Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas have filed a statement of position recommending that objections from certain generators to proposed transmission lines under the Houston Import Project (HIP) should be denied.

"Commission Staff's (Staff) position is that ERCOT and the Applicants [CenterPoint-TDU and Cross Texas Transmission] have firmly established a need for the HIP to maintain the reliability of the ERCOT system and that the Houston Generators' challenge should be denied," Staff said.

"ERCOT's process was transparent and followed all relevant procedures set forth in the existing ERCOT Nodal Protocols (Protocols) and planning guides for evaluating Tier One projects such as the HIP. ERCOT's independent review and analysis, including ERCOT's various adjustments to base case model, were reasonable. The Applicants' subsequent reassessment of the independent review was also reasonable," Staff said.

"Staff agrees with ERCOT and the Applicants that many of the issues raised by the Houston Generators, such as the use of different load forecasts in transmission planning versus resource adequacy planning, are the exact issues that the Commissioners have stated need to be resolved at ERCOT in the first instance, rather than through a contested case. Staff also agrees that if the Houston Generators believe that a change in transmission planning practices is appropriate, then a Commission rulemaking or a request to revise certain ERCOT Protocols or planning guides is the appropriate forum for such an effort," Staff said

"The Houston Generators have vigorous objections to how ERCOT reaches a determination that a particular transmission project is needed. However, this proceeding is not about what the ERCOT process should be," Staff said. (emphasis in original)

Docket 44547 et. al.