Oncor Electric Delivery, the Dallas-based utility that provides the transmission lines that serve most of North Texas, said Thursday that it hopes to build more than 1,000 miles of the lines needed to carry wind power from West Texas to the rest of the state.

Oncor is one of five big utilities that have formed a consortium that proposes to build all of the estimated 2,400 miles of transmission lines included in a $5 billion plan approved last week by the Public Utility Commission, which picked it among several options. The other partners in the consortium are Sharyland Utilities, LCRA Transmission Services Corp., American Electric Power and MidAmerican Energy Holdings.

Several other transmission companies have also filed to express their interest in participating in the massive project, called a Competitive Renewable Energy Zone. Thursday was the deadline for making those filings.

One of those smaller companies is Tejas Transmission, which has no Texas operations but whose parent is Babcock & Brown, a multibillion-dollar Australian investment firm with operations in 32 countries. Austin lawyer Bob Rima, who represents Tejas Transmission, said the big incumbent transmission companies can't be allowed to exclude competitors.

"The commission has made it clear on several occasions that they want to bring in new entrants and some competition," Rima said. Tejas will contest the consortium's bid, he said.

Geoffrey Gay, an Austin lawyer whose firm represents many Texas cities, including Fort Worth and Arlington, in regulatory matters, called the consortium unusual. But the state has also never seen a utility project as big as this, either, he said.

"It spans service areas in a transmission system that grew up in isolation," with each incumbent utility jealously guarding its own territory, Gay said. "We've got to change our transmission system to facilitate the flow of power" across the state, he said.

"The cities' position is, we want this to be a thoughtful process done in an efficient manner," he said. "I don't want the PUC picking a party that will charge twice as much just because it's a new entrant."

What's at stake

Oncor said it proposes building at least 1,000 miles of lines, which it estimates will require more than $2 billion. American Electric Power and MidAmerican, working in a joint venture called Electric Transmission Texas, said they hope to build about 710 miles of lines at a cost of as much as $1.7 billion. Two other AEP companies would build 145 miles of upgraded lines in Central and North Texas.

LCRA, a not-for-profit organization with 3,300 miles of electric lines in the state, said it would build or operate 600 miles of lines costing about $795 million. Sharyland, a Dallas company formed by the wealthy Hunt family that also controls Hunt Oil, did not detail its expected participation.

What's ahead

Oncor spokesman Chris Schein said the PUC has encouraged the interested companies to work together on the project, and that's just what the consortium is doing. He said the project's budget is too big for any one company to tackle, and utilities frequently work cooperatively on smaller projects.

Terry Hadley, a PUC spokesman in Austin, said the commission has scheduled hearings beginning Dec. 1. Between now and then, he said, the interested parties will hold settlement talks to try to work out which company should perform what part of the project.

I don't want the PUC picking a party that will charge twice as much just because it's a new entrant."