The Texas Legislature on Tuesday passed legislation that gives incumbent utilities the right of first refusal to build transmission projects in the state.

The Texas PUC held off on giving its final blessing to $1.37 billion worth of transactions involving Oncor, Sharyland Utilities and Sempra Energy.

A combined $1.37 billion worth of transactions involving Oncor, Sharyland Utilities and Sempra Energy all but gained regulatory approval from the PUCT.

The Texas PUC praised ERCOT for its response to criticism over a March cold-weather event that prompted it to ask generators to reschedule planned outages.

The Texas PUC formally approved Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative’s request to move about 12% of its load and transmission facilities from SPP into ERCOT

Asked by Texas’ Public Utility Commission to “reinitiate discussions” with stakeholders, ERCOT held a workshop to look at real-time co-optimization.

The Texas Public Utility Commission approved a list of issues to be discussed during a summer workshop on real-time co-optimization.

ERCOT is “much more likely” to deal with “emergency-alert type conditions” this summer given the system’s 7.4% reserve margin, CEO Bill Magness said.

ERCOT CEO Bill Magness told the Board of Directors the grid operator will use favorable budget variances to fund the addition of real-time co-optimization.

The PUCT issued preliminary certificates of convenience and necessity for transmission that will integrate some of LP&L’s SPP load into the ERCOT system.