LCRA powering up: Agency selling $900 million in bonds to finance statewide network of power transmission lines.

The Lower Colorado River Authority recently sold more than one-third of the $900 million in bonds it plans to issue over the next five years to finance construction of a statewide network of power transmission lines.

This marks the LCRA's most extensive venture in the business of power transmission.

Right now, the Austin-based LCRA supplies electricity to more than 1 million residents of Central and Southeast Texas. Electricity flows from LCRA's plants to customers through a transmission system covering about 27,000 square miles. That system connects with other members of the 79-utility Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc., or ERGOT, giving the LCRA a shot at generating revenue from transporting power from one utility to another.

The LCRA recently set up an affiliate called the LORA Transmission Corp. to handle all aspects of electric transmission for the nonprofit organization. That affiliate sold $360 million in bonds Dec. 6 and intends to issue $540 million more over the next five years, says Heather Bailey, executive manager for the LCRA's electric transmission and energy services arm.

Bailey says the $360 million is expected to finance transmission projects for the next year and a half. Roughly half the $900 million will be earmarked for transmission lines in Central Texas, she says.

By mid-2002, the LCRA will add 150 jobs to help manage the transmission projects. Most of those new positions will be in Central Texas.

Bailey and other LCRA representatives say the agency is gearing up for the Jan. 1 arrival of deregulation in the Texas power market Deregulation allows customers to choose which company delivers power to their homes and businesses.