percent relative humidity. According to a National Weather Service table, that would place the heat index in the Bayou City at between 109 and 114 degrees.

The petition calls upon the PUC to set up rules that would require electric companies to keep the power flowing during the hottest months, but also to set up payment plans for customers who fall behind on their bills. The proposed rules are modeled on legislation that Turner and others unsuccessfully attempted to pass during the 81st Legislative Session, which ended June 1.

“Summer is here and record temperatures are being set across the State -- we can not afford to take this dire situation lightly,” said Rep. Turner. “That is why I filed the petition so quickly and that is why I strongly urge the Commissioners at the PUC to set an emergency meeting and take up the issue immediately.”

AARP Texas and several other consumer groups have joined the petition. “While AARP continues to urge the Texas Legislature to fix the problem permanently, we ask the PUC to do the responsible thing and protect the lives and health of many citizens who are at increased risk this summer,” said AARP state director Bob Jackson.

The PUC likely will consider Turner’s petition during its July 2nd meeting.

-- R.A. Dyer

CREZ, Community and Rights of Way

The preservation of community values, recreational areas, and the environment are just three of the factors that the Texas Public Utility Commission must consider as it adopts routing plans for the hundreds of miles of new transmission lines going up in West Texas and the Panhandle.

The lines themselves will be massive: they're the 345 KV variety with poles that stand over 115 feet tall and right of way that can extend 150-180 feet. The lines could end up cutting through ranch land, residential subdivisions and city property. They're contemplated for numerous areas around West Texas, Central Texas and North Texas -- including areas around Killeen, Kempner, Holliday, Sweetwater, Roscoe and Snyder.

It's all part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone process that calls for $5-6 billion in new transmission investment to encourage wind energy development. When complete, the CREZ lines will substantially increase transmission connections to parts of the state where the wind blows the heaviest.

But the process is complicated and it's important to know your rights. First the Commission must decide on specific routes, including the designation of priority projects. Transmission service providers like Oncor must also conduct routing studies and conduct public meetings in affected areas. Local residents concerned about the new lines can inquire about the public meetings and can also intervene at the Public Utility Commission.

According to PUC rules, "the line shall be routed to the extent reasonable to moderate the impact on the affected community and landowners unless grid reliability and security dictate otherwise." The PUC must consider historical and aesthetic values, environmental integrity and whether the routes parallel existing compatible rights-of-way.

Some information can be found at the PUC website, under Docket No. 36801. A word of warning: this stuff can be complicated.


-- Lambeth Townsend

Oncor's White Elephant

“Bagging a white elephant” -- that’s how the Dallas Morning News characterized moves by Oncor to purchase nearly 900,000 automated meters now considered to be obsolete because they fail to meet state guidelines.

In his June 5th front page article, reporter Steve McGonigle chronicled how Oncor wants its customers to pay $93 million for the meters – even though most of the company’s customers never received them. He also notes that experts advising the Texas Public Utility Commission have found that much of the company's expenditures in this regard were imprudent.

“These costs should be borne by Oncor, not by ratepayers,” PUC staff attorney Patrick Peters III asserted in a document obtained by the Morning News.

Oncor’s request for more money for obsolete meters comes on top of the $2.21 monthly surcharge the company recently began collecting for hundreds of thousands of separate advanced meters. These new meters became necessary when it became clear that the first generation meters did not meet state guidelines.

The newspaper also quoted local resident Joel Morgan, a disabled auto parts salesman from Rockwall, who said in a letter to the Public Utility Commission that he and his wife have no interest in paying for automated meters – obsolete or not.

“Please keep us in mind when these BIG BOYS with the DEEP POCKETS come to you asking for permission to stick it to us again and again and again,” he wrote