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PUCT Selects First Four Projects For The Texas Energy Fund’s Outside ERCOT Grant Program
Grant Program Funds Resiliency and Reliability Projects in Areas of Texas Not Part of the ERCOT Electric Grid.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas in a press release, announced “the first four Texas Energy Fund (TxEF) Outside Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Grant Program (OEGP) projects. Next, the PUCT and sponsors will work to reach grant agreements for each project. The projects total $240,036,592 and will strengthen electric resiliency and reliability for nearly 400,000 Texas customers served by grids outside the ERCOT region.
“The Texas Energy Fund was created to benefit every citizen of our state regardless which grid or provider they get their power from,” said PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson. “While it’s critically important to add more power to the electric grids that serve Texas, we must also do everything we can to enhance and strengthen the systems we have in place, and that’s what these four projects will do.”
The four approved projects are:
El Paso Electric
$17,726,592 – Funding to deploy the Continuous Online Monitoring Project, which will provide real-time monitoring and analytics to enhance generation availability and operational resilience.
North Plains Electric Cooperative
$20,430,000 – Funding for a 115kV transmission loop, which will ensure more reliable service for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in five northeast Texas counties.
$1,880,000 – Funding to expand the Ochiltree Interchange, which will increase electric service capacity to reliably serve customers in its northeast and panhandle regions.
Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO)
$200,000,000 – Funding to replace aging copper wire and utility poles over 700 miles that are frequently exposed to severe weather.
SWEPCO’s grant award reaches the award cap set by 16 TAC §25.512.
To be eligible for an OEGP award, projects must enhance modernization of infrastructure, weatherization, reliability and resiliency improvements, or vegetation management.
Grant payments are contingent on OEGP funding availability, mutual agreement to the terms and conditions in their respective grant agreement, and their adherence to the terms and conditions set forth in their respective grant agreement.
The OEGP is one of four TxEF programs established under the Powering Texas Forward Act (S.B.2627), which Texans voted to create through a constitutional election on November 7, 2023.
