Texas regulators have denied state funding to a proposed 1.3-gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant, due to the applicant failing to meet due diligence, days after shortlisting the project as eligible to receive low-interest rate loans from the Texas Energy Fund.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) denied the application from NextEra and Aegle Power for the In-ERCOT Generation Loan Program of the newly established fund.
“The application has failed the due diligence phase of the loan application process, and the project will not be eligible to receive a loan from the TEF. NextEra Energy notified the PUCT this week that it is not a party to the loan application,” the commission said in a statement.
NextEra Energy Resources Vice President and General Counsel, Mitchell Ross, wrote to PUCT earlier this week, saying that “Please be advised that NextEra’s name was submitted in the Aegle application without NextEra’s knowledge or consent.”
“NextEra is not seeking funding as part of the TEF Program, is not participating in the project for which NextEra was named, and hereby requests that NextEra be immediately removed from PUCT records as a sponsor for the Aegle Power project,” Ross wrote on behalf of the company.
After denying Aegle Power’s application, the Texas Commission said that at this time, 16 applications for the In-ERCOT Generation Loan Program remain in due diligence review.
PUCT is currently reviewing the extension of $5.38 billion worth of low-interest loans to companies planning nearly 10 GW of new natural gas-fired capacity in a bid to boost generation capacity for ERCOT.
The Texas Energy Fund was established in 2023 by the Texas Legislature through Senate Bill 2627, the Powering Texas Forward Act, to provide grants and loans to finance the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric facilities in Texas.
Earlier in the year, ERCOT forecast that electricity demand in the Lone Star State could double in six years, necessitating the urgent addition of more generation capacity.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
