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The House Committee on State Affairs met to discuss interim charges considering recent legislation and future planning. The first charge regarded monitoring SB 14 and HB 2422, relating to broadband services, SB 475 and SB 936, relating to the security of the state’s electric grid, SB 1152, relating to municipal fees and telecommunications fee structures, and SB 1497, broker registration with the Public Utility Commission. The second interim charge involved receiving an update on 2020 electric reliability forecasts by ERCOT, a review of summer 2019 operational successes and issues, and an examination into the development and deployment of new energy supply technology and greater retail transparency. Several testimonies and discussions related to the build out of Electric Vehicle infrastructure and impact to customers. The Committee heard from invited testimony only.

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing, but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Chair Phelan

  • Update on HB 1960-Govenor’s Broadband Development Council. 15 appointments, presiding member and set meetings have not been put on the calendar

 

SB 14- Authorizes electric co-op to provide broadband

 

Mike Williams, Texas Electric Cooperative

  • Getting broadband (BB) deployed to underserved and unserved areas was legislative priority, passed in SB 14
  • 7 electric co-ops providing internet services, 3 electric co-op’s made commitment to provide BB across state
  • Provided maps
  • Some co-ops are in discussion with other utilities to provide the service
  • It’s now easier, faster, and cheaper to get BB deployed to areas were electric co-ops are working
  • Not all co-ops will do it, they are non-profit, member run entities
  • Peña- Is the gap still large?
    • Yes, there are still unserved and underserved areas. There are gaps in co-ops but other utility providers are out there. There are still millions of people that don’t have BB service, mostly rural
  • Peña- What about South Texas?
    • Rio Grande co-op service area is likely mostly still unserved
  • Springer- How many homes, with your co-op, are connected? Will there be primarily new connections or connections in existing areas?
    • We have about 30,000 connections. There are 3 co-ops combined that are serving 100,000+ members and have desire to serve BB service. Priority is unserved. The economics work better when you have density, so some co-ops are going through areas that already have service, to get to unserved areas
  • Springer– Pole attachment fees, is everyone getting along on the just and reasonable rates?
    • Co-ops charge using methodologies that are common practice. Coops owned by members, so they charge what they think it costs to be on their poles. They don’t give preference, it’s the same they would charge someone else. That is built into the bill
  • Phelan- Can you tell us more about the methodologies?
    • I can’t tell you as much about the specific methodologies
  • Phelan- Can you get us more information about their methodologies? It was a highly contentious policy issue in the bill
  • Springer- Other co-ops might be deterred from going out to other areas because of the pole fee so we just want to make sure we are being fair
  • The pole fee is not a big thing that is keeping co-ops from going into areas
  • Guerra- Criteria for decision of an electric co-op to provide services?
    • It is a member decision. It is capital intensive, so co-ops want members to understand what all is involved in this decision
  • Holland- The co-ops, which ones started with BB before/after the bill?
    • The 3 co-ops I talked about are the ones that started after the bill took effect
  • Holland- How are they separating cost of infrastructure for BB versus what they already spend on electricity, do separate books have to be kept?
    • You have to keep separate books and records for BB business and electric business, in SB 14. It is so BB doesn’t become subsidized by electricity business
  • Parker- Electric co-ops in new areas, how are they laying fiber in new networks?
    • What many electric co-ops are doing is laying backbone fiber, to make systems more efficient and responsive. We are tapping the existing fiber and adding some additional lines and getting the retail lines out to BB
  • Parker- They are in fact investing in these networks and are they taking part in a cooperative partnership to make BB a service in underserved areas?
    • Yes, schools are working with co-ops. Schools have grant (e-rate) money that will allow that BB to get out to the schools. BB does a lot for your community; we are trying to find partners wherever we can
  • Parker- Is it a closed or open model? Can anyone on network participate?
    • I think it is relatively open. Money is in content. They are just trying to get the line out there

 

HB 2422

 

