Juice starts flowing over Rio

MISSION — Power is flowing between the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico.

Over the weekend Sharyland Utilities and the Mexican Comisión Federal de Electricidad traded test transmissions between the electricity grids in Texas and Mexico using a new transmission facility in Mission. Officials from both sides say they are ready to start sending juice back and forth between the neighboring countries.

The new facility near Bryan Road could help provide backup power for the Texas electricity grid during peak demand.

It could also increase competition on both sides of the border, said Hunter Hunt, president of Hunt Power, which owns Sharyland Utilities.

“It should ultimately lead to lower prices on both sides of the border,” Hunt said.

Officials from Hunt and Sharyland Utilities, as well as Sen. John Cornyn and other government officials, celebrated the opening of the facility at a ceremony Tuesday at the Cimarron Country Club in Mission.

Sharyland Utilities, which owns power infrastructure in Sharyland Plantation, finished the project and gained regulatory approval last month.

Power crossing the river into Texas would likely flow from a gas-fired power plant in Rio Bravo, said John Caskey, general manager of Sharyland Utilities.

At first, the new transmission facility will likely bring power to Texas from Mexico to help during hours of peak demand. The 150-megawatt station is capable of supplying about 5 percent of Texas’ 3,000-megawatt reserve. The company has plans to double the Mission facility to 300 megawatts.

Caskey said cheaper electricity in Mexico during certain times of day could encourage Texas providers to start buying power from south of the Rio Grande.

Sharyland Utilities and Hunt started working on the project in 2002. There are two other similar facilities along the border in Laredo and El Paso, but the Sharyland facility is the only one intended to exchange electricity for commercial purposes.

Maquiladoras and other industries on both sides of the border could benefit from the more stable energy market created by the Sharyland facility, said Julie Parsley, a commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

“It’s critical for manufacturing and commercial industries to have reliable electricity,” Parsley said.

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Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410.