New Utility Law Slows Down Plan for Proposed Centerpoint Powerline

July 18, 2011

(Austin, TX) An amendment written by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst earlier this year is now forcing a long delay of any further action on the controversial power line proposed by CenterPoint Energy for our area.

Under the amendment, the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) is required to develop a new set of criteria to reconsider the economic standards that were originally used to justify the CenterPoint power line.

The amendment was passed with the help of Sen. Glenn Hegar as part of House Bill 971, which was signed by Governor Perry on June 17.
Prior to the Kolkhorst amendment, it was expected that CenterPoint would file its official power line application with the PUC in August. However, on Wednesday July 13, Rep. Kolkhorst was notified by CenterPoint that the company is postponing any application with the PUC, due in part to the requirements set forth in the Kolkhorst's amendment.

"Plans for the new power line in our area must wait until the PUC completes its evaluation, which I'm told is expected to take several months," Kolkhorst said. "The amendment I wrote isn't a roadblock, but it's a pretty big speed bump to slow down the project and take a second look at what is being proposed. People who live around the pathway of this line want more answers, and so do I."

To build the power line in question, CenterPoint must get approval from the PUC. If approved, CenterPoint would then be able to recover the cost of building the power line through a consumer rate increase.

Historically, projects approved by the PUC are based on "public need" or "reliability" for the power grid. However, the electricity trade group ERCOT recently created a new type of "consumers benefits test" to promote projects like the project planned to run across local properties.

Under the new test, a company could claim that although a new line might not be needed for reliability of the grid, it could save consumers in the end. That claim was made for the CenterPoint proposal, using the industry's own formula of market factors. However, the Kolkhorst amendment asks the PUC to set up its own rules to include an independent cost comparison to verify the company's claims for the project.

The route for the massive power line is expected to run from an LCRA power plant in Fayetteville to Houston. The pathway would cross over scenic areas of Austin, Fayette, Waller and possibly Washington Counties, and has resulted in several vocal property rights groups forming in the area to oppose the project.

"I hope the public will turn out during the PUC process in the months ahead and make sure that the PUC commissioners get all the facts," Kolkhorst said. "The ability to take away someone's land by force of eminent domain is the power to destroy that person's property value. You can never be too careful about eminent domain cases."

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