Order may put power at risk

November 27, 2012, 6:00 pm by Adam Troxtell

The Lower Colorado River Authority’s decision to lower the cut-off trigger point in an emergency drought order may put users of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative at risk, the PEC board indicated last week.

Before the LCRA decision to approve a new emergency drought order last week, the PEC Board of Directors said they favored the old drought emergency order that required there be 850,000 acre feet in lakes Buchanan and Travis on Jan. 1 or March 1 of 2013 before water could be released downstream to rice farmers.

They reiterated that stance by passing a resolution Nov.19, solidifying their commitment to a statement made by Board Secretary Chris Perry to the LCRA board.

Before the LCRA passed a new emergency drought order that set the threshold for releasing water to downstream rice farmers at 775,000 acre feet, Perry said the old drought order helped ensure the needs of PEC members were met.

"As the largest purchaser of wholesale power generated by the LCRA, we rely on your organization’s facilities for the majority of the electricity we distribute,” Perry said. "Renewing the emergency order enacted last year would help ensure that LCRA and other ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) generators are supplied with adequate cooling water to generate at full capacity throughout the summer, protecting our communities from possible electricity supply shortages.”

For the full story, see Wednesday's Burnet Bulletin.