A18A8 County-StarCounty Star-News News Thursday,Thursday, February Feb. 4, 4,2021 2021 On December 14, 2020, Southwestern Public Service Company (“SPS”), doing business as Xcel Energy, filed an application with the Public Utility Commission of Kelton ISD (“Commission”) for authority to revise its fuel factor formula for its Texas retail jurisdiction by Art Contest approving a new formula and to change the fuel factors derived from that formula. The Results filing has been assigned Docket No. 51625. If approved, the new fuel factors derived from the Kelton ISD students com- 3rd Place- Nevaeh Mitch- formula proposed in SPS’s Application will affect all of SPS’s Texas retail customers and peted in the American Quar- ell ter Horse Museum Youth retail rate classes within its Texas service territory. The revised fuel factors will affect Art Contest and won some 9th-12th division awards. Congrats to all! 2nd Place- Jet Erickson

only the fuel portion of rates charged by SPS in Texas and will not affect SPS’s non-fuel base Photography Contest: Art Contest: 3rd-5th division 6th-8th division rates. 1st Place- Wade Brown 3rd Place- Tank Wright

This revision is necessary due to the addition of the Sagamore Wind Project into SPS’s 6th-8th division 9th-12th division 1st Place- Neely Davis 2nd Place- Stacey Hennig owned-resource mix, as well as overall changes in system-average fuel and purchased shamrock students power costs. Compared to fuel factors in place at the time SPS filed its Application, a of the week residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity per month will see an approximate increase

of 1.58% to their total bill or $1.66 on average per month. Based on the data available at the

time of SPS’s Application, the proposed fuel factors, differentiated by customer voltage level are

as follows:

