Lubbock Power & Light

Retail Electric Competition
Retail Providers
Information for Customers
Frequently Asked Questions

Retail Electric Competition Retail Providers Information for Customers

General

Customers do not need to do or change anything at this time.

LP&L is working with ERCOT on the Move to Retail Competition plan. We expect to move to competition in the fall of 2023.

We will share information and updates on the LP&L Retail Providers page so you know what to expect and when you need to take action.

What does the change mean for City of Lubbock Utilities?

City of Lubbock Utilities will continue to provide consolidated billing and customer service for all City utilities (water, stormwater, wastewater and solid waste). Customers will receive a separate electric bill from the retail provider of their choice.

How have you shared about this transition to the public?

Lubbock Power & Light has participated in multiple community events and provided frequent updates in monthly board meetings, with the news media and on our social channels in the last few years. LP&L will plan to host future public open houses to share more about retail electric competition and what it means for customers.

What would happen to Lubbock Power & Light?

In a competitive retail electric market, Lubbock Power & Light will no longer buy and sell electricity to customers.

LP&L will continue to manage the transmission and distribution of electricity - the poles, wires, lines and advanced meters that deliver electricity to customers' homes and businesses.

How many retail electric providers do we expect will be in the market?

More information on the number of retail electric providers in the market will be available in April 2023. LP&L anticipates retail electric providers will begin to sign-up starting in the April timeframe. As soon as the process begins, LP&L will be listing all legitimate providers and their contact information as we receive it.

LP&L expects to open a shopping window in mid-summer 2023, where customers will have approximately six weeks to evaluate and choose from available providers. During this window, LP&L will host open houses for customers to speak with and learn more about the Retail Electric Providers that will be operating in the market.

Will LP&L still be one of the choices as an electric provider?

In short, no. In the competitive retail electric market set to go-live in late fall 2023, LP&L won’t be an electric provider for customers. That means, we won’t buy or sell electricity or handle any direct service requests or billing.

Instead, LP&L will focus on delivering electricity from your future provider safely and reliably through the poles, wires, lines and advanced meters that we’ll continue to own and maintain. Our services will also include outage support.

Will there still be a fee for LP&L infrastructure maintenance?

In a competitive retail electric market, LP&L will manage the transmission and distribution of electricity through the poles, wires, lines and advanced meters that deliver electricity to customers’ homes and businesses.

This infrastructure maintenance will appear as a line item on the bill that customers will receive from their new providers. LP&L aims to charge infrastructure maintenance rates at or below what others across the state charge.

Will we get a separate bill from the new provider for electricity charges, or will it appear on the existing City of Lubbock Utilities bill?

Customers will receive a separate bill from their new provider for electricity charges.

City of Lubbock Utilities will continue to provide billing and customer service for all other City utilities: water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste.

Do we expect our electricity bill to go up or down for kWh usage?

Electricity bills will vary based on the provider chosen as rates will be determined by each individual provider.

When it comes time to choose a provider, customers are encouraged to compare potential future providers’ rates to what they are currently paying per kWh with LP&L. More information on LP&L’s rates can be found here.

More information on shopping for a retail provider will be made available soon.

What will happen to my LP&L deposit?

When LP&L completes the transition to retail competition, customers with an active deposit on file will receive their deposit back in their final invoice, provided they are up to date on their electric bill.

Customers of LP&L were accessed a deposit upon start of service. With 12 months of one-time payments (24 months for commercial customers), those customers saw their deposit automatically returned.

Will this transition affect my other utility services, like water?

No, only electric service through LP&L will be affected by the transition to retail electric competition. All other utilities and the billing and customer service for those utilities will stay the same.

City of Lubbock utilities will continue to provide consolidated billing and customer service for all City utilities (water, stormwater, wastewater and solid waste). Customers will receive a separate electric bill from the retail provider of their choice.

How will LP&L educate customers about this transition?

Resources to learn more about retail competition are available on the website and social media, and individual letters are being sent to customers affected by various changes throughout the journey to competition.

Closer to the transition to retail competition, once information and dates have been solidified, LP&L will increase efforts to connect with the community and educate customers on retail competition.

Why did LP&L not offer to be a retailer?

Lubbock Power and Light is committed to our customers and the Lubbock community. We elected to transition to retail competition at the request of our customers, and we believe that the best way to continue to serve our customers going forward is to focus on the delivery of reliable electricity to their homes and businesses.

Customers who choose not to shop for an electric provider will not be left behind – Lubbock Power and Light is in the process of choosing default providers that customers will be automatically connected to if they do not choose their own provider.

Retail Electric Providers

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When does LP&L expect to open to retail electric competition?

The official transition to competition for all Lubbock Power & Light customers is scheduled for late Fall 2023 pending completion of the necessary infrastructure to migrate all remaining customers to the ERCOT market (scheduled for late Spring 2023), any necessary regulatory approvals by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and completion of the opt-in conditions outlined by the resolutions passed by the Lubbock City Council and Lubbock Power & Light Electric Utility Board. The Lubbock City Council and Lubbock Power & Light Electric Utility Board passed resolutions approving the transition in February 2022. The City Council and Electric Utility Board will set the official transition to competition date in the coming year.

Prior to the official transition of customers to their new providers in late Fall 2023, there will be a period from late Summer 2023 to early Fall 2023 where customers will be able to shop for their new provider. We will continue to update the schedule over the next few months as we begin to formalize the overall schedule of events and will provide detailed instructions on how the process works.

