Regulators vote to double electric prices cap

The commission said raising prices is necessary to encourage more plant construction and prevent power outages in areas served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The maximum wholesale rate will rise from $4,500 a megawatt hour now to $5,000 in June 2013, $7,000 in June 2014 and $9,000 in June 2015.

In Texas's minute-by-minute market, the cap was reached only once this year and prices are normally much lower. Yet consumer groups complain that wholesale price increases can trickle down to monthly household electric bills for most Texans.

PUC Chairwoman Donna Nelson said the market needs higher prices to guarantee there is enough electricity during peak periods. She said she would also like to see the commission to establish a required minimum reserve of electricity to prevent outages, but that she did not have the support of the full three-member board.

State officials have warned that higher prices are needed to encourage companies to build more power plants as the Texas population grows. Industry experts say companies that operate the state's power plants are losing money because prices are too low for most of the year and they only make money during the hottest summer and coldest winter months.

Texas customers only pay for electricity that reaches the grid, not for companies to keep spare capacity available in case of an emergency. ERCOT tries to maintain a 13.75 percent reserve, but with more demand and less generation, that will become increasingly difficult in the future.

Nelson said Thursday's vote was only an interim step and that Texas may eventually have to adopt a system that pays power plants to maintain excess capacity, even if it's not immediately needed. Most states have some sort of system to encourage power companies to maintain a minimum level of capacity.