Kyle Matson, TxDOT

  • Going off powerpoint slides
  • HB 2422- 3 requirements for TxDOT:
    • Provide notice on website for ongoing highway projects for which dept would allow for joint trenching opportunities
    • Give special consideration for projects that would improve access to BB for rural/unserved areas
    • Report annually on efforts to implement bill and cost-savings/cost to dept and BB companies taking advantage of the bill
  • Utility policy- governs several areas, we are looking at that as we implement this bill. Utility owners have projects that overlap ours
  • Updating project tracker website, shows current and planned projects for next 10 years
  • Open to having conversations with utility and co-ops so we can have joint trenching
  • We are building a website that will show utility companies that have projects with right of way, so they can partner with BB company
  • Springer- TxDOT subcontractors do road repairs in my district and on occasion cut a line. Then, some of my district may go without the ability to call 911 for several days, and we don’t know who did it for a few days. It would be helpful if that subcontractor would let us know what they did and designate where it was at

 

SB 475 and 936

 

Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea, Public Utility Commission

  • SB 475, SB 936, & SB 64 do 2 big things:
    • Grid Security Council to identify best practices in cybersecurity in grid, to consider updates to state cybersecurity plan, and report back to legislature
    • Requires PUC and ERCOT to contract with another entity as a cyber security monitor to improve cybersecurity posture. Makes sure utilities are aware of new threats, most recent best practices in the industry, and looks at vulnerabilities. Monitor reports back to PUC and PUC reports back to legislature.
  • Phelan- I couldn’t imagine if an electric co-op was compromised and turned off electricity for a good part of the state
    • Yes, the monitor will take care of the small utilities as well as the big
  • Parker- Dissemination of information, where is it being distributed and what’s frequency?
    • NERC has legal requirement that all utilities must comply with. ERCOT and other groups also have requirements, but smaller utilities have harder time. Monitor will help the little utility companies out. Monthly meeting with all utilities, one at a time, talking about what they could be doing right

 

SB 1497

 

JP Urban, Public Utility Commission

  • Rulemaking associated with SB 1497: we opened project to establish rules, commission adopted forms so a lot of the brokers could go ahead and start registering. Now have 1100 brokers
  • Filed strawman, received comments and replies
    • Proposed rule gives process for brokers to register with TX commission and establishes practices for customers who choose to use a broker
  • When we filed strawman, it was big and caused some waves. Maybe wouldn’t have done it the same way in retrospect. The rule does not currently say that we accept all brokers, they need to be registered
  • Discussion/questions around different boxes on the registration form, pointed out by Rep. Parker and Rep. King

 

Resource Adequacy, Look Forward into Upcoming Summer

 

Commissioner Shelley Botkin, Public Utility Commission

  • Overview of impact on reserve margins calculated by ERCOT
  • ERCOT has enough tools to address reliability of the ERCOT system as we saw last summer
  • ORDC calculation, changes have been implemented and more are coming. Have provided appropriate market signals
  • We saw last summer, demand response. Over last 2 years, Chairman Walker has made sure market communities are ready for summer (holding community meetings)

 

