The U.S. Court of Appeals has granted a request by the State of Texas to stay the cross-state air pollution regulation, which had the potential to cause electricity reliability issues during peak demand situations in Texas such as occurred last winter when several Texas power plants went off-line during freezing temperatures.  During that time last winter, electric utilities in Round Rock and surrounding areas experienced rolling outages lasting up to several hours.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made the request to have the EPA rule postponed.  AG Abbott and many other state officials claimed the new EPA regulations would adversely affect the reliability of Texas’ electricity grid.  Power plant operators also claimed hundreds of jobs would be lost because plants that did not meet the emission restrictions would be forced to close.  Fewer operating utilities generators could also mean an increase in electricity rates in Round Rock and other areas in the state.

The Texas AG says the Environmental Protection Agency violated laws that require the feds inform the state of rule changes well in advance, which would give the chance for entities affected by the rule to participate in the action or change. Abbott says the EPA denied Texas the ability to participate, therefore the EPA violated federal law.

Quoting Abbott, “The EPA relied on flawed science to advance its aggressive agenda despite the negative effect the new federal regulation would have on Texas’ economy, electric grid, and Texans’ access to electricity.”

Texas Gov Rick Perry gave his approval of the Appeals Court decision by saying “The court was right to stay this highly flawed, job-killing rule that was based on inaccurate and incomplete information.”

The Court won’t conduct a full review of the petition until later this year.   That review is not expected earlier than April of 2012.

With respect to Round Rock utilities prices, this is good news.  Many experts were predicting higher electricity rates for 2012 if these regulations went into effect.  With the stay handed down by the court, it’s a good bet that electricity rates in Texas will remain stable for the time being, as they have been for a few years now.

If you have any questions about the Round Rock electricity market, we would be glad take the time sharing our knowledge.  Call us at 512-827-8005.

November 2011 – It was reported recently that wind turbines in Texas, in the territory of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), set a new electricity output record on October 7.

A whopping 15.2% of ERCOT’s electricity demand was given by wind on October 7th.  That amounts to about 7,400 Megawatts.

Michael Goggin, the America Wind Energy Association’s Manager of Transmission Policy, said, “The new record set by wind on the main Texas grid is good news for consumers. Wind generation offsets the use of expensive fossil fuels, is pollution-free, and uses virtually no water, unlike other sources of electricity.”

With the record breaking drought during the 2011 summer, the huge water advantages provided by the increased wind electricity generation capacity is a welcome addition.  Also, 
wind energy is the cheapest long-term option for generating new electricity in most regions as it requires no ongoing fuel.

ERCOT has reported that in Texas, wind energy “represents nearly 58 percent of all new generation seen in planning stages over the next few years.”

Texas already leads the nation, by far, in wind electricity generation. Iowa is 2nd, with California rounding out the top 3.

The New Electric Car from DeLorean

Well, the DeLorean Motor Company of Humble, Texas plans to construct an electric version of the gull-wing sports car!  This car was made famous by the “Back to the Future” films of the 1980’s.

In the movies, the car used 1.21 gigawatts of power to travel in time.  Now the car will use electricity to travel in our time. Stephen Wynne, company president, owns the rights to the DeLorean name and he currently sells parts for the original DeLorean motor car (DMC).

The new electric car will run on batteries as supplied by Flux Power of Escondido, California. Flux Power is a battery producer that has taken on manufacturing batteries for the electric car industry.  It’s interesting to not that the car in the “Back to the Future” movies was powered by a “Flux Capacitor.”

Company leaders expect the car to have at least the same power, or maybe even a little more than that of the original gasoline powered DMC.  They will have to redesign many areas of the car to reduce the weight, as the 32 kWh battery pack will add quite a few pounds.  In the end, the new electric model of the car should be just 200 pounds heavier than the original.

