Tuesday, Xcel Energy said they would be looking to get a switching fee from Lubbock Power and Light.
Xcel filed the request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, estimating the cost could be $88.7 million, based on prices from 2015.
This has to do with LP&L’s proposal to switch from Xcel to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, in 2019.
“Currently, there’s a contract to supply power to Lubbock, and then after the 2019 timeframe, there’s an additional contract that kicks in,” Wes Reeves, a spokesman for Xcel said. “However, one thing I think the public sometimes doesn’t understand is the power contracts are separate from the fees that LP&L pays for transmission service.”
Reeves said they are talking about the investments made to the system to get power to Lubbock.
“We have developed a system with Lubbock as part of that model, a very expensive undertaking over the last 30 plus years, and we’re just simply saying it’s a matter of fairness for the remaining customers we have, that they are shielded as much as possible from that move
LP&L currently has a contract with Xcel, and even if they go move to ERCOT in 2019, there would still be about 30 percent of the electricity load with Xcel.
“Since the time we began as a customer of Xcel, until today, we have paid, on a monthly basis a rate to recoup transmission charges invested by Xcel energy,” Matt Rose, a spokesman for LP&L, said.
Rose said LP&L is still studying all aspects of their possible move to ERCOT.
“We truly believe that our contractual obligation ends when our contract ends in 2019 and we plan to vigorously defend this in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and continue our work with the PUC [Public Utility Commission of Texas] so that we can successfully integrate and we can make sure that our customers have affordable and reliable power post 2019,” Rose said.
