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LCG Publishes 2024 Annual Outlook for Texas Electricity Market (ERCOT)

LCG, October 10, 2023 – LCG Consulting (LCG) has released its annual outlook of the ERCOT wholesale electricity market for 2024, based on the most likely weather, market, transmission, and generator conditions.

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LCG Publishes 2024 Annual Outlook for Texas Electricity Market (ERCOT)

LCG, October 10, 2023 – LCG Consulting (LCG) has released its annual outlook of the ERCOT wholesale electricity market for 2024, based on the most likely weather, market, transmission, and generator conditions.

Read more

Industry News

SDG&E, Cal-PX May Have Answer to Price Spikes

LCG, July 21, 2000--San Diegans are hot under the collar about bills from their local electric utility that have doubled since May, and no amount of air-conditioning seems to help. But yesterday, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. said it had worked out a plan with the California Power Exchange that may protect its customers from price spikes in the wholesale power market.

SDG&E has become, under Californias electric restructuring law, a delivery company for electricity, but no longer makes its own. It acts as a middleman for its customers, purchasing power on the Cal-PX and passing the cost on to its customers without a mark-up. But the bills come from SDG&E, and the heat is directed at the utility.

Working with Cal-PX, SDG&E has cooked up a plan that would allow it to buy power on the exchanges "block forward market" up to nine months in advance, instead of the customary three months. That would protect customers from exposure to price spikes that occur in the "real time" spot market.

"This is a market-based tool that could help reduce the volatility in electric prices for our residentialand small-business customers during the high-demand summer months," said Edwin A. Guiles,president of SDG&E. "We hope the (California Public Utilities Commission) will allow us to implement the program as soon as possible, because our customers need help today."

The company said it had filed an application with the CPUC late Wednesday and had asked that the petition be considered at the commissions August 3 meeting.

George Sladoje, Cal-PX president, said his organization and the utility "worked diligently over the past couple of days to propose this market-based solution and help alleviate the current situation that San Diego's customers are facing. This proposal could provide some relief in the near term to the price spikes that San Diegans have been experiencing."

Things arent as bleak for San Diego electricity customers as they seem to think they are. In May, a typical householder paid $50 for electricity and the current bill is around $100, so that householder figures hes out a hundred bucks and blames the utility and deregulation.

But the exposure to market prices occurred because SDG&E paid off its stranded costs faster than anyone thought possible and is about to return close to $400 million to its customers. On top of that, theres another $100 million in a CPUC-controlled "transition cost balancing account" that will be returned to the companys customers.

When the utility divvies that $500 million up among its customers in August and September, our typical householder will get about $300. He will then be two hundred bucks ahead. Will he then say to SDG&E "I dont really deserve this money?"

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