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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

Lawmakers Put SoCal Ed 'Bailout' on Hold

LCG, July 27, 2001The lower house of the California legislature won't call its members back from vacation to vote on legislation to "rescue" Southern California Edison Co. from bankruptcy, making it certain that an August 15 deadline will not be met.

When California Gov. Gray Davis earlier this year forged a deal with SoCal Ed for the state to buy its transmission system for $2.76 billion, he and the utility agreed that the deal must be done by August 15, and lawmakers are not scheduled to return to work until August 20.

Also, at the time the governor struck his bargain with the company, both parties said the final legislation enabling the transaction could not vary significantly from the agreement between Davis and SoCal Ed.

The state Senate has approved one measure containing substantial differences from the original deal but the Assembly has yet to vote on a bill. Yesterday, Assembly leaders still in Sacramento decided that no proposal was ready to be voted on by the full house.

"We made some good progress this week, but we've not finished the work," said Paul Hefner, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys.

Assemblyman Fred Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, the Assembly's point man on the energy crisis, said "We decided we would do well to use the time of the summer recess to work with the Senate and administration on a plan."

Keeley said Assembly members were skeptical of claims that the utility would be thrown into bankruptcy if the lawmakers did not meet the deadline. "Their position is still perilous, but it's better than it has been in a while," he said.

Davis was clinging to his deadline, however, and said yesterday that he planned to talk to legislators about working this coming weekend to make sure a bill could be voted on before August 15.

"I have one goal with Edison, and that's to make it credit-worthy so it can purchase energy," Davis told reporters after a speech in San Ramon to the Contra Costa (County) Council, a business and industry group.

SoCal Ed is insolvent, having run up about $3.5 billion in debt purchasing power at market prices and selling it to its retail customers at far lower prices mandated by California's failed experiment with electric industry deregulation.

Now, some of the power producers who are owed money by the utility are concerned about parts of proposed legislation that would allow SoCal Ed to work with the state's new power authority to build new power plants.

The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, created by legislation which was signed by Davis in May, has yet to be set up, but will have the authority to issue up to $5 billion in revenue bonds to build, purchase, lease or operate power plants.

Some of the generators are worried that SoCal Ed would be able to build new plants using the power authority's $5 billion as backing.

"There needs to be equal footing with any project. You can't favor one over another," said Tom Williams, spokesman for Duke Energy.

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