Texas ISO Handles 20,000 Pwr Switch Requests Wed

HOUSTON - -- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Wednesday accepted 20,000 requests to switch customers to new power suppliers from their existing utility as the automated system attempts to escalate to full operation.

Computer data and communication problems have plagued the system since late July, creating a backlog of more than 100,000 requests from consumers who have signed up to participate in the state's retail electric pilot program.

The retail pilot allows up to 5% of a utility's customers to shop for a new supplier. Until last week, however, Ercot officials had difficulty increasing the number of requests the system and staff could handle despite ongoing computer upgrades.

In late August, the agency accepted 1,650 requests in one day and last week 5,500 change orders were put into the system one one day.

Ercot's automated system is designed to handle 21,000 switch requests per day.

If the 20,000 requests accepted Wednesday can be successfully processed over the next few days, agency officials hope to begin to reduce the backlog of requests so that the pilot program can be implemented before Jan 1, when full competition is scheduled to begin.

State regulators are concerned that delays in getting customers switched to new suppliers will leave only one, or possibly two, billing cycles to further test the systems needed to send accurate customer bills.

The pilot backlog has been cut to roughly 73,000 customers due to Shell Energy Services' decision not to serve the retail electric market in Texas.

Ercot officials said if the system improvements continue, they will be able to process all pending requests by the end of September, allowing the actual flow of power to change for most customers by late November.

The switch request is the first step to allow power to begin to flow from competitive retailers to consumers.

Ercot sends a postcard to the customer when the switch is processed giving the customer 15 days to cancel the change, a move designed to prevent the practice of "slamming" common in the telecommunication industry.

The new supplier takes over service only after the customer's next scheduled meter-reading date by the old utility.