Oncor has 200 GW of interconnection requests, company officials say

Yahoo

2 days ago

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Dive Brief:
Oncor Electric Delivery now has some 200 GW of interconnection requests in its queue, including 186 GW of data centers, 7 GW of traditional commercial and industrial customers, 5 GW of crypto currency facilities, and 4 GW of oil and gas operations, Oncor CEO Allen Nye said during Thursday's earnings call. About 20% of the potential demand has signed contracts or is considered 'high-confidence load,' he said.
Given the number of interconnection requests, Oncor could add more than $12 billion to its existing $36 billion capital plan when it revises that plan sometime next year, according to Jeffrey Martin, chairman, CEO and president of Oncor parent company Sempra.
The sales of Sempra's Ecogas Mexico and a stake in Sempra Infrastructure and have drawn interest from potential buyers and financiers, Martin said. The sales are intended to raise funds for Oncor's multibillion dollar expansion.
Dive Insight
Sempra's pivot to a more utility-focused business model, inspired in part by the massive growth in electric demand in Oncor's service territory, should improve earnings and reduce risk for investors, Martin told analysts on Thursday.
Martin announced on the call that Sempra Infrastructure, the company's development arm, has signed a nonbinding letter of intent with global investment firm KKR for the sale of 15% to 30% equity depending on the company's valuation. The Ecogas sale has also drawn interest, he said, and both sales are expected to close in mid-2026.
'It's also very important ... that we're thoughtful on the timing and use of proceeds.' Martin said. 'There's an opportunity here to improve our balance sheet and put some cushion on the balance sheet.'
Sempra should see more of its earnings coming from its regulated utilities, and from Oncor and Texas in particular, in the future, Martin said. Oncor initiated service to 20,000 new properties in the second quarter alone, Nye said, and has about 1,100 new large load customers in its interconnection queue. The company already has 9 GW in new, signed interconnection agreements and has another 30 GW in requests that it considers 'high confidence load.'
Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro noted that these figures suggested the company hasn't added any new high confidence load to its queue in the past quarter, but Nye said this was because the company updates its high confidence figures once a year when it submits those numbers to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
On the California side of its business, Sempra CFO Karen Sedgwick said San Diego Gas & Electric has been awarded a contract for $600 million in new transmission by the California Independent System Operator — another potential addition to the company's existing capital plan. The California utility also recently completed hardening 100% of its highest-risk transmission systems against wildfire, Martin said, and hasn't been involved in a major wildfire in more than 18 years.
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