SNL: Texas selects developers to build transmission lines to tap wind regions

By Andrew Engblom

Texas regulators on Jan. 29 awarded more than a dozen electric transmission developers shares of an approximately $5 billion plan to build transmission lines between wind-rich regions in west Texas and the panhandle and major load centers.

The decision, made by the Public Utility Commission of Texas at its open meeting, parcels out about 2,900 miles of high-voltage transmission projects, which the commission expects to support nearly 18,500 MW of wind generation.

PUCT spokesman Terry Hadley said the commission's preliminary estimates show:

* Energy Future Holdings Corp. subsidiary Oncor Electric Delivery Co. LLC with a $1.34 billion share of the project.

* Electric Transmission Texas LLC, a joint venture between American Electric Power Co. Inc. and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., with a $790 million share.

* Lower Colorado River Authority with a $750 million share.

* FPL Group Inc. affiliate Lone Star Transmission LLC with a $564 million share.

* Wind Energy Transmission Texas LLC, a joint venture of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Isolux Corsan Concesiones SA, an engineering firm based in Spain, with a $402 million share.

* Sharyland Utilities LP with a $394 million share.

* LS Power Group unit Cross Texas Transmission with a $390 million share.

Combined, those seven parties would construct a $4.63 billion share of the build-out, while six other parties would construct a number of smaller projects representing an investment of about $300 million.

The PUCT approved the plan to build the nearly $5 billion of transmission in July 2008, selecting "Scenario 2" from a group of scenarios that would have supported as little as 12,053 MW of wind generation to two that would have supported more than 24,000 MW.

That plan, developed through the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone, or CREZ, process, included a process through which developers would compete to build the lines instead of granting transmission developers with native territory the right of refusal. That competitive transmission process resulted in the selections on Jan. 29.

A formal order will likely not be available for several weeks, but PUCT Chairman Barry Smitherman on Jan. 29 filed a map detailing what segments each party would construct in Docket No. 35665.