Bill Magness, ERCOT

  • Handouts provided on summer 2019 and summer 2020
  • We went in with tight reserve margin Summer 2019. Found June/July weren’t very stressful on the system. Aug/Sept was hot. We set record for electric load on the system
  • Good performance by generators
  • Changes to pricing Botkin referenced were true. When there was scarcity, there was demand price response. People didn’t want to pay high prices and came off system voluntarily
  • Tightest times were before our expected peak. 4-5 PM used to be highest stress. 2 Emergency Alert (EEA) days. Had to use some reliability tools to make sure power stayed on.
  • Explained figures on Aug. 12, highest energy day of all time. On peak day, there wasn’t a tremendous amount of stress on the system, we had resources available, next day there was an EEA (wind was down, 3 PM highest load)
  • It may not be the peak day where you have the biggest challenge
  • 2019 energy use and where it came from
    • Dominant source of fuel for electric power is natural gas- 47%
    • Last year, saw wind and coal about at 20% each. Nuclear 10%. Other includes utility scale solar
  • Explains graphs related to forecasting. We are seeing increased energy growth due to economic activity and industrial growth. Summer 2020 we will have 10.6% reserve margin and have peak go up
  • Into the future, Interconnection cube- when power developers say they want to build a power plant into ERCOT.
    • Process of study is 17-23 month process for interconnection into the ERCOT system.
    • 2020: solar will increase significantly. All power on system is 82,000 megawatts, people are interested in building 45,000 megawatts worth of utility scale solar
  • Interconnection agreement is the agreement made between developer and wires company to get process going. If you have Interconnection Agreement, majority (75%) end up getting made into a real project
  • There is a tremendous interest on Utility Scale Solar at ERCOT, that will be going up
    • 7000 megawatts utility scale solar planned to be added this year, driven by solar resources, corporate purchasers, etc.
  • Working on implementing market improvement
    • Real time co-optimization- help with market working more efficiently
  • Creating rules for getting battery energy storage into our systems effectively. We have people wanting to put generation on our distribution system, and we are figuring out how to manage that on the system
  • Phelan- I think battery energy storage is a good thing to explore in the 87th session
  • Rodriguez- On the battery storage, how far do you think we are from that being utilized?
    • There is around 5,000 megawatts of interest on that. Interest from people who want to incorporate batteries in the distribution system and Pairing batteries with solar farms.
  • Walker- Compressed air energy storage. Reliability- anyone focused on that technology?
    • People look at applications of CAES because it is a good source of storage. We just have to figure out if technology is good for price people will make. It is a function of the cost of natural gas
  • Phelan- ERCOT app, download it. You can follow real time energy use in the summer

 

Charlie Hemline, Texas Solar Power Association

  • Employees over 13,000 Texans, every amount of installed solar provides beneficial contribution
  • Cost of electricity for solar has fallen almost 90% in the last 10 years
    • Solar is now a good economic option for majority of customers, it’s cost effective
  • Corporate Customers like Target, Honda, and Google have signed long term contracts for solar, low and predictable prices are good for bottom-line
  • Others like Facebook and Starbucks are investing directly into the plants themselves
  • Increase in residents using solar, not just corporations
  • Expected new solar will grow ERCOT to peak generation capacity
  • Summer of 2020 will add 7,000 megawatts of on peak power, comprising 10% of ERCOT’s total comprised energy
  • Solar made a positive contribution the last few years when reserves got tight
  • Geographic spread of solar capacity- distributed around the state, it’s flexible and can be placed almost anywhere
  • 50 counties have large scale solar projects
  • Landowners are interested in opening acreage for solar
  • 112 counties around state have seen significant solar activity
  • Phelan- Duck curve and Armadillo curve in Texas?
    • Load evolves over course of the day. Solar produces during the day, up in the morning, peak in the afternoon. TX benefits well because we have strong solar resource in West Tx and solar trackers that follow the sun through the day. West TX is W of most of our load, so they can generate when central and E TX have high load
  • Phelan- also far W TX has different time zone. So E TX benefits from that

 

Jeff Clark, Advanced Power Alliance

  • As solar resource comes online, it is very inexpensive. That is why large companies are committing to wind and solar energy. ERCOT is helping us make sure we get the lowest prices to customers
  • Maintain the fleet, improve the fleet, expand the fleet
    • We are working to get equipment in best working order before summer
  • We have recently announced with TAMU and DOD, tool for TX Wind Developers called TENT. Texas Early Notification Tool- we will make sure communication takes place about this
  • Decommissioning Bill- working well, industry has been responsive.
  • Mover of expanding our fleet is corporate PPA’s. We saw 19.5 gigawatts of corporate PPA’s last year. 5 of that was in Texas, Baker Hughes, Exxon Mobil. Corporate demand drives demand
  • Dallas, gulf coast can’t get power they need for manufacturing. We need to make sure that customers and industries get cleaner and cheaper power to keep TX competitive. We can look at that during the next legislative session

 

