As has been widely reported, Hunt Consolidated, owner of Sharyland Utilities, is among those seeking to win ownership of Oncor in the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy proceeding.

One aspect which we have not seen raised, however, is, if Hunt ultimately wins control of Oncor, would (or should?) it prompt the integration of Sharyland Utilities, LP (the former Cap Rock territories) into the adjacent Oncor service area, under uniform delivery rates?

The largest obstacle to such integration is already gone, with Sharyland Utilities now fully within ERCOT and open to retail choice with an unbundled delivery tariff.

We are reminded of the former separation of the TXU Electric Delivery and TXU SESCO service areas, which previously required use of unique EFL load profiles (distinct from ERCOT load profiles), which led to much less active competition in the smaller SESCO service area.

Of course, at that time, TXU Electric Delivery and TXU SESCO were on a common tariff (apart from certain transition charges), and cross-subsidization issues would appear to be the largest sticking point to any Oncor-Sharyland Utilities, LP integration should they fall under common ownership, due to the different costs to serve delivery customers in each territory.

Still, the integration of Sharyland Utilities, LP and Oncor into a single tariff would likely increase competitive offers available to customers. Oncor currently has about 45 REPs offering 250 products to residential customers (on Power to Choose) in its territory. While Sharyland Utilities has seen a robust response to the introduction of choice with about 17 active residential REPs offering about 100 products, it does lag behind some of the other service areas in the breadth of the choices available.

For the latest on the battle for Oncor, see the Dallas Morning News: Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy at critical juncture as Oncor fight nears end