2007-037 RES-Endorsing certain Legislative Changes to enhande the competitive electric market supported by City's aggregation power project, Inc.RESOLUTION N0. 2007-037
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS;
ENDORSING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE CHANGES TO ENHANCE THE
COMPETITIVE ELECTRIC MARKET SUPPORTED BY CITIES AGGREGATION
POWER PROJECT, INC. (LAPP); MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND
PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Paris, Texas, (City) has historically been active in the process of regulation
of electric utilities; and,
WHEREAS, the City is a member of Cities Aggregation Power Project, Inc. (CAPP) and, as such,
made a decision to join with more than 95 other cities to switch its municipal electric accounts from its
incumbent provider to a retail electric provider; and,
WHEREAS, CAPP's experience with the deregulated market and contracts with several different
retail electric providers has indicated that the Texas electric retail market has failed to develop into a truly
competitive market as envisioned by the Texas Legislature in part because congestion zones within the
ERCOT market have allowed certain market players to control enough generation capacity within a given
zone to exercise market power to the detriment of customers and non-affiliated retail electric provides; and,
WHEREAS, retail electric price competition has not successfully reached residential customers in
Texas communities with populations less than 50,000; and,
WHEREAS, Texas municipalities and customers currently pay generators prices for "baseload"
electric energy needs that are inflated well beyond their actual costs because of the power is priced as if it
were produced byhigh-priced natural gas-fueled plants even though it is actually produced at a much lower
cost by lignite, coal, and nuclear plants; and,
WHEREAS, power generators are receiving windfall profits and energy costs for Texas businesses
and consumers are needlessly inflated because of a mechanism known as the "uniform-price auction," which
pays every generator the highest price ERCOT is required to accept to meet demand regardless of what
portion of the purchase required that price; and,
WHEREAS, CAPP recognizes the importance of diversifying its energy portfolio and is
investigating opportunities to add long term power contracts to ensure more price stability, but current
provisions of the Local Government Code may make the contracting process unnecessarily cumbersome; and,
WHEREAS, the City endorses efforts proposed by CAPP to modify the electric deregulation
legislation to enhance competition, implement the original intent of SB 7 and reduce costs to the City and
its residents;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARIS, TEXAS:
Section 1. That the findings set out in the preamble to this resolution are hereby in all things
approved.
Section 2. That the following legislative reforms endorsed by CAPP to limit market power, create
effective citizen aggregation, be supported by the City:
Limit the ownership and control of generation within functional markets (ERGOT
zones) and require further Commission action to mitigate market control (SB 483
and HB 1190).
Authorize citizen aggregation projects that will permit cities and towns with
populations less than 50,000 to aggregate the load of all of their residents that have
not specifically asked to be excluded from the aggregation project to enhance the
opportunities for rural residential customers to benefit from the deregulation and
benefit the entire state by increasing competition (SB 1401 and HB 3498).
Ensure that a modest amount (15 percent of installed capacity) oflow-cost baseload
generation capacity is made available for sale to Competitive Retail Electric
Providers at their variable cost plus ten percent (HB 3348).
Declare the current "uniform pricing system" in the balancing energy market
unreasonable and direct the Public Utility Commission to adopt rules that will
provide for a pricing system that does not produce windfall profits for generators
and needlessly inflate energy cost to Texas Businesses and consumers (HB 3349).
Remove unnecessary administrative obstacles in the Local Government Code that
prevent cities from taking full advantage of electric competition (SB 787 and HB
1749).
Section 3. That a copy of the resolution shall be sent to the elected lawmakers representing the
City's interests in the Texas House and Senate and to the Chairman and legal counsel of CAPP.
Section 4. That this resolution shall be effective from and after its date of passage.
PRESENTED AND PASSED this 26th day of March, 2007, by a vote of ~ ayes and 0 nays
at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Paris, Texas.
;~-=
Richard Manning, Mayor
ATTEST:
nice Ellis, City Clerk
Kent McIlyar, City