Michele Richmond, Texas Competitive Power Advocates

  • Trade organization representing thermal in the state
  • Energy only market, generators only make money when they generate power
  • Generators must recover cost of running plants through market structure we have
  • Peak week- Aug 12-16th 2019. Generation performed well, with fewer outages than ERCOT has historically seen
  • Summer of 2020, like summer 2019, we are probably in a new normal with peak times earlier than normal in the day
  • Congress extended production tax credit for wind energy, so you will likely see additional wind megawatts as well as increased volatility (won’t know when the wind will blow)- that is why it is important to have an energy mix
  • Future investment, members invest in measure, based on what makes economic sense. 600 MW in resources in interconnection process with ERCOT going online
  • 1 megawatt powers 200 homes during peak period, 600 megawatts- powers 120,000 homes during peak period
  • Market is not signaling a need for larger investment. We will continue to see incremental investments, smaller projects, and upgrades
  • Members want to make sure you continue to support competitive market in TX. Urge you to continue to let market forces work in the state, they are producing new technologies
  • King- We said that average pricing in TX last year was 30% less than last regulated price, residentially?
    • I can’t tell you for sure. EIA uses information from non-ERCOT and ERCOT utilities so sometimes average is higher than what’s in competitive market. It is still fairly accurate

 

Julia Rathgeber, Association of Electric Companies of Texas

  • Despite success in summer 2019, questions about adequate reserves continues as we grow
  • 2020 summer peak reserve margin remains below ERCOT’s target level, new traditional thermal resources are not currently supported by the market

 

Julia Harvey, Texas Electric Cooperatives

  • Testifying on roles co-ops play in wholesale market, gave background on what a co-op is
  • Co-op build generation to serve members, creating stability in ERCOT market
  • We construct generation or procure power to support growth, we build in response to load growth
  • We do have to look at expected market revenue when investing in power generation
  • There has been some volatility due to nature of energy only grid
    • Co-op looks to consistency in market outcomes when looking to thermal generation investments

 

Russ Keene, Texas Public Power Association

  • Represents 72 municipally owned electric systems around the state
  • MOUs have long track record of stability
  • Gave background on MOUs in the state
  • Peak of 73,000 mega watts- we can provide up to 14% of grid load during peak times
  • We are regulated by PUC, at risk just like privately owned companies
  • Retail providers- must buy generation from the market to serve our customers
  • We have innovative programs and demand response. Our utilities are close to our customers and help shape the load as needed, we performed well during summer 2019

 

Discussion on Distributed Energy Resources

 

Pat Wood, Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation

  • Gave background on growth and diversity of power over the years in Texas
  • 3 buckets of savings in TX
    • Don’t have regulated rate base
    • Lower profit margins (solar/wind); heterogenous market creates market for competition which erodes profit margins
    • Excess cost of capacity is born in TX, in ERCOT market, by market participants; excess cost of capacity is usually on the back of customers, but in TX, it has shifted to customers and is one of our big savings and virtues
  • Capacity debate this year is in regard to solar, energy storage, and wind
  • Demand-response is great, although it’s not pervasive across state. People can help manage the market in real time by speaking to their smart phone and changing things as prices rise
  • Keeping Texas competitive- reemphasize importance of the customer, ring fence the monopoly and minimize mandatory charges customers must pay
  • Chart of energy sources and uses for U.S.- rejected energy is well over half (heat, friction, other losses, power use we don’t get as a customer)

 

Suzanne Burton, Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance

  • Testifying on Distributed Energy Resources (DER)
  • Advanced energy market is more than $16 billion market
  • DERS have characteristics
    • Smaller, often aggregated together with other resources to create virtual power plant, often closer to where load is, flexible, 2-way, can inject and consume, provide benefits to the system (generation and distribution level)
  • Texans are investing in these technologies for a variety of reasons
    • Reliability reasons, half of fortune 500 companies have cleaner energy related goals
  • We could be doing more to reap full value of DER’s
  • TAEBA commissioned study to answer, “how much money is left on the table if full value of DER’s are not employed?”
    • Transmission distribution infrastructure expansion due to peak load growth can be reduced, deferred, or avoided by DER’s that inject power locally or reduce demand (non-wires alternative/solutions). By prolonging use of existing functional TND, Texans can save up to 2.45 billion over 10 years
    • Wholesale market, if you add 1,000 megawatts of resources by DER’s, decrease cost to members by 3.02 billion over 10 years
    • Better integrating DER’s in power system would bring $5.47 billion in value for Texans over 10 years
  • Battery energy storage-last session SB 1941 was considered
    • It clarified battery storage as a competitive service rather than an asset to be owned by utilities in ERCOT
    • It would have created new opportunity for utilities to contract for battery based non-wire solutions to reap some of the savings by avoiding or deferring traditional infrastructure build out
    • Passed senate but time ran out on the house to pass the bill. It was a good start
  • Non wire solutions should not just be battery energy storage, but rather should include DER’s more broadly so customers can reap the full reward of these technologies

