LCRA Transmission unit reports fewer safety incidents, $20 million net margin and $5.9 billion five‑year capital plan

The board of directors of the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation was told Aug. 20 that transmission operations reduced safety incidents in fiscal 2025 and finished the year with a roughly $20 million net margin.

Chris Kellner, chief operating officer of LCRA Transmission Services Corporation, told the board that total safety incidents, the total recordable incident rate and the preventable motor vehicle incident rate all declined from FY 2024 to FY 2025. "Our incident rates are below average for the industry and our peers in the state," Kellner said.

The report matters because transmission reliability and workforce safety affect how quickly LCRA can complete upgrades and how much it must seek to recover through rates. Kellner said FY 2025 was "a very busy year" for transmission and support staff, and he described record levels of capital investment for the unit.

Board materials show LCRA TSC spent $864,300,000 in capital investments in FY 2025, a record for the unit. The team reported completion of 95 projects totaling about $799,600,000; projects cited include work on the Hays Energy-to-Kendall corridor, the Limmer Substation addition in Williamson County and the John Dumas Substation near Maxwell in Caldwell County. Kellner said the John Dumas substation connects the new Timmerman power plant to the grid and that transmission work to interconnect Timmerman Unit 2 is expected during FY 2026.

Finance staff summarized the fiscal results to the board. "Total LCRA TSC ended the year with a favorable net margin of $20,000,000 or about 4%," said Travis, a finance staff member presenting the financial highlights. Revenues exceeded budget by about $26,000,000, driven largely by higher miscellaneous revenues tied to work for Austin Energy, increased generation interconnect study revenues and higher interest income. Those increases were partly offset by lower cost-of-service revenues associated with a delay in the unit's latest rate case. Expenses were higher than budget by about $5,500,000 because of outside services tied to the Austin Energy work; Travis said those outside services were covered by payments from Austin Energy.

The unit reported a debt service coverage ratio of 1.44, exceeding its business plan target of 1.37. On capital spending, staff said LCRA TSC spent about 98% of the board-approved $880,000,000 construction program in FY 2025.

Kellner told directors that LCRA TSC plans to invest at least $5,900,000,000 on capital projects over the next five years to support needs on the ERCOT grid and the LCRA TSC system. The board did not take a formal vote on the five‑year plan during the public session; staff framed the number as the planning-level investment expected to support ERCOT reliability and future interconnections.

The finance presentation also noted a one-time favorable accounting impact in June tied to a change in regulatory accounting for depreciation used in rate-making. Travis told directors the change eliminated a balance-sheet tracking method previously used to reconcile accounting and rate recovery methods, producing a large nonrecurring increase in reported net income for the month of June.

Directors asked clarifying questions during the presentations and the meeting record shows follow-up work will continue through committee review and regular reporting to the board. The board heard the reports in open session and moved on to separate agenda actions later in the meeting.