Published: 07-21-08
Weatherford - The following statement was made today to the public hearing of the City of Weatherford and the Weatherford Utility Board and may be attributed to State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford).
“I appreciate the hard work by the City of Weatherford and the Weatherford Utility Board over the decades to provide electric service at reasonable prices. In addition reliability has been sound and in the electric industry reliability is paramount.
Prices offered by the City of Weatherford have been competitive with retail prices in the neighboring deregulated areas of the state until recently when Weatherford’s rates rose dramatically. For example I live in the City of Weatherford but in a small section where customers are allowed to choose among different electric providers. My electric rate is currently locked in at 11.6 cents per Kilowatt Hour - a rate which is substantially lower than the rate now offered by the City of Weatherford.
As you know under state law municipally-owned utilities are allowed to “opt-in” to the competitive market and I would encourage the City of Weatherford and the Weatherford Utility Board to strongly consider this option. I believe the market has changed and that competition now offers lower prices for Weatherford residents. Should you decide to take this path I will do my best to ensure that the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT work to expedite the transition of Weatherford into competition.
It has been stated that due to a lack of sufficient transmission lines in West Texas it has become difficult for the low-cost coal-generated electricity to be transmitted to Weatherford. It is true that the rapid development of wind energy in West Texas has created a groundswell of energy in the Western Zone that did not exist just a couple of years ago.
That is why I carried legislation in 2005 which established the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ). The CREZ process reached a major milestone this week. Just yesterday the Public Utility Commission approved a plan for implementing almost $5 billion of new transmission lines for West Texas. This added transmission will alleviate the congestion caused by the growing wind energy farms in West Texas and will allow clean cost effective wind power to be delivered to North Texas.
In the meantime I have led an effort to address the main cause of our state’s rising electric rates and that is our dependence on natural gas. Currently nearly 70 percent of our electric generation capacity in Texas comes from natural gas – this is a real problem given the high cost of this resource. Just six years ago natural gas was selling for $2.50 /MMBtu. Yesterday it closed at nearly $12.00 /MMBtu. Therefore we must better diversify the fuel supply used to create electricity by embracing nuclear wind solar and even clean coal technologies.
This is why I have been a relentless supporter of wind and nuclear energy for Texas. Last year I sponsored House Bill 1386 which eliminated cost barriers for companies wanting to build nuclear plants in Texas. This legislation has resulted in two companies applying to expand their nuclear plants and one company applying to build a new plant. And West Texas wind generation alone will increase from 5600 MW to 9000 by the end of this year. Development like this will ensure we have a diversified lower cost fuel mix for the future of Texas.
Again let me thank the city and board for their outstanding service to our community. I appreciate having the opportunity to serve you in Austin.”
