The company said billions in dollars in System Resiliency Plan spending would be on top of another $24.2 billion of planned capital expenditures through 2028 announced earlier.
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Oncor Electric has reported its net income more than doubled during the first quarter of 2024, as compared to the same quarter during the previous year.
In quarterly financial information released to investment analysts on May 7, the Dallas-based utility announced the receipt of $225 million in net income during the three months ending March 31, 2024, as compared to $103 million during the corresponding 2023 period. The company said it received the $122 million in added earnings thanks to interim rate increases, increases in transmission billing units, higher customer consumption, customer growth, and new base rates implemented on May 1, 2023.
Oncor CEO Allen Nye, in a prepared statement, also said the company has prepared a System Resiliency Plan filing calling for nearly $3 billion in capital expenditures and over $500 million in operation and maintenance expenses. The extra spending will be “earmarked for critical investments in system hardening and modernization, cybersecurity, wildfire mitigation, and other investments designed to make the grid more secure,” said Nye.
Assuming approval from the PUC, the company says it anticipates launching these investments in 2025 and rolling them out over three years. The company said that billions in dollars in System Resiliency Plan spending would be on top of another $24.2 billion of planned capital expenditures through 2028 that the company announced earlier.
System Resiliency Plan Details
The System Resiliency Plan, which Oncor filed with the PUC on May 6 (under Docket No. 56545), requests ratepayer support for capital, operations, and maintenance expenditures that the company says will reduce outage minutes, expand its wildfire mitigation efforts, expand its vegetation management, and allow for the deployment of additional smart grid technologies. Under House Bill 5066, adopted by the Texas Legislature in 2023, the PUC has 180 days to review utility System Resiliency Plans.
Details of the company’s System Resilience Plan request include the following:
- Overhead and Underground Resiliency and Modernization – The company seeks approximately $1.83 billion to update existing overhead systems such as poles, cross arms and lightning protection. The money also would be used to update its underground systems with switchgear automation and other technology.
- Continued Optimization of Distribution Automation – The company seeks approximately $510 million to expand and optimize its distribution automation system.
- Expanded Vegetation Management – The company seeks approximately $285 million to expand vegetation management, including through the use of remote-sensing capabilities such as satellite and laser imaging.
- Enhanced Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation – The company seeks approximately $525 million to enhance its cybersecurity risk mitigation efforts and to enhance and secure its digital infrastructure.
- Improved Physical Security – The company seeks approximately $80 million to improve its physical security.
- Enhanced Wildfire Mitigation – The company estimates that approximately $900 million of its proposed System Resiliency Plan spending will enhance its wildfire mitigation efforts.
Other Highlights
In other matters, Oncor also reported on May 7 that it increased its premise count by 18,000 during the first quarter of 2024, which is 1,000 more than the 17,000 premises added during the first quarter of 2023. Additionally, the company placed approximately $161 million of transmission projects into service during the first quarter of 2024, as compared to approximately $94 million in such projects during the first quarter of 2023. Oncor completed construction or upgraded approximately 24 circuit miles of transmission lines, 9 major substation projects and 3 major switching station projects during the first quarter of 2024.
As of March 31, 2024, Oncor had 781 active generation and large commercial and industrial transmission point of interconnection requests in queue. This represents a 20 percent increase compared to the same period during 2023. Of the 482 active generation interconnection requests in queue as of March 31, 2024, 46 percent are for solar power, 42 percent for energy storage, 9 percent for wind power and 3 percent for gas generation.
ABOUT ONCOR
Headquartered in Dallas, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC operates the largest transmission and distribution system in Texas. The company delivers electricity to more than 4 million homes and businesses and operates more than 143,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines. While Oncor is owned by two investors (indirect majority owner, Sempra, and minority owner, Texas Transmission Investment LLC), it is managed by a separate board of directors.