TNMP, the Texas subsidiary of TXNM Energy, Inc. (NYSE: TXNM), filed its first System Resiliency Plan (SRP) with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) designed to benefit customers through enhanced resiliency of its distribution system.
The filed plan includes measures totaling $600 million of capital investments and $151 million of other related costs over 3 years and was developed using a comprehensive and data-driven approach which evaluated various types of resiliency events posing material risk to the safe and reliable operation of TNMP's distribution system.
"Service to our customers is paramount and TNMP has been consistently increasing investments in system hardening and modernization to strengthen our service to customers," said Pat Vincent-Collawn, TXNM Energy Chairman and CEO. "This filing demonstrates TNMP's continued commitment to ensuring the reliability and resiliency of our infrastructure during high-risk events across each diverse region of our service territory."
TNMP's service territory includes non-contiguous areas across different regions of Texas, ranging from small communities and rural areas to communities around large metropolitan areas, each with unique risks. Investments in the SRP are prioritized based on customer benefit, physical protection of infrastructure, foundational investments in operational and cybersecurity technologies, wildfire risk reduction and a focus on lower-performing areas.
Eight different Resiliency Measures are outlined in the SRP with associated programs and infrastructure impacts to improve the system's ability to prevent, withstand, mitigate and/or more promptly recover from resiliency events: Distribution System Resiliency, Distribution System Protection Modernization, Vegetation Management, Wildfire Mitigation, Flood Mitigation, Enhanced Operations System Technology, Cybersecurity and Physical Security Resiliency.
The SRP is subject to PUCT approval over 180 days as stated in Texas legislation. Recovery of investments and costs are permissible primarily through semi-annual Distribution Cost Recovery Factor filings, with deferral of depreciation and other certain expenses until recovery begins.