Turning wind into electricity is one thing; moving the energy to a profitable market is another. For years, the wind industry has been hampered by such a severe lack of transmission lines that when the wind is strong, a local power surplus forces some machines to be shut down. Now, Texas is out to change [...]
The Public Utility Commission of Texas is poised to study whether wind power generators should pick up some transmission costs now borne mostly by consumers statewide. Texas is the nation's wind power leader, and PUC Chair Donna Nelson argues it's time to consider whether those generators are paying their fair share. But wind industry officials [...]
Two new wind farms have been announced for the Texas Panhandle. Lincoln Renewable Energy announced the start of construction of a 300-megawatt project in Castro County, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved the registration of Miami Wind I, a 288-megawatt project planned for the northeast Texas Panhandle. Both facilities will use newly constructed [...]
On July 8, 2010, the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) chose a route for a new 345-kilovolt transmission line project intended to carry renewable wind power through Schleicher, Irion and Tom Green counties to the load centers of Austin and San Antonio and other more populated areas of the state. LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA [...]
Recently, Barry Smitherman, Chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, asked the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to “thoroughly re-evaluate the need for the Gillespie to Newton transmission line” that has been proposed to carry wind from the competitive renewable energy zones located in West Texas to population centers along the I35 corridor. The [...]
Press releases by the city of Garland claiming that a court ruling halts a huge $5 billion project to build transmission lines from West Texas wind farms to urban areas is being vigorously disputed by others. Representatives of the Texas Public Utility Commission and Oncor Electric Delivery take issue with a Garland news release Jan. 15 that declared that the ruling meant that "further transmission line development" in the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones project "must be suspended until the PUC properly weighs the costs and benefits to electricity consumers." After the Garland press release was issued, the Houston Chronicle reported that the judge’s ruling "will freeze billions of dollars of work on new high-voltage power lines." PUC spokesman Terry Hadley said Yelenosky’s ruling will be reviewed by the three-member commission at its 9:30 a.m. Friday meeting in Austin. The judge’s ruling challenged only "a small sliver of the commission order," with the result that there "will be minor issues that the commission will need to revisit," Hadley said. Catherine Cuellar, a spokeswoman for Oncor, the major transmission and distribution company serving North Texas, said it is "optimistic" that the judge’s ruling "won’t cause any delay" in its 14 transmission-line projects, valued at $1.4 billion and covering 850 miles of new power lines. The judge’s ruling "was very narrow" in its scope, Cuellar said. Read more about City of Garland Appeal.
Today we have enough wind turbines in Texas to produce nearly 100 times more pollution-free electricity than the turbines we had in place 10 years ago. These high-tech windmills now can generate almost 10,000 megawatts, enough electricity to power 3.5 million Texas homes during the hottest weather of the year. We have more wind energy [...]
At an Open Meeting held on November 24, 2009 Texas Railroad Commissioners voted to intervene in each Texas Public Utility Commission docket related to the issuance of Certificates of Convenience and Necessity to the transmission service providers who will build the transmission lines to serve the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (“CREZ”). In a report [...]
June 2, 2009 Press Release -- Oncor will finalize a multi-million dollar contract this month with Snyder, Texas-based Weaver Construction to perform substation site grading services for Oncor’s Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) projects. These substations will help energy generated locally from clean, renewable wind travel over 850 miles of new Oncor wires to reach Texas [...]
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was requested by Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) leadership to conduct an “analysis of the likely effects of proposed climate change legislation on electricity prices in the ERCOT market.” Consistent with a similar study conducted by the PJM Interconnection, ERCOT focused on the near-term impacts of this [...]
