TXU facing power fight

[jpak]

http://www.star-telegram.com/227/story/80137.html

FPL Energy, the nation's largest producer of wind-generated electricity, has told the Public Utility Commission of Texas that TXU Corp. intentionally flooded West Texas transmission lines with its own higher-cost power to prevent FPL's wind power from reaching customers across the state.

In a letter recently sent to the PUC's director of electric-industry oversight, FPL attorney David Markarian claimed that TXU unnecessarily operated its Permian Basin gas-fired generation plant in Ward County in far West Texas, which congested limited transmission capacity in the rural region and "directly interfered with the ability of the wind farms to generate clean renewable energy." Markarian told the Star-Telegram that a lawsuit involving the issue, originally filed in Dallas County court in 2004, is scheduled to go to trial May 29.

TXU spokesman Tom Kleckner said TXU initially sued FPL after the Florida-based company failed to supply the electricity called for in its contract, which the two companies signed in 2000. FPL's failure to perform, which made TXU run short of state-required renewable-energy credits, is the only issue, he said.

"This is a business dispute. They didn't meet their contractual obligations," Kleckner said. "Congestion is not an issue, and they are still unable to meet their contractual obligations," he said.

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[bananas]

1. They're gaming the system, like Enron. nt