Lubbock Power & Light customers joining ERCOT system over Memorial Day weekend

New transmission associated with the switch will increase capacity for resources in the Panhandle

AUSTIN, TX, May 28, 2021 – On May 29 and 30, 2021, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), in coordination with Lubbock Power & Light (LP&L) and Oncor, will fulfill LP&L’s request to transition approximately 70 percent of their customers from the Southwest Power Pool into the ERCOT region.

This represents roughly 470 MW of customer load and is the culmination of six years of engineering and regulatory analysis and approvals to ensure a seamless transition. It is the largest single transfer of customers in ERCOT’s history. Prior to the LP&L transition, the largest transition was the move of Bryan and College Station into the ERCOT grid in 1992.

"We look forward to welcoming LP&L customers into the ERCOT region where they can take advantage of our competitive wholesale power market and electric rates," said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. "We’re anticipating a smooth transition, and there should be minimal impact to customers – just a short outage while the actual switch is occurring."

"This weekend marks an important milestone in the history of the City of Lubbock and Lubbock Power & Light," said LP&L Director David McCalla. "Moving to ERCOT accomplishes the long-term goals we set forth when we began this process over six years ago, and provides our customers with a diversified portfolio of affordable and reliable Texas power for generations to come."

Customers who are moving into ERCOT should visit the LP&L website for an estimated schedule.

In order to accommodate this transition, Oncor constructed multiple switching stations and several new 345-kV and 115-kV transmission lines that connect Lubbock to the ERCOT system towards the north, the south and the east. These new stations and transmission lines into ERCOT not only make it possible to serve a portion of LP&L customers, but they will also increase the available transmission capacity for generation resources in the Panhandle region.

"We currently have a limitation on how much power can be exported out of the Panhandle, and these new lines will allow more power to flow from the Panhandle to all ERCOT consumers," said Rickerson.

Three LP&L-owned gas-fired resources totaling 120 MW will be incorporated into the ERCOT region and are already included in the Capacity, Demand and Reserves Report beginning in summer 2021. They include R Massengale (74 MW), Ty Cooke (31 MW), and Brandon (20 MW).

While work on this transition dates back to December 2015, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved LP&L’s application to join ERCOT on March 8, 2018. Regulatory documents and communications related to the LP&L transition are located in PUC Project No. 47576 and PUC Project No. 48113.

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