Sharyland Utilities has obtained a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity from the Public Utility Commission of Texas to build an electrical interconnect between the Texas and Mexico power grids. This cross-border tie will be the first of its kind to support both emergency power and commercial business activity in Texas and Mexico and should be a boost to the maquila industry in Northeast Mexico.

      “The area along the border is one of the fastest growing areas in the country,” said Nick DeMoore, president of the Reynosa Asociación de Maquiladoras, A.C. in a letter to the PUC. “One of the causes of the region’s rapid growth is the ability to attract manufacturing companies such as the members of our association. A reliable supply of energy at reasonable prices is vital to our operations.”

      DeMoore said the maquilas use about 150 MW of electricity, which they purchase from Mexico’s electric utility, CFE.

      “For several years, members of our group have sought opportunities to import power from Texas, which would allow us to reduce our energy costs and become more competitive. Sellers in Texas have told us that they would be interested in selling competitive power to us if there were a means to deliver the electricity across the border. However, we have never been able to complete any transactions because of the lack of interconnection facilities.”

      The 150-megawatt High Voltage Direct Current Tie will allow two-way electricity transfers between completely independent power grids, which supports economic development and increased reliability of both grids.

      The Nuevo León chamber of industry, CAINTRA, also is a strong supporter.

      “Some of our members have explored the possibility of Importing power from ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) as an electricity supply alternative to Comision Federal de Electricidad, and in some cases, as a potential market for excess power produced by their own self-supply generating facilities,” said José de Jesús Valdez Simancas, CAINTRA president.

      “Our organization believes there are great opportunities for trade in the differences between the electric load patterns and prices of ERCOT and those of Northwest Mexico. However, those opportunities can only be realized if the proper infrastructure is in place to capture them.”

            Prior to approving the CCN, PUCT Chairman Paul Hudson issued a memo expressing his “strong belief that reliability from both instantaneous capability and reserve...

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