Current Proposed Fuel Factors Fuel Factors

$/kilowatt hour $/kWh (“kWh”) Fuel Factor $0.011957 $0.013553 COURTESY PHOTO Shamrock Student Of The COURTESY PHOTO Voltage Level Week is Kaybree McAllister. Shamrock Student Of The Fuel Factors Her favorite food is lasagna. Week is Kaylee Glass. Her Her favorite book is Winn favorite food is pizza. Her fa- Secondary $0.012501 $0.014159 Dixie. She likes to spend time vorite book is Hunger Games. Distribution with her sisters in her spare She likes to read, and wants Primary $0.012268 $0.013895 time. She wants to be a doc- to be a doctor when she Distribution tor when she grows up. grows up. Sub-transmission $0.011492 $0.013016 Backbone $0.011422 $0.012937 Transmission State from PAGE A1 Please note that the actual fuel factors approved by the Commission may differ from in the outcome of our elections." Texas already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country, though the state's Republicans are those shown in the table above. newly focused on the issue after fighting efforts by Democrats to make it easier to vote ahead of the November election due to the pandemic. Abbott's prioritization of election security comes three months follow- SPS requests that the new fuel factors be implemented on January 1, 2021 and remain in ing a November election after which top Texas Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Attorney General Ken Paxton, played central effect until the Commission approves a revision to the fuel factors. If the final approved formula roles in fueling former President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread fraud. Those conspiracies led to a violent siege on the U.S. differs from the formula proposed by SPS, SPS requests that the revised formula and resulting Capitol the day Congress met to certify the results last month. Abbott was among the Republicans who did not immediately recognize Biden's victory after major news outlets declared him the winner, and he was later fuel factors be implemented on the first day of the month following the month in which the supportive of Paxton's unsuccessful lawsuit challenging the results in four battleground states. Commission approves the fuel formula. These changes will be subject to final review by the Abbott did not mention any particular proposal to penalize local gov- ernments that cut police funding, though he has previously pitched ideas like freezing property tax revenues for cities that do so. Abbott has fo- Commission in SPS’s next fuel reconciliation proceeding. SPS also requests approval to begin cused almost all of his ire on Austin, whose City Council voted last year to cut its police department budget and redirect some of the money to charging as interim rates the proposed fuel factors set forth in the table above for electricity social services. Austin officials did so after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, re-energized a movement against police brutality against usage occurring on or after January 1, 2021. Black Americans. It also followed Austin officers' fatal shooting of Mike Ramos, an unarmed Black and Latino man. In Texas Democrats' video response to Abbott's speech, Candice Mat- SPS further requests that the Commission approve the continuation of a good cause thews of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats said lawmakers instead need to address inequities in law enforcement's treatment of communities exception and allow SPS to include a term in the Fuel Formula for credits for payments received of color. “Our communities should not have to live with trauma and fear of won- from Lubbock Power and Light (“LPL”) for capacity reserves purposes to permit the treatment dering if they, or their families or their neighbors will be the next to die from police brutality,” Matthews said in the video. “We demand that ev- ery single racist policy be uprooted.” Shortly after railing against the “defund the police” movement in his of these payments with eligible fuel cost calculations. Consistent with the Commission’s prior speech, Abbott said the state still “cannot ignore the need to improve po- licing” and called for better “tools and training” for cops. But he did not approval, SPS intends to set the LPL term to zero following the conclusion of the payments. make reforming police behavior or accountability an emergency item like he did with police funding. SPS also requests a good cause exception to 16 Tex. Admin Code (“TAC”) “We need real help from the state, not more politics or finger-wag- ging," Austin Mayor said in response. "State interference with local government is not the answer." § 25.237(d)(2) to allow SPS to file this application in December to effectuate the parties While Abbott did not go too in depth on some topics, he prescribed a specific piece of legislation when it came to changing the bail system: the settlement from Docket No. 51374 and provide benefits to customers from the Sagamore Wind Damon Allen Act. The proposal, which Abbott unsuccessfully pushed last session, is named after a slain state trooper. The suspect in Allen's death was out on bond. Bail reform efforts often aim to stop cash bail Project in a timely manner. SPS’s also requests for interim rates be implemented on January 1, practices that hold people in jail before they are convicted solely because they are poor, but Abbott said last week his bill would focus instead on 2021. Persons with questions or who want more information on this application may contact keeping “dangerous criminals off the streets.” On abortion — another area where Texas already has some of the SPS at 790 S. Buchanan Street, Amarillo, Texas 79101, or call 1-800-895-4999 (toll free) during toughest laws in the country — Abbott specified that he wanted to "make explicit what should be obvious: No unborn child should be targeted for abortion on the basis on race, sex or disability." Similar legislation filed normal business hours. A complete copy of this application is available for inspection at the last session would have barred later-term abortions even in the case of severe fetal abnormalities, which critics refer to as "discriminatory abor- address listed in the previous sentence. tions." In between the red meat, Abbott continued to paint an optimistic view Persons who wish to formally participate in this proceeding, or who wish to express their of the state's slow and staggered economic recovery from COVID-19. “The pandemic has shed a harsh light on many ways our state failed to prepare for disaster," officials with labor group Texas AFL-CIO said in a comments concerning this application should contact the Public Utility Commission of Texas, statement. "If you are worried about when you will receive a vaccine in this state, you heard nothing. If you are a teacher looking for assurances Office of Customer Protection, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, or call (512) 936- that schools will be made safe, you heard nothing. If you have waited for months to receive unemployment insurance benefits after losing a job 7120 or toll-free at (888) 782-8477. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals with text through no fault of your own, you heard nothing." Democrats focused heavily on Abbott's pandemic handling in a re- sponse to his speech that aired immediately afterward. Among the speak- telephones (TTY) may contact the Commission at (512) 936-7136 or use Relay Texas (toll-free) ers was Julián Castro, the former mayor, U.S. housing sec- retary and 2020 presidential candidate. The Democratic response also 1-800-735-2989. included Oscar Leeser, the new El Paso mayor who lost both his mom and brother to COVID-19 last year.