Although the Public Utility Commission of Texas did not take a formal vote yesterday on the application of Hunt consolidated affiliates to acquire Oncor, Commissioners indicated that they are not likely to include prescriptive requirements concerning any potential combination of the Sharyland Utilities service area with what would be its new affiliate, Oncor, if the Hunts' application is approved.

While certain representatives of load in the Sharyland service area sought specific relief, such as interim rates at Sharyland pending a merger with Oncor, or a specific deadline for a service area merger, Commissioners indicated that any order addressing the Hunts' Oncor application would only require a report on the potential merger of the Oncor and Sharyland service areas, with the report to be completed as soon as practicable, but with no specific deadline for the report or any following process (such as adoption of uniform rates for both territories) resulting from the report.

Commissioners cited the importance of the Sharyland rate issues, with Commissioner Brandy Marty Marquez stating that addressing the issues is a top priority, but Commissioners were concerned with including specific requirements in the Oncor change-in-control order prior to conducting a more in-depth review of potential issues related to a combination of the service areas

Merging the Oncor and Sharyland Utilities service areas has been proposed as a means of reducing Sharyland's regulated T&D rates, which have been cited as the cause for Sharyland's higher retail rates

Commissioners also discussed various other aspects of the proposed Oncor change-in-control, including treatment of tax expenses. See coverage below for more:

The Dallas Morning News: Public Utilities Commission likely to demand rate cuts in Hunt-led plan to buy Oncor

Houston Chronicle: Tax issue could block purchase of utility

The Texas Tribune: Vote Delayed, But Hunt's Oncor Plan Inches Forward

Tags:
Oncor   M&A   Sharyland Utilities   Texas  

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