Brazos Electric Power Cooperative is an electrical generation and transmission

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

based in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

. In March 2021, it filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

protection as a result of losses arising from the February 2021 North American ice storm.

Operations

In 2013, Brazos began constructing its current headquarters in Waco's Texas Central Industrial park. Brazos operates four plants which can produce up to 2,909

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

s of electricity. Brazos was an initial investor in the

Comanche Peak Nuclear Generating Station Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is located in Somervell County, Texas. The nuclear power plant is located southwest of Ft. Worth and about southwest of Dallas. It relies on nearby Squaw Creek Reservoir for cooling water. The plant has about ...

but later sold its interest to

TXU TXU or txu may refer to: *TXU Corporation (formerly "Texas Utilities") a USA group companies **TXU Energy, energy generation subsidiary of TXU Corp. **TXU Energi, subsidiary of TXU Europe, formerly "The Energy Company" *txu, ISO:639 code for the K ...

. Brazos also began purchasing energy from Duke Energy's Lapetus Solar project in Andrews County, Texas via a power purchase agreement in January 2020. Brazos serves 16 local

utility cooperative A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profit (accounting), Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distrib ...

s and three municipal-owned electric companies.

Congressional Testimony

In 1967, Brazos sent general manager H. A. Dalton to appear before the

90th United States Congress The 90th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 196 ...

to give testimony on introduced amendments to the Federal Power Act which were seeking to ensure electrical power service throughout the nation in the event of an emergency. During the hearing Brazos' representative would affirm that the legislation would help prevent power loss, as had been seen during a local blackout in November 1965.

Lawsuit

The Brazos Electric Power Cooperative was brought to court by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) over the TECQ denying an

ad valorem tax An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...

exemption which ultimately would be settled in the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the supreme court, court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the ...

in May 2019. In the case, the TCEQ claimed that heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), devices the Texas Legislature considers "pollution control property," should not be exempt from the previously mentioned tax and that the legislature did not have the ability to give said exemption. The court would rule that the legislature had the ability to exempt such generators and upheld the tax exemption and that the commission had in fact abused its discretion.

Bankruptcy filing

As a result of the February 2021 North American ice storm, Brazos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Because the storm had severely disrupted energy supplies in Texas for days, leading to a dramatic rise in the price of electricity, the company said it had received invoices from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which, when combined, amounted to over $2.1 billion. Brazos said the massive bill forced it to file for bankruptcy protection to shield itself, its member cooperatives, and consumers, from the effect of trying to meet the cost.

Member cooperatives

:Bartlett Electric Cooperative : Comanche Electric Cooperative :CoServ Electric : Fort Belknap Electric Cooperative :Hamilton County Electric Cooperative :Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative :HILCO Electric Cooperative :J-A-C Electric Cooperative :MidSouth Synergy :Navarro County Electric Cooperative :Navasota Valley Electric Cooperative :PenTex Energy :South Plains Electric Cooperative :Tri-County Electric Cooperative :United Cooperative Services :Wise Electric Cooperative

References

External links

* {{Authority control Non-renewable resource companies established in 1941 Electric cooperatives in Texas Companies based in Waco, Texas 1941 establishments in Texas Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021