City of Georgetown sends termination notice for wholesale power contract to LCRA

The City of Georgetown sent a notice of termination Aug. 13 to the Lower Colorado River Authority to end its wholesale power contract.

"We are looking forward to putting this behind us and purchasing power on the competitive market," Assistant City Manager Jim Briggs said in a statement.

In June, the city sent a breach of contract notice to LCRA alleging that the authority charged higher rates to electric utility to customers that did not extend wholesale power agreements, according to a news release from the city. City Council gave notice to LCRA in June 2011 that it would not extend its agreement with LCRA past 2016.

The City of Georgetown and six other electric utilities, including Fayette Electric Cooperative Inc., Central Texas Electric Cooperative, the City of Seguin, Kerrville Public Utility Board, the City of Boerne and San Bernard Electric Cooperative Inc. filed breach of contract notices.

The notice gave LCRA 30 days to fix the breach, Briggs said. LCRA officials responded with a lawsuit filed in Travis County District Court.

A hearing will be held Aug. 27 to determine if the court has jurisdiction over the case and to hear a motion by LCRA to halt ending the contracts. If jurisdiction is determined, Briggs said the utilities would like to see the hearing moved out of Travis County. The hearing is expected to last five days.

"This dispute follows a long series of conversations with our customers, and this action was not unexpected. LCRA is fully prepared to honor these contracts until they expire in 2016, and we look forward to beginning to vet these issues at a hearing beginning Aug. 27," a statement realeased by LCRA said.