In a first, Lubbock seeks to join power market

The city of Lubbock has asked to join Texas’ deregulated electricity market, hoping to gain lower electricity prices, according to a document filed with the Public Utility Commission last week.

If approved by the PUC, Lubbock would become the first city to opt into the competitive market since Texas deregulated power 15 years ago. The move would require Lubbock to join the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees 90 percent of the state’s grid, most of it serving customers with in deregulated markets.

The effects of deregulation, however, are still being debated. A study released last year by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, a nonprofit advocacy group, found that average electricity prices in regulated areas remained lower. Power generators, meanwhile, have struggled to stay profitable as more wind power flows into the grid and natural gas prices continue to fall, making coal-fired and nuclear plants more costly to run.

Last spring, Houstonbased NRG Energy and Calpine Corp. asked the PUC to reconfigure ERCOT’s market to allow them to earn higher profits so they have incentives to invest in new power plants and maintain existing ones.

Lubbock’s population of 250,000 gets electricity from Lubbock Power & Light, a regulated utility. In testimony filed with the PUC, Lubbock Mayor Daniel Pope said residents frequently tell him they want more choice in providers.

The West Texas city is not exactly a stranger to shopping for electricity. Until 2010, Lubbock was served by two utilities, Lubbock Power & Light and the Southwestern Public Service Co. Residents could choose between the two power providers. But unlike switching retail electric plans in Texas deregulated zones, changing electric companies meant moving service from the power lines of one provider to the other.