The Texas population and economy are growing, and so is the need for a network of power lines and substations to deliver more electricity reliably and economically statewide.

LCRA, through its nonprofit corporation for transmission operations, LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC), is responding to this need, drawing on its expertise and success in having provided transmission services in Texas for more than 60 years.

LCRA TSC's network of owned and leased facilities totaling more than 4,400 miles of transmission lines and 300 substations and equipment has provided a vital link among Texas' power plants and the interconnected power grid within Texas. It is part of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) transmission network that serves generators and retail loads in most of Texas.

Unbundling under new law
A 1999 state law changed how LCRA and other electric utilities manage and operate their transmission facilities. The law required utilities to "unbundle," or separate, their electric generation and transmission operations as part of preparations for a deregulated retail electric market. The law also allowed LCRA to expand its transmission facilities and operations beyond its traditional 53-county Central Texas electric service area.

LCRA created LCRA Transmission Services Corporation as a nonprofit corporation for transmission operations and on Jan. 1, 2002 transferred to LCRA TSC ownership of its transmission facilities to satisfy the state's unbundling requirement. LCRA TSC has no employees but contracts with LCRA staff to operate and maintain the facilities and provide other services. As with other transmission systems in Texas, LCRA TSC is regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and coordinates its operations with ERCOT, which manages the power grid that serves most of the state. LCRA TSC now is helping upgrade and expand the statewide transmission system to transmit more power throughout Texas reliably and efficiently.

Fast-paced expansion
LCRA TSC has embarked on a fast-paced schedule to expand transmission capacity through more than 60 major projects during the next five years.

Some of this work comes in partnerships with utilities such as American Electric Power (AEP), the largest generator of electricity in the United States, and Oncor, the unit of TXU Corporation that is the largest electric transmission provider in Texas.

The partnership with AEP will build projects totaling approximately $800 million to add transmission capacity in South and West Texas, areas identified by ERCOT as crucial to support a competitive retail electric market in Texas.

LCRA TSC oversees its transmission system from a state-of-the-art System Operations Control Center (SOCC). The SOCC operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using a variety of sophisticated computer and communication networks to prevent or minimize interruptions in electric service.

For more information about LCRA TSC's transmission operations, call 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 6270, or e-mail Transmission.