Energy

Fifteen of the region’s 19 counties produce oil and gas. In 2008, they produced 5.2 million barrels of oil, 4.4 billion cubic feet of casinghead gas (a mixture of unrefined gases that can include methane, butane and propane), 232 billion cubic feet of natural gas (gas well gas) and 2.7 million barrels of condensate (natural gas liquids). Atascosa, Calhoun, DeWitt, Guadalupe and Jackson counties led the region in energy production (Exhibit 35).³⁹

The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) is the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency. RRC has 12 district offices; the northwestern section of the Alamo region is in RRC district 1, while its southeastern section is in RRC District 2.

Exhibit 35

Alamo Region, Oil and Gas Production, 1993-2008

Source: Raliroad Commission of Texas.

View oil and gas production in table format.

Fifteen of the region’s 19 counties produce oil and gas.

Victoria County Nuclear Project

Exelon, the nation’s largest electric and gas utility, has made tentative plans to build a nuclear power plant in the Alamo region. In June 2009, the company announced it would apply for an early site permit for a proposed plant in Victoria County. In deciding whether to approve the permit, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission will closely examine the company’s plans for the facility, a process that can take several years. Once the early site permit is approved, the company then must apply for a construction and operating permit.

Exelon’s plans for the facility call for two nuclear reactors that would produce a combined total of 3,000 megawatts, enough energy to power nearly 1.9 million Texas homes. A timeline for the proposed project has not been set. Initially, the company planned to make an announcement in 2010, but it has delayed its plans due to difficult economic conditions and insufficient federal funding.

If constructed, the facility would have a significant effect on the regional economy. Its construction would create 6,300 temporary jobs and permanent jobs for about 800 employees. The proposed plant would be located on 11,500 acres 13 miles south of the city of Victoria.³⁸

Bexar and Medina counties once produced lignite coal along and south of the Balcones Fault in “trends,” or subsurface formations, known as the Claiborne and Jackson Group.⁴⁰ Most coal produced in Texas is consumed on site to provide electricity (in what are called “mine mouth” operations). Today, Atascosa County is the region’s only county producing coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2007, one surface mine produced 3.1 million short tons.⁴¹ (A short ton is 2,000 pounds.)

Electricity

Natural gas is the fuel of choice for most of the Alamo region’s electricity generation facilities built since 1995. The region has 13 electricity generation plants with a combined generating capacity of 4,569 megawatts (MW) operating or under construction – six in Bexar County, two in Calhoun County, one in Frio County, two in Guadalupe County and two in Victoria County. Nine of these plants use natural gas as a fuel; two use coal; one uses landfill gas, a renewable resource; and one, an industrial facility, uses petroleum coke.⁴²

The entire Alamo region lies within the boundaries of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the electric grid system that manages the electricity needs of 22 million Texans. ERCOT’s grid covers 75 percent of the state’s land area and carries 85 percent of its electric load.⁴³

According to ERCOT, in summer 2009 the region had a total generation capacity of 7,338 MW. ERCOT estimates that capacity will rise to 8,483 MW by 2011, as new plants open.⁴⁴

Perhaps reflecting the Alamo region’s rural past, electrical providers in the area include eight municipally owned utilities and 11 electric cooperatives (Exhibit 36).⁴⁵

Exhibit 36

Alamo Region, Municipally Owned Utilities and Member-Owned Cooperatives

Municipally Owned Utilities
Entity Name	Counties in Service Area
City Public Service	Bexar
Cuero Electric Utility	DeWitt
Fredericksburg Electric Utility	Gillespie
Gonzales Electric System	Gonzales
Hondo Electric System	Medina
Kerrville Public Utility Board	Kerr
New Braunfels Utilities	Comal
Seguin Electric System	Guadalupe

Member-Owned Cooperatives
Entity Name	Counties in Service Area
Bandera Electric Cooperative	Bandera, Bexar, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real, Uvalde
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative	Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Colorado, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Lee, Milam, Travis, Washington, Williamson
Central Texas Electric Cooperative	Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Real, San Saba
Fayette Electric Cooperative	Austin, Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette, Lavaca, Lee, Washington
Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative	Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca, Victoria, Wilson
Jackson Electric Cooperative	Brazoria, Calhoun, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda
Karnes Electric Cooperative	Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, DeWitt, Frio, Goliad, Karnes, LaSalle, Live Oak, McMullen, Medina, Wilson
Medina Electric Cooperative	Atascosa, Brooks, Dimmitt, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Jim Hogg, Kinney, LaSalle, McMullen, Medina, Real, Starr, Uvalde, Webb, Zapata, Zavala
Pedernales Electric Cooperative	Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Lampasas, Llano, Mason, Menard, Real, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton, Travis, Williamson
San Patricio Electric Cooperative	Aransas, Bee, Goliad, Jim Wells, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio
Victoria Electric Cooperative	Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Refugio, Victoria

Public Utility Commission of Texas, Texas Electric Cooperatives.

Endnotes

All links were valid at the time of publication. Changes to web sites not maintained by the office of the Texas Comptroller may not be reflected in the links below.

³⁸ Exelon Generation, “Exelon to Seek Early Site Permit for Texas Location,” Victoria, Texas, June 30, 2009, (press release); and “Exelon Generation Submits License Application for New Nuclear Energy Plant,” Victoria, Texas, September 3, 2008, (Press release.) (Last visited August 27, 2009.)
³⁹ Data supplied by the Railroad Commission of Texas, July 24, 2009.
⁴⁰ Railroad Commission of Texas, “Historical Coal Mining in Texas,” (Last visited August 26, 2009.)
⁴¹ U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Coal Production and Number of Mines by State, County and Mine Type,” (Last visited August 26, 2009.)
⁴² Public Utility Commission of Texas, “New Electric Generating Plants in Texas,” and “Market Directories & Utilities: Electric Companies Serving Texas,” (Last visited August 11, 2009.) Comptroller calculations from maps in PowerPoint and data in Excel.
⁴³ Electric Reliability Council of Texas, “Company Profile,” (Last visited August 27, 2009.)
⁴⁴ Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Report on the Capacity, Demand and Reserves in the ERCOT Region: System Planning (Taylor, Texas, May 2009), pp. 33-37. (Last visited August 27, 2009.)
⁴⁵ Texas Electric Cooperatives, “TEC Members by County,” (Last visited August 27, 2009.)