 

Amy Heart, Sunrun

  • Residential rooftop solar provider
  • Partner with MP2 to provide solar offerings
  • Individual customer has control over managing bill, benefit also applied to grid regarding load reduction
  • Reviewed DC coupled system they use
  • Interested in what are next grid services
  • There are other RTOs that utilize capacity markets but there is risk, they are able to manage risk in that market and can see how it would translate into the market in Texas
  • CenterPoint is a perfect example of how they are working throughout the market
  • King – are there adjustments they need to make, are they blocking or keeping market from being motivated?
    • Competitive marketplace has been challenging in a good way, better than vertically integrated system
    • Often points to Texas as place can try technologies
    • Interesting piece on retail – 1/3 of cost if from soft cost but would like to continue conversation if there are opportunities to reduce barriers
  • King – would be good if they bring items, solutions
  • Springer – How are non-competitive components in Texas?
    • Only offered in ERCOT market
  • Springer – Municipal or co-ops in ERCOT
    • Not in those, only IOUs
  • Springer – What is the decision not going into those?
    • She will look into it and get back to them, things such as price partner, do they have a partner to work with and policy
  • King – Interested in the same question

 

Tom Rose, New Electric Technologies

  • Research team to provide face-based research to policy makers and industry
  • Question is “why now on distribution energy?”
    • Accurate pricing at ERCOT at wholesale impacts all utilities and is a big deal
    • These are modular solutions; cost is coming down
    • Better computer controls
    • From customer perspective, can impact electrical delivery to others
  • Referred committee to slides, illustrating how system has been build out over last 100 years
  • Will use road analogies in presentation to help him think through process
  • Only commodity that produces and uses electricity at the same second
  • Electricity will go path of least resistance, no traffic lights on the lines, utility does have ability to shut off line/isolate the line
  • Going forward – how do you integrate new technologies into distribution grid
  • Would suggest intermittent generation and loads, must manage fluctuations; therefore, further automation will be required
  • If you have all data, then can take data and do better planning
  • Suggests proper incentives to upgrade, evaluate regulatory and planning process to incent utilities to invest property

 

Julia Rathgeber, Association of Electric Companies of Texas

  • Competitive market is fostering evolution in change, wants to make sure the flexibility necessary remains
  • Looking to recruit, retain next generation of employees; they need to be able to analyze and understand increased data analytics
  • Distributed generation – need to look at changes and evolution from the context of a larger competitive market
  • Solar panels are coming down in price and are becoming more prevalent
  • Energy storage – has not impacted grids on a large-scale basis yet, storage pairs well with wind and solar, industrial may benefit as well
  • Demand response – advanced metering in lockstep with new technologies, opened door to large customers being able to fluctuate load during times of high demand
  • Micro-grid – seeing this go hand in hand with investments in energy storage, promote greater control and resilience, largely depend on access to large electric grid
  • Supports incorporating these technologies into the grid while maintaining reliability

 

Tom Smith “Smitty”, TxETRA

  • PowerPoint was provided to members
  • Represents a group of utilities, manufactures of electric vehicles, etc
  • Moving to EVs because of significantly lower cost, can also address pollution
  • By 2022/2025 will have over 200 models of electric vehicles on the roads across the U.S.
  • Example: GM working on electric hummer, pickup trucks
  • More than half all vehicles sales in Texas may be EV sales, believes this is because of price dropping of battery for vehicle and density increasing
  • By 2030 baseline about 500k of EVs, 1.8 million light duty vehicles, but points to growth rate of 15% of all vehicles being electric by 2030
  • Challenges to face will including getting chargers out there for everyone including rural area and urban core
  • Will need to develop consumer protections in the state (such as who owns charging stations, handles complaints, etc.)

