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FORT WORTH (AP) - The Texas experiment in electric deregulation continues to suffer glitches that have twice delayed the program, but the director of the state's power grid says the problems can be solved.

"There are no deal-stoppers in the situation at this point," said Tom Noel. "Behind every problem solved there is another problem to be solved. That is why we have these testing periods."

Under deregulation, many Texas electric customers will be free to choose their power company beginning Jan. 1. The Legislature approved a limited pilot program to run several months to give power companies a chance to test their systems before deregulation.

That trial was supposed to begin in June, then was delayed until early July and now the earliest date customers will be switched is July 20, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, which manages the state's main power grid.

Electric companies are disappointed in the delay but say they support taking more time to make sure the system works.

"We're all in this together," said Rand LaVonn, a spokesman for Dallas-based TXU Corp. "We support ERCOT's decision. They are in the best position to know when we can move forward economically and reliably."

Noel, ERCOT's chief executive and president, said about 10 glitches remain before customers can be switched to new electricity providers. If all goes well, residential and business customers who signed up for the pilot program will get their first bills from their new power company in September.

ERCOT manages computers that coordinate movement of electricity in 10 areas of the state. Noel said that one of his group's challenges has been getting computers in separate control areas to communicate with a new, central facility in Austin. "I don't want to suggest that it is fixed entirely," Noel told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Technicians are also experiencing problems related to security: Noel said they had not expected certain passwords in the computer system to be case-sensitive.

Consumer advocate Carol Biedrzycki, who sits on a panel helping oversee the deregulation experiment, said some systems might not be tested at all during