Georgetown to quit LCRA power contract

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) - City of Georgetown officials announced that on Monday a termination letter was given to the Lower Colorado River Authority and the city will now go elsewhere to purchase its power.

The letter follows a June 28 letter in which the city told LCRA it was in breach of a long-standing wholesale power agreement.

The two entities have agreed to hold a hearing on Aug. 27 to resolve remaining issues. Last month, Judge Scott Jenkins in Travis County did not grant LCRA's requtest for a temporary restraining order.

“We are looking forward to putting this behind us and purchasing power on the competitive market,” said Jim Briggs, assistant city manager for the city of Georgetown.

The city’s position is that the Wholesale Power Agreement, first signed in 1974 and extended in 1987, guarantees uniform rates and pricing alternatives for all wholesale customers for the duration of the contract.

Last year, Georgetown declined to extend the agreement through 2041, choosing instead to secure competitive power contracts on the open wholesale market after the agreement expires in 2016.

Since this decision,according to Georgetown officials, LCRA has knowingly offered limited access to the competitive power market to those customers that chose to sign the contract extension. LCRA has not provided this access to those systems that did not extend the power contract beyond 2016.

Georgetown officials said in a written statement that for months, Georgetown and other utilities in the same contract situation, including San Bernard Electric Cooperative, city of Seguin, Fayette Electric Cooperative, Central Texas Electric Cooperative, city of Boerne, and Kerrville Public Utility Board, have tried to come to the best possible out-of-court agreement, but LCRA has refused to offer meaningful solutions.