Fuelfix.com
by R.A. Dyer
It’s a construction project that could help prevent blackouts, but that hasn’t stopped two influential electric generation companies from trying to stop it before it starts.
NRG and Calpine, both active in the Houston area, have gone to the Public Utility Commission with a request that the agency dump plans to extend transmission lines 130 miles from the Houston metro area to east-central Texas. Operators of the state’s principal power grid say the lines are needed to bring more power into Houston and improve system reliability.
Dubbed the “Houston Import Project,” the transmission network should cost about $590 million when complete. The companies successfully blocked an earlier version of the project several years ago, but failed to stop the board of the…