PUC claims Oncor cut maintenance spending; power company questions data
Texas’ largest power transmission company Oncor has repeatedly cut spending to maintain its network of power lines, despite a growing customer base, according to a report filed by Public Utility Commissioner Ken Anderson.
Oncor disputed that finding at a hearing Friday.
But according to Anderson, between 2005 and 2013 Oncor cut its maintenance budget from more than $80 million a year to less than $60 million a year, a 24 percent decrease. Over the same period its customer base increased 9 percent to more than 3.2 million customers across North and West Texas.
“Particularly vexing is that two years ago, in response to concerns expressed both by this Commissioner and Chairman Nelson, Oncor asserted that it was committed to the reliability of its feeder lines in a letter sent to the Commission on March 23, 2012. Recent performance and the historical information… seem to indicate otherwise,” Anderson wrote in a memo posted Friday morning.
Earlier this month hundreds of thousands customers around Dallas/Fort Worth lost power when two thunderstorms swept through the region. Many were left without power for days, generating a flurry of criticism across social media sites and raising questions around how well prepared Oncor is to handle inclement weather.
Friday Oncor executives appeared before the utility commission to address their handling of the storm. COO Jim Greer described the Oct. 2 storm as “the most damage I’ve seen in my career” and described tornado force winds sweeping across the region with little warning.
The process of restoring power was exacerbated by the scale of the storm, which stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Chicago. The out-of-state utilities Oncor usually relies on for assistance were themselves tied up responding to the storm, Greer said.
In his memo Friday, Anderson contrasted Oncor’s spending with Houston utlity CenterPoint. Over the 2005 to 2013 period, CenterPoint increased its maintenance budget by 75 percent.
But Greer disputed Anderson’s data, stating Oncor had increased spending to upgrade and maintain its distribution system.
“I haven’t had the chance to fully asses staff’s work. But from an operational standpoint we’re not diminishing our investment, we’re increasing it,” Greer said.
To read Anderson’s memo here, click here.