A prototype of the electric DeLorean has a 200 horsepower electric motor, allowing acceleration speeds of 0 to 60 in just under 8 seconds. With respect to endurance, you won’t be taking any long trips with this electric car as the expected range between charges will be around 100 miles. A potential plus in performance is the improved handling that should be obtained from the better weight distribution with the battery packs both in the rear and front. of the car.  The original DMC had a 4 cylinder “mid-engine.”

The new electric DeLorean car is expected to cost $90,000, and they hope to have it ready for market in 2013.

Luminant, who generates more power in Texas than any other company, filed a suit against the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to exempt the state from EPA’s New Cross State regulation of air pollution to reduce oxides of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Luminant said it must reduce to 9% of its production in order to comply.  The rule was finalized in July, and many utilities with coal plants, including Luminant, said the timing is too narrow for them to make changes needed to complete renovation of old facilities to meet reduction targets.

Some groups consider the announcement of the suit by Luminant as proof that environmental regulations are killing jobs. The House of Representatives plans to introduce a series of laws that will soon bar EPA’s regulatory authority, including the rule of cross-state contamination.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce, said: “The new rule establishes an excessive burden for the states of Texas and beyond, and others who have to bear a disproportionate share of emissions in the country.”

The EPA issued the new rule, after the release of the federal courts rules that the administration of George W. Bush had in place.   In a statement, the EPA said it had worked with Luminant to meet the standards without layoffs and plant closures.

Officials of the State of Texas and utilities argued that the new EPA rules could lead to plant closures and the erosion of the power distribution reliability that are essential for the state with an epic drought to continue next year. But environmentalists said the energy sector has known since 1990 to limit carbon emissions, and some have begun to build cleaner plants, without layoffs or reduced reliability of the electricity grid.

Reduced generation capacity generally converts to higher electricity rates for everyone.  We have had a brutal summer in 2011 with respect to electricity supply and demand.  Losing as much as 10 percent generation capacity would certainly mean rolling blackouts if we have a repeat of this summer in 2012.  Even though the Energy Information Administration isn’t predicting any large increases in electricity rates for 2012, they don’t consider the effect this rule may have either.

We’ll be watching this develop.

Round Rock Electricity

For the second day in a row, a record was set for electricity demand and usage in Texas.  That situation caused the Texas  transmission grid operator to issue a Power Watch, or “Level 1 Energy Emergency Alert.”  This alert urges Texas electricity consumers to conserve power immediately, to avoid coordinated rolling power outages.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued that warning after electricity demand exceeded the record of 66,867 megawatts from the day before.  The 66K+ megawatts exceeded a record set last year in August. Yesterday’s (Aug 3) demand is now the record and stands at 67,929 megawatts between 4-5 p.m.

ERCOT, by issuing the warning, asks electric utilities customers to conserve electricity, especially during peak times this week.  Peak times are from 3 to 7 p.m. The biggest spike in electricity usage is usually about 4 to 5 p.m.

With a record drought in play and temperatures consistently over 100 degrees in the Round Rock area, no doubt many Round Rock utilities customers have been increasing their usage of electricity to keep their homes cool.  We have received feedback from existing customers in the Round Rock area that consumption has increased, as much as a 50% increase with some residents.

If the trend continues, energy officials at ERCOT could institute a “Level 2 Energy Emergency” or Power Warning. This phase allows the grid operators to drop power to larger commercial and industrial facilites.

A residential electricity “rolling power outage” scenario would be the next step: a “Level 3 Energy Emergency” or Power Emergency.  Round Rock Electricity consumers will remember this type of emergency occurred during the cold snap in February of 2011.  Virtually all Round Rock utilities users experienced several rolling outages lasting more than an hour, though most of the outage were less than an hour.

Spokespersons from local wires companies, such as ONCOR, have been quoted as saying that if the generators hold as they are right now, we will be able to avert any residential rolling power outages; a Level 3 emergency situation.

Questions about this news?

