The Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) as amended in 1982 and the
Substantive Rules of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) establish
a comprehensive regulatory system for electric, telephone, and water utilities.
The rules which cover electric utilities contain provisions requiring certain
electric utilities to prepare energy efficiency plans. In their plans, utilities must
consider the potential for economically producing capacity through supply-side
and demand-side alternatives to new power plant construction. These alternatives
are identified in the definition of energy efficiency included in the Rules.
Supply-side alternatives are: optimizing existing and planned generation,
transmission, and distribution facilities; purchasing power from cogenerators
and small power producers; utilizing direct conversion of renewable resources;
and improving power plant productivity and efficiency. Demand-side options
are conservation and load management programs that can be implemented to
improve customer utilization of energy.
The initial plan submissions were made in December 1984, so the energy
efficiency plan, and its implications are emerging. This paper describes and
discusses the energy efficiency plan as it pertains to conservation and load
management programs and its likely effects on the allowable cost of service
expenditures for conservation and load management programs, policies for
new power plant construction and cogeneration
