City of Lubbock Approves Retail Electric Providers in Historic Move to Customer Choice
The approval marks a major milestone in the transition to a competitive electric market and sets the final timeline for customer choice in Lubbock.
Lubbock City Council and the Lubbock Power & Light Electric Utility Board voted to approve the list of retail electric providers that will operate in Lubbockâs competitive electric market. This approval comes after extensive testing and approvals at both local and state levels for the new providers, and marks a significant step as the city prepares to finalize its transition to a competitive market in March 2024.
LP&L is committed to helping customers navigate the shopping process and make informed decisions about choosing a new provider. Under the current timeline, customers will be able to shop for and select a provider between Jan. 5 and Feb. 15, 2024, with their new service starting in March. Customers who do not sign up for service with a provider of their choice during the shopping period will be temporarily assigned to a designated default electric retail provider.
Next Steps
- December 2023: LP&L will move the remaining 30% of its customers still connected to the Southwest Power Pool to the ERCOT market. The tentative timeline for migrating customers is Dec. 11-15, 2023. Similar to the first migration of customers to ERCOT in May 2021, affected customers will receive a notice in the mail, and can anticipate a brief, one-time interruption of service during the scheduled timeframe.
- January 2024: Customers will have a six-week window to review provider plans and contract terms and find the provider that best meets their energy needs (Jan. 5 to Feb. 15, 2024). LP&L will facilitate open-house events with retail electric providers so customers can meet with providers and ask questions about the available energy plans.
- March 2024: LP&L will connect customer meters to their chosen providers, and customers will receive their final LP&L bill on their City of Lubbock Utilities bill. Going forward, customers will receive their electric bill from their chosen provider.
Once all customers are transferred to their chosen providers, LP&L will focus exclusively on maintaining the electrical infrastructure throughout Lubbock, also referred to as a "wires company." This business structure aligns with other entities that perform this role across Texas, such as Oncor, CenterPoint Energy and AEP Texas.
City of Lubbock Utilities will continue to handle billing and customer service for the city-owned utilities including water/wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste.
For a shopping guide, full list of providers, and more information about the move to retail electric competition including who is authorized to conduct door-to-door sales, visit lpandl.com/retail-competition.