The leaders of PNM Resources Inc. say they expect new possible investments to emerge from a new Electric Reliability Council of Texas planning push that this summer will include a reliability report focused on the Permian Basin region of West Texas.
President and COO Don Tarry told analysts last week, after PNM Resources reported a first-quarter net profit of $47.2 million, that recently updated projections for load growth in West Texas forecast “substantial growth” above past forecasts, particularly from customers not tied to the oil and gas sector. At a recent ERCOT public meeting, the body’s President and CEO, Pablo Vegas, said the roughly 40 GW of newly estimated demand over the next five to seven years calls for his team to enter “a new era” of planning.
It's too early to talk about specific new dollars for PNM Resources’ Texas-New Mexico Power unit, Tarry said, because the Public Utility Commission of Texas will assess ERCOT’s report on the Permian this summer.
“We have to wait to see what comes out in July and then how the PUCT deals with it,” Tarry said on a conference call. “But there are opportunities for incremental investments as you look at the load that’s expected in that area.”