 

Bill Kahn, Peterbilt Motors

  • Job to evaluate major technologies
  • Have a lot of fleets that want to be green and they would pay extra for the trucks
  • Problem with alternative fuels, everyone thinks about the diesel truck
  • Could think about natural gas, electricity and hydrogen
  • Reviews cost savings in various fuel options to bring down cost of truck, potential to make them competitive in cost with alternative fuels
  • They will be launching three models this year
  • Other companies also rolling out electric trucks
  • Charging standards were a bit of an issue but they have gotten it under control
  • Smart charging allows them to plug in and use energy only when it is cheap
  • Hunter- There is also rail and planes, in EV don’t just focus on one type of vehicle, wants to confirm type of vehicle?
    • Smith – As time goes on will see electric planes and trains but for now focusing on build marketplace and regulatory structure and charging infrastructure for cars and trucks
    • Hunter – EV for car and truck definition, example would it be a Prius?
    • Smith- The plug defines it, Prius would be hybrid
  • Hunter- Seems like lack of charging stations, especially in South Texas region, how are you addressing?
    • Smith- Have created ideal map of border to border charging stations, TCEQ may fund a portion from their funds
  • Parker- Thank you for Peterbilt, are you advocating ways to modify laws to make vehicles more viable?
    • Kahn – That is what he is talking about
  • Springer- If average semi is driving 100,000 miles a year, will pay $2400 to Texas in gas tax, but EVs won’t have that so what could be done?
    • Kahn- Points to federal excise tax
  • Springer – Thinks taxes should be fair, mentions options on registration but then would that require inspection ports to execute?
    • Kahn – In engineering but plans to build out, will have time to work on it
    • Smith – Supports the idea of a fair tax on electric vehicles, DMV is studying that and will come back in Sept. or Oct. with the report, wants to pay fair share in taxes
  • Springer – Points to Wayfair issues, economics need to work and it’s the right thing to do
  • Hunter- Would like them to visit with him on autonomous vehicles, would like them to keep plugged in on the conversations
  • We need to develop consumer protections in the state, how do we let people know, what is cost per charge, who handles complaints, etc. These are things we will bring to you next session
  • Next session is where we will put foundation pieces in place. Market is changing rapidly, and we have to set up system to where we are updating regulatory structure about every 4 years
  • Hunter- Give me the definition of your view of electric vehicle for a car and truck?
    • Anything with plug in electricity
  • Hunter- Charging, lack of it in the state. It is a concern
    • We have created map of border to border charging stations, TCEQ might fund some of those out of VW settlement money. Bill Djorkas will talk more about that
  • Parker- Years ago we passed incentive bill that started moving to LNG. You have been a great partner in that. I took away from testimony that you have technology and Peterbilt trucks moving forward, issue is you want more capacity to hold heavier loads. I think about Michigan Special. Are you looking at ways we could modify laws to make them able to hold more?
    • Yes, in CA we can go 3,000 over in weight class if its an electric vehicle. Yes, that is what we want
  • Springer- You were talking about competitiveness and price points. Average semi drives 100,000 miles a year, you pay roughly $2,400 in gas tax to state. EV wouldn’t have that. Should every EV that enters Texas have a sticker that says they paid $2,400 in gas taxes? Has anyone addressed that?
    • You are right. A bigger issue is federal excise tax
  • Springer- I am looking at tax fairness, everyone should pay same amount. Trucks are different because they are registered in different states. If we charge $2,400 in TX, they may just register someone else. Do we put inspection ports at points of entry?
    • I really have not looked into it. The chargers will start in Dallas and Houston and we will look into it more as we grow
  • Springer- What is fair share?
    • Tom Smith “Smitty”, Txetra -There is a report on that from Dept of Motor Vehicles and we will come back with those results
  • Hunter- Issue of autonomous vehicles. As you are developing, please keep us played into what you are doing
  • Hernandez- What is a game changer for increased adoption of EV’s?
    • Smith- Batteries are changing economics, Texas needs to fix range anxiety problem by fixing charger problem, need more. Have to make sure we are funding those as well