Prior to opening, will there be a period of customer choice followed by a customer allocation to registered REPs?

The process to transition all customers to the retail competitive market is scheduled for late Fall 2023 and the current plan is to transition all customers over a one month period to their new providers. Prior to the official transition of customers to their new providers in late Fall 2023, there will be a period from Summer 2023 to early Fall 2023 where customers will be able to shop for their new provider. We will continue to update the schedule over the next few months as we begin to formalize the overall schedule of events and will provide detailed instructions on how the process works.

It is important that all Lubbock Power & Light customers be able to access competitive choice during the same time frame in order to treat Lubbock ratepayers in a fair and reasonable fashion.

How many LP&L customers are there currently?

Lubbock Power & Light currently has approximately 108,000 electric meters (all customer classes) within our certificated service area.

Is a customer class breakdown (e.g. residential, small business, residential) available?

All current customer classes and their applicable fee structures are located online at LPandL.com as part of our tariff. The current electric rate/tariff schedule may be found here: https://lpandl.com/assets/uploads/docs/FY-2021-22-Electric-Rate-Tariff-Schedule-Adopted.pdf

Here is the current breakdown of customers within classes (August 2022):

Total Meters: 108,000
Residential Customers: 93,000
Small Commercial Customers: 5,000 (<50 kW)
Medium Commercial Customers: 2,000 (50 – 1000 kW)
Large Commercial Customers: 100 (> 1000 kW)
Critical care/load customers: 150/150 (300 total)

*Meter number count approximated

What’s the deployment % of advanced meters?

Lubbock Power & Light engaged in a full deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the project today is substantially complete. To date, we have 99.6% of our AMI meters deployed amongst our 108,000 meters and expect to be 100% complete by October 2022.

Do the meters have remote connect / disconnect capability?

The majority of Lubbock Power & Light’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is capable of performing remote connect and disconnect. 94% of residential meters and 47% of commercial meters have full remote connect and disconnect capability.

Where may a REP obtain its customer’s interval meter data?

Investor-owned utilities currently in the retail electric market utilize Smart Meter Texas in order for customers and authorized parties to view and obtain advanced meter interval data and it is the current plan that Lubbock Power & Light utilize this when appropriate.

Does LP&L have accurate service addresses for all customers?

Lubbock Power & Light has accurate service addresses for all customers who will be participating in customer choice.

What is meant by “Begin Soliciting Retail Electric Providers” on LP&L’s Journey to Competition timeline on LP&L’s website?

https://lpandl.com/retail-competition

Lubbock Power & Light’s schedule does contain a period of time where potential retail electric providers will be able to establish service well prior to go-live in order to ensure customers have a full menu of options when first selecting their providers in the retail electric market. It is important we allow enough time for this process to take place in the months leading up to the transition to competition. A more complete timeline will be published in the coming months and additional information will be provided for how and under what conditions a retail electric provider will be able serve customers in Lubbock.

Does LP&L plan to utilize web-based “REP self-help” functionality for routine information (e.g. meter read cycles, LP&L holidays, customer usage history)?

At this point in time, it is the intention of Lubbock Power & Light to send this type of information through the traditional channels at ERCOT. However, use of these types of REP portals has not been ruled out in the future and may be deemed necessary as we continue to build out our points of communication with market participants.

Will LP&L have a “REP Relations team” to interface with REPs for escalated issues?

Lubbock Power & Light plans to create a division specifically dedicated to performing customer service for retail electric providers once we transition customers to the retail electric market. Currently, REPs with specific questions on process and timelines may contact us at marketops@mail.ci.lubbock.tx.us.

Has LP&L determined which tariff by which it will operate? PUCT Substantive Rule 25.215 or 25.214?

https://www.puc.texas.gov/agency/rulesnlaws/subrules/electric/Electric.aspx

Lubbock Power & Light is seeking stakeholder input on our proposed revisions to the pro forma Tariff for Competitive Retailer Access related to municipal utilities. We published our red-lined document on the website in order to solicit comments from stakeholders and will be working with the ERCOT Retail Market Subcommittee (RMS) Task Force in order to make sure all interested parties have an opportunity to participate. The tariff was originally effective 08/23/01 and is in need of being updated.

Our desire is to file this with the PUC by October 2022 as a fully stipulated and agreeable Tariff and seek an expedited process for approval. The red-lined tariff can be found here: https://lpandl.com/retail-competition/retail-providers

If you wish to propose any changes please submit any suggestions to Michael Winegeart at MWinegeart@lpandl.com.

Does LP&L anticipate maintaining its current Rate Class structure?

We anticipate changes to our current rate structure when we make the transition to the retail competitive market as our business structure will change. We are currently working to complete a rate study in order to develop a new rate tariff well before go-live of the competitive market, scheduled for late Fall 2023.

When will information be available on the Power to Choose Website specific to Lubbock?

Lubbock information will be on Power to Choose once the Texas Public Utilities Commission finalizes the pro-forma tariff and the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) process is complete. Depending on the timeline of those two events, our information may not be on the Power to Choose website until May or June of 2023.

In the meantime, Lubbock Power and Light will be training internally to ensure that our team is familiar with retail electric competition and the transition process and able to properly address customer inquiries. We will continue to provide information to the public through awareness and education campaigns and community outreach.

Customers can visit the retail competition page for the most up-to-date information about retail electric competition, and our journey map is updated regularly to reflect where Lubbock Power and Light stands in the process of transitioning to competition.