Oncor's System Resiliency Plan


Critical Investments Focused on Withstanding and Rapidly Recovering from Extreme Weather, Other Events



Oncor’s first System Resiliency Plan (SRP) was approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on November 14, 2024, making way for accelerated grid upgrades and enhancements. This will help substantially reduce the impact and duration of severe weather outages and address other physical and cybersecurity risks to Oncor’s electric grid.

 

With this plan, Oncor will invest approximately $3 billion in the resiliency of its distribution system over the next four years. This will allow our system to better withstand and more quickly recover from a range of extreme weather and other events.

To develop our first SRP, Oncor analyzed more than two decades of past weather, damage and location data, and its impact to customers.  We used this information to identify the priorities and investments needed across our diverse service area to have the greatest positive impact on service reliability and resiliency. This includes the plan’s substantial increase in vegetation management near Oncor power lines.

Once implemented, these accelerated efforts will help to decrease the amount of infrastructure damage that can lead to customer outages. It will also decrease equipment failure and storm-recovery costs while improving getting the power back on faster when there is an outage. Additionally, it will decrease long-term costs for customers by avoiding expensive emergency repairs.

The approval of Oncor’s first SRP marks an historic opportunity for us to expand and accelerate our efforts to modernize and harden our infrastructure against extreme weather and other threats.

These investments have been methodically selected to have the greatest impact in proactively addressing potential outage causes. And, even more important to the people we serve, it will also substantially reduce outage minutes. 

I appreciate the work of Texas’ state leaders in prioritizing grid resiliency measures and the PUCT’s thorough review of our plan. We will start implementing our SRP immediately and will keep customers informed of our progress in their communities.

–Allen Nye, Oncor CEO


Investments are focused in the following areas:


SRP Webpage square format [Read-Only].pptx - 3

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


  • Oncor’s SRP includes approximately $2.8 billion in investments and $500 million in related costs, including the following focus areas:
  •  Overhead and Underground Resiliency and Modernization – Modernize and harden overhead systems (poles, crossarms, lightning protection and capacity) and underground systems (cable injection/replacement and switchgear automation).
  • Continued Optimization of Distribution Automation – Enable, expand and optimize distribution automation through new ties, capacity and intelligent switches. Distribution automation includes the use of various smart equipment that sense power flow, redistribute load, identify faults and in some cases, restore power automatically.
  • Expanded Vegetation Management (“VM+”) – Expand the existing Vegetation Management program – including more than doubling vegetation maintenance activities across the system - and leverage remote-sensing capabilities such as satellite and laser imaging, detection and ranging. Even one tree can affect power for an entire neighborhood or more, and our well experienced VM team, including certified arborists, follow industry and scientific best practices to balance safety and reliability needs with tree health and aesthetics.
  • Enhanced Wildfire Mitigation – Enhance wildfire mitigation efforts. The total investment includes the implementation of overheard and underground resiliency and modernization and expanded distribution automation measures in areas at the highest risk for wildfires. The SRP allows Oncor to advance wildfire mitigation strategies through additional investments in fire safe device deployment, advanced wildfire risk modeling, and strengthening, modernization and protection of assets in wildfire mitigation zones.
  • Improved Physical Security – Improve physical security, including remote asset monitoring and other protection.
  • Enhanced Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation – Enhance cybersecurity risk mitigation, enhance and secure Oncor’s digital backbone infrastructure and other measures.

A comprehensive data-driven approach was used to analyze more than two decades of past weather, damage and location data and its impact across the Oncor service area. We used this information to identify the priorities and investments needed across our diverse service area to have the greatest positive impact on service reliability and resiliency. This includes the plan’s substantial increase in vegetation management near Oncor power lines.

Resiliency efforts will be taking place across Oncor’s service area over the next four years. It will vary based on location and the analysis of past weather, damage and customer impacts. While some components of the SRP may be more visible than others, residents may see an increase of Oncor and contract personnel as these investments are implemented, such as when equipment is being upgraded or additional distribution automation technologies are being installed on spans of poles. Regular project notification processes will be followed throughout the scope of the SRP, such as door hanger cards in advance of nearby tree trimming and engagement with local community/municipal leaders in advance of significant construction work.