Feel free to call Round Rock Electricity at 512-827-8005

QUICK FACTS:  (From ERCOT website)

The Energy Emergency Alert procedures are a series of steps that allow ERCOT to bring on power from other grids if available, beginning with a Power Watch (Energy Emergency Alert Level 1).  

If the situation does not improve, ERCOT escalates to a Power Warning (Energy Emergency Alert Level 2), allowing operators to drop large commercial/industrial load resources under contract to be interrupted during an emergency.

If the capacity shortage is not relieved by the contract demand response, ERCOT escalates to a Power Emergency (Energy Emergency Alert Level 3) and will instruct utilities to reduce demand on the grid by conducting temporary outages at the local distribution level.  These controlled temporary interruptions of electrical service – or rotating outages – typically last 15-45 minutes before being rotated to a different neighborhood.

Some of the important information in this report as it relates to electricity rates are the segments regarding natural gas AND electricity.

As natural gas is used to generate a large percentage of electricity in Texas, when the price of natural gas fluctuates, electricity rates are affected.

Below is an excerpt from the report:  (see the full report)

U.S. Electricity Retail Prices. Although the average U.S. residential retail price of electricity fell by nearly 1 percent during the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year, prices are expected to increase by 1.5 percent year-over-year during the second half of 2010.  Higher generation fuel costs this year are expected to be passed through to retail consumers during 2011, pushing up residential prices by 1.4 percent next year.

The EIA report is a “nation-wide” report, and is NOT specific to the Texas market.   Of note in the above paragraph is the prediction of only a 1.4 percent increase in electricity prices next year.  If that was to hold true, that would be a small increase indeed.   For instance, 1.4 percent on a 10 cent electricity rate is just .14 cents;  a 10 cent rate become 10.14 cents.   Here at Round Rock Electricity, we watch these reports continuously.  We try to see the trends as they develop. We will share the information here, or will be glad to answer your questions should you call.  512-827-8005

The vast majority of smart meters installed in Texas are measuring and recording electric usage accurately, according to a state-ordered study.

Navigant Consulting, chosen in March to conduct the study for state regulators in response to complaints about the accuracy of the meters, tested 5,627 meters in use by CenterPoint Energy, Oncor and AEP Texas.

The company found that 99.96 percent of the smart meters tested were accurate.

“A success rate of 99.96 of advanced meters is much better than that of traditional meters,” said Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the Public Utility Commission.

The commission announced at a meeting last week that Oncor, CenterPoint Energy and AEP will not pass the cost of the study on to consumers, and indicated that the meter manufacturers will cover some or all of the cost, Hadley said.

Smart meters contain technology that provides real-time power-use information to electricity distributors and customers. Industry and government officials say the information allows customers to monitor their electric use more effectively, distribution companies to spot outages more precisely and electric retail providers to tailor rate plans to customers’ usage habits.

Despite the purported benefits, some lawmakers had raised concerns about the accuracy of the new meters as consumers complained of higher bills following installation of the new meters.

Houston-based CenterPoint, which distributes electricity to 2 million Houston-area customers regardless of which retailer sells them their electricity, praised the study.

Visit http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7136428.html for the entire story.

Welcome to the Round Rock Electricity.   We use this venue to post news and stories related to the Round Rock and Texas electricity market.  We hope this information will help you understand more about the electric utility market here in Central Texas.

Whether you are in Round Rock, Hutto, Pflugerville, Taylor, or any of the deregulated electricity market surrounding these communities, I think you will find the posts on this blog will help you, over the long-term, to get the most for your money as you pay your electricity bill.

Most of the posts will be current news on the electricity market here in Texas.  We will also provide generic, not time specific, information related to utilities in Round Rock in general.  This type of information will include data on electricity meters, energy saving tips, etc. We will even have a fun story from time to time!

If you have any questions regarding the Round Rock utilities market don’t hesitate to give us a call at 512-827-8005.