Ebas : Filing Receipt

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EbA
Filing Receipt
Received - 2023-02-23 04:23:52 PM

Control Number - 53442
ItemNumber - 364
42*43
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PHIL KING Iplp] "i .fi*~ Capitol Office:
State Senator RO. Box 12068
District 10 1' --9- 3/ Austin. Texas 78711
512-463-0110
Committees:
Business & Commerce, Vice Chair £*tate cf 2[exaa £*ertate District Office:
Border Security The Nan & Bob Kingsley Bldg.
Criminal Justice 1710 Martin Dr.
Education Weatherford, Texas 76086
Higher Education, Subcommittee 817-596-4796
Transportation [email protected]
February 23,2023
Chairman Peter Lake

Commissioner Will McAdams
Commissioner Lori Cobos
Commissioner Jimmy Glotfelty
Commissioner Kathleen Jackson
Public Utility Commission of Texas
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
Re: SOAH Docket No. 473-22-2353; PUC Docket No. 53442; Application of
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC for Approval to Amend its Distribution Cost Recovery
Factor
Dear Chairman Lake and Commissioners:
As you know, the Legislature adopted many important reforms during the 87th Regular Session to address
issues that occurred during Winter Storm Uri. Two weeks after that storm forced ERCOT to initiate the
largest load shed event in Texas history, I filed H.B. 2483 to provide transmission and distribution utilities
("TDUs") with a tool allowing them to temporarily restore power to customers the grid could not serve.
'I he bill became law following its near unanimous passage by the Legislature and the Governor's
signature. As a result, PURA § 39.918 now authorizes a TDU to lease and operate temporary emergency
electric energy facilities to restore electric service following a widespread power outage. TDUs like
CenterPoint and others used this statutory authority to immediately procure temporary emergency electric
energy facilities that have already been put to beneficial use for Texans.
Despite the clear direction from state leadership that TDUs should have temporary emergency electric
energy facilities in their toolbox and the common-sense use of those facilities in the short time since the
bill took effect, the administrative law judges in this proceeding apparently believe the company should
return them to the vendor. Drawing from the company's experience implementing ERCOT's
unprecedented load shed order during Winter Storm Uri, CenterPoint determined that it would need 500
MW of temporary emergency electric facilities to rotate outages if a similar load shed event occurred in
the future. The judges dismiss this rationale as being based "on a single, anomalous event." It was no
coincidence that I filed H.B. 2483 two weeks after the storm left millions of Texans in the cold and dark.
District 10 is composed of Brown, Callahaii,Johnson, Palo Pinto, Shackelford, Stephens, and portions of Parker and Tarrant Counties.
As you are aware, state leaders committed to the people of Texas to make the changes needed to·prevent
the effects from events like Winter Storm Uri from ever happening again. To allow two administrative
judges to supersede the policy decision of the Legislature and the judgment of CenterPoint, basedon its
experience from Winter Storm Uri regarding the ne¢dtid amount df MWs, completely ignores the reason
I authored H.B 2483. This should be rejected by the Commission.
The judges also found that CenterPoint cannot use its mobile generation facilities to restorepower when ·
distribution facility damage prevents customers from being served. Such a conclusion, if allowed to stand,
would prohibit common-sense uses ofthe temporary emergency energy facilities following weather events
like hurricanes, tornadoes, and ice storms, which can cause much more damage to distribution facilities
than to transmission. This fact is underscored by the judges' own admission that this conclusion "may
appear hypertechnical to Texans suffering in extreme cold or heat without electricity after a weather event
or other grid emergency." As the bill author, I made clear during the legislative process that these facilities
could be used on the distribution system in response to severe weather events like hurricanes and
tornadoes. And as I said in my letter to you last May, the bill was drafted to encourage utilities to quickly
procure and deploy temporary emergency energy facilities so they would be available for the next grid
event or severe weather event. The bill does not explicitly grant you rulemaking authority, and Texans
should not be asked to needlessly suffer while it waits for one to occur. In fact, shortly after the statue
became effective, and to prepare for what was forecasted to be an active 2021 hurricane season,
CenterPoint moved quickly to develop and implement a procurement process to lease temporary
emergency energy facilities. As a result, CenterPoint was able to deploy a unit to restore power to the
Lake Jackson Civic Center following Hurricane Nicholas. In reaching their non-sensical, hypertechnical
conclusion, the judges appear to have read words into the statute that simply do not exist. The Commission
should also reject this flawed interpretation of the law.
I therefore call on you to restore common-sense reasoning to real world situations for all Texans and reject
the judges' interpretations that if you allow them to stand would needlessly force Texans to endure
hardship.
Thank you for your leadership and your service to Texans.
Sincerely,
/967
527~
Phil King
State Senator, District 10

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Received - 2023-02-23 04:23:52 PM

Chairman Peter Lake

Dear Chairman Lake and Commissioners:

Thank you for your leadership and your service to Texans.

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