In 2023, the Texas Legislature found the state had an interest in promoting the use of system resiliency measures to enable electric infrastructure to better withstand extreme weather conditions. HB 2555, which became law in June 2023, allows utilities like Oncor to file System Resiliency Plans. The PUCT adopted 16 Tex. Admin. Code (TAC) § 25.62 governing the process in January 2024. And in May 2024, Oncor filed its first System SRP with PUCT, receiving approval in November 2024.

SRPs must include at least a three-year period to address identified resiliency risks, annual reporting requirements and the mandatory implementation of each measure in its approved plan, unless granted a good cause exception.



ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 

For more information on Oncor’s tree trimming and vegetation management practices, including the Tree Pruning Maintenance Schedule, click here.

 

To view Oncor’s SRP filing announcement, click here.

 

To view the full SRP filing (PUCT Docket No. 56545), click here

 

 


Forward-Looking Statements

 

This webpage contains forward-looking statements relating to Oncor within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are included in this news release, as well as statements made in presentations, in response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events or developments that Oncor expects or anticipates to occur in the future, including such matters as projections, capital allocation, future capital expenditures, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, future acquisitions or dispositions, development or operation of facilities, market and industry developments and the growth of Oncor’s business and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as  “intends,” “plans,” “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimated,” “forecast,” “should,” “projection,” “target,” “goal,” “objective” and “outlook”), are forward-looking statements. Although Oncor believes that in making any such forward-looking statement its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Factors that could cause Oncor’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: legislation, governmental policies and orders, and regulatory actions; legal and administrative proceedings and settlements, including the exercise of equitable powers by courts; weather conditions and other natural phenomena, including any weather impacts due to climate change; acts of sabotage, wars, terrorist activities, cybersecurity attacks, wildfires, fires, explosions, hazards customary to the industry, or other emergency events and the possibility that Oncor may not have adequate insurance to cover losses or third-party liabilities related to any such event; actions by credit rating agencies; health epidemics and pandemics, including their impact on Oncor’s business and the economy in general; interrupted or degraded service on key technology platforms, facilities failures, or equipment interruptions; economic conditions, including the impact of a recessionary environment, inflation, supply chain disruptions, competition for goods and services, service provider availability, and labor availability and cost; unanticipated population growth or decline, or changes in market demand and demographic patterns, particularly in the ERCOT region; ERCOT grid needs and ERCOT market conditions, including insufficient electric capacity within ERCOT or disruptions at power generation facilities that supply power within ERCOT; changes in business strategy, development plans or vendor relationships; changes in interest rates or rates of inflation; significant changes in operating expenses, liquidity needs and/or capital expenditures; inability of various counterparties to meet their financial and other obligations to Oncor, including failure of counterparties to timely perform under agreements; general industry and ERCOT trends; significant decreases in demand or consumption of electricity delivered by Oncor, including as a result of increased consumer use of third-party distributed energy resources or other technologies; changes in technology used by and services offered by Oncor; significant changes in Oncor’s relationship with its employees, including the availability of qualified personnel, and the potential adverse effects if labor disputes or grievances were to occur; changes in assumptions used to estimate costs of providing employee benefits, including pension and retiree benefits, and future funding requirements related thereto; significant changes in accounting policies or critical accounting estimates material to Oncor; commercial bank and financial market conditions, macroeconomic conditions, access to capital, the cost of such capital, and the results of financing and refinancing efforts, including availability of funds and the potential impact of any disruptions in U.S. capital and credit markets; circumstances which may contribute to future impairment of goodwill, intangible or other long-lived assets; financial and other restrictions under Oncor’s debt agreements; Oncor’s ability to generate sufficient cash flow to make interest payments on its debt instruments; and Oncor’s ability to effectively execute its operational strategy.

 

Further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s current projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations is contained in filings made by Oncor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, Oncor makes reference to the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its annual and quarterly reports. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as may be required by law, Oncor undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Oncor to predict all of them; nor can it assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.  As such, you should not unduly rely on such forward-looking statements.