 

Bill Djorkas, Hunt Energy Solutions

  • 3 types of chargers:
    • 110 V slow trickle charge, 5 miles of vehicle charge for 1 hour, it is like a fridge in your garage
    • 240 V. All homes have this voltage for electric ovens and dyers
    • Industry uses for quick charge for all types of vehicles, DCFC’s direct current fast chargers—not available in your home. 480 V service. More commercial, buildings, anyone above residential- They are 50 KW or above for comparison (10 homes worth of A/C)
  • Peaks/valleys:
    • If you directed charging needs to valleys you would have enough electricity supply based on capacity of ERCOT
    • Align supply with best charging times. Market could eventually provide incentive for you to supply energy back to the grid (vehicle to grid discharge), not there yet
  • Impact of personal use of plug in types- there are no insurmountable limitation in distribution grid for level 1 and 2. The load is being offset by energy efficiencies around the house, in need you would need to upgrade energy system- it is possible to accommodate
  • Impact of Level 3 DCFC’s- required for 20min-60 min of charging. Companies like Tesla and
  • Amazon will need to coordinate with utility companies to see where they will put them. Utilities have to do the same thing when coordinating with a retail store or business, they know how to do this
  • TMD Impacts- large loads require careful planning, through regional planning groups, ERCOT helps figure out best way to solve issues in region and throughout the state
  • Phelan- Texas is a weather state. Think about disaster plan

 

Michael Jewell, Individual

  • My focus is on how EV’s interact with electric market
  • EV’s can be treated like a load of another appliance in your home. Because of the technology built into EV chargers, they are smart and flexible
  • EV’s charged off peak make better utilization of electric grid; you can take advantage of excess energy on the grid (night when there is high wind energy)
  • Time of use rates- provide economic incentives for charging at the right time, we already have these today. Impediment with time of use rates is that the utility rates are fairly flat right now, they aren’t changing that much during the day. Can work with the commission on this
  • Opportunity to modulate when people are using electricity is a powerful source
  • Growth of EV’s is opportunity for the state, saves customers money by use of generator resources, chargers can soak up excess power on the grid

 

Francesca Wahl, Tesla

  • Gave background of Tesla and EV’s they have
  • 18 locations in TX and build out of charging network, includes 46 locations fast chargers, 500+ independent sites with level 2 charging (charge where you park), located throughout the state
  • 3 ideas in evaluating EV’s
    • Holistic benefits of EV’s
    • Early utility engagement and collaboration; asking utilities where their spare capacity is on the grid so we can put charging stations there
    • Applications of charging infrastructure: main use cases: residential, commercial, fleet. Each of these has different needs

 

Tom Rose, Net Policy Group

  • Wide range in forecast in EV’s in the U.S. When price of EV drops, then sales will increase
  • Fleet can be predicted, if utilities are working with them (Amazon, FedEx, etc.) utilities are already looking at planning for fleet
  • Pros and Cons:
    • EV’s have simple design and easy to maintain, batteries drive cost up
    • Lithium batteries are going to get cheaper and better as time goes on, not many options now
    • Problem if large trucks/semis are all being charged at the same time. It is manageable to manage time of use
  • Plan ahead, especially around fleet vehicles, time of use pricing, public needs education on charging
  • Phelan- Are the chargers universal?
    • No, they are all different. They will become more common as time goes on
  • Wahl- When Tesla began building out charging network, no other vehicle could take that state of charge. Customers could also charge for free at that time. I think you will see more commonality as time goes on. Level 2 does come with an adaptor so you can charge on all
  • Tax issue- from a fuel use standpoint, you can know exactly what you are charging those vehicles. You could charge tax based on how much they are charging versus up front tax, which looks like a penalty. There will be more discussion on that subject

 

Suzanne Burton, Texas Advanced Business Alliance

  • Distributed energy resources-EV are a type of DER
  • We have time to prepare for these markets to develop
  • Areas for review:
    • Ensuring EV loads are incorporated into forecasting and planning, more transparent to the market
    • Prepare grid through additional investments, difference in ERCOT v. non-ERCOT areas, need to provide opportunity for competition in business models
    • Interoperability
    • Price signals in market to encourage people to charge at the right times
    • Customer education
  • Advanced energy is bringing 233,000+ jobs to the state, 15,000 of those in advanced transportation
  • Hunter- Why can’t we do portable charging? It seems some vehicles could transport a charger and plug in in certain locations
  • Rose- I can see maybe storing some energy and plugging it in along the way. There are developments, but they aren’t out there commercially yet

 

Julia Rathgeber, Association of Electric Companies of Texas

  • Planning: determining exactly where EV charging stations go and how much capacity is needed to operate
  • Adapting to new technologies as EV’s change: charging stations may not be economically viable options, we need framework for where they are incorporated into electric policies and market structure we have now

 

JP Urban, Public Utility Commission

  • Started project in Jan 2019, will provide scope of competition report at the end of this year

 

Municipally Owned Utilities Operating Solely as Transmission and Distribution Utilities

 

Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea, PUC

  • Municipalities regulated under state law in three ways
    • Retail rates
    • Wholesale transmission rates
    • ERCOT rules (protocols)
  • Protocols apply to municipal utilities
    • municipal utilities must turn off/on at right times, when they buy/sell power in marketplace, subject to ERCOT rules
  • Phelan- You regulate rate if they sell outside city limits?
    • Yes, only rates outside city limits
  • Phelan- Is there at time when they aren’t the same?
    • Tax in electric bill is stripped out if they are outside the city limits, even if they are within the city utilities

 

Russ Keene, Texas Public Power Association

  • We report directly to customer owners (retail rates, set by board), we are in an accountable form of government
  • Rate of return from 5-10% in most of Texas. Transfer fee built into the rates goes back as a dividend to our citizen owners. Very transparent
  • Lower end of pricing, innovative, interested in EV’s and storage, energy efficiency
  • Parker- Number of municipally owned utilities in the state?
    • 72

 

Pricing Transparency for Retail Electric Providers

 

JP Urban, Public Utility Commission

  • Identified disclosures for new customer
  • Stats related to number of complaints- went up this summer, related to customers who are on wholesale index products, exposed to high prices

 

Jason Wang, Gridee

  • Consumer is at center of whatever we do. We built mobile app providing information leveraging smart meter data. Also allows a tap into automation, smart thermostats/devices, EV’s
  • One plan- providing price signals to customers based on set rate
  • Wholesale pass through product we have is a newer idea, we seek to provide customers with a substantial amount of information
    • Website, blog for educating customers, blog for review of electricity markets, price alerts, price alerts
  • Summer 2019- Aug had extreme price volatility, sent substantial communication and saw great reduction in demand. Members reduced usage by 50-80%, many members didn’t reduce at all, continuing to work to make this better
  • For future of grid stability- EEA’s, emergency alerts sent out. Hope is that consumers should know when grid is at it’s busting peak. We believe that all retail markets should have consumers as part of the answer
  • Best members that used tools were able to save 30-40% against EIA TX average
  • Phelan- What was average consumer paying at high peaks in August?
    • A few hundred dollars for residential
  • Phelan- 50% reduction, your customers can look at an app and lower usage
    • Correct, those are also ones that typically have automation in place already. Tap into programs we have that has rules for what happens anytime price goes above X
  • Phelan- How many subscribers and where?
    • A little under 25,000 mostly in Houston and Dallas
  • Holland- Whenever there was price volatility, was anyone ever not able to pay bill?
    • That is something we are working on. We have a prepay system, there were a number of people who couldn’t do that, so we ate that cost
  • Holland- They pay $9.99 plus whatever they use?
    • Correct
  • Holland- How many disconnections (from people leaving) did you have to do over the 2 peak months?
    • Tens of thousands