Haynes and Boone's Newsroom

Paul Dickerson in San Antonio Express-News article, "CPS Energy promoting expansion of STP nuclear plant"
07/24/2009

CPS Energy is refining and honing this message: The city must invest in expanding the South Texas Project nuclear plant if it hopes to answer a growing need for electricity.

Steve Bartley, interim general manager of the municipally owned utility, said San Antonio is at a crossroads much like the one it faced in the 1974, when LoVaca Gathering Co.'s Oscar Wyatt violated contracts with the city and jacked up natural gas prices during an energy crisis. The city's single generation source then was natural gas.

That tumultuous time persuaded San Antonio to diversify its energy sources, Bartley said. Now the city is a national leader as a buyer of wind energy, has recently signed an agreement to buy solar power and will spend millions on energy efficiency.

While such energy diversity will help, there won't be enough baseline power available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without more nuclear-generated electricity, Bartley told the San Antonio Clean Technology Forum at a luncheon Thursday at the Witte Museum. The forum, which seeks to foster discussion of energy issues, meets once a month to hear expert speakers ...

The Clean Technology Forum also heard from Paul Dickerson, a partner at the Haynes and Boone law firm, who said the clean energy movement offers great opportunities for investors. But he urged entrepreneurs not to develop a business plan that depends mostly on federal funds. “It takes too long,” Dickerson said.

This article excerpted from the San Antonio Express-News.