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Utility relies on Oracle technology to become first Texas municipal utility to opt in to retail electric competition
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Customer Edge Summit -- With support from Oracle, Lubbock Power & Light (LP&L) is transforming the way it offers electricity services to its customers. After more than 108 years as the municipal electric provider for the City of Lubbock, the utility has transitioned its business model to retail electric competition backed by Oracle's utility customer and Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) technologies. LP&L is now focused exclusively on maintaining the electrical infrastructure throughout Lubbock to provide residents with flexible power options for affordable, reliable electricity. Oracle's Customer Solutions for Industries, the organization within Oracle that delivers implementation, adoption, and transformation services, provided industry expertise for the project.
By joining the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system and integrating with retailers, LP&L customers can expect to save significant money with the removal of expensive fixed capacity charges. The utility also has eliminated the need to build a new power plant at an estimated cost range of $350-$700 million.
"Joining the ERCOT system accomplishes the long-term customer goals LP&L set forth when we began this process many years ago. We are proud to be the first municipally owned utility in Texas to voluntarily deregulate in the 25 years since legislation made this possible," said Clint Gardner, Chief Customer Officer for LP&L. "Oracle's solutions and guidance have been pivotal components of this journey for the past five years, and their experience with deregulated markets was especially helpful in keeping us on track to complete our business model transition."
From electric provider to retailer
In 2021, the City of Lubbock Utilities, went live with Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service and Oracle Utilities Advanced Meter Solution across its customer base of electricity and water customers. This move provided the utility with the modern, sophisticated meter data management and billing platform needed to support its AMI initiative. Following a year of system operation, LP&L collaborated with Oracle's Customer Solutions for Industries to implement additional components in Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service to shift to a competitive electric retail model. This included the implementation of Oracle Utilities Market Transaction Management for U.S. distribution and turning off impacted electricity service-related functions such as billing and customer service, while leaving water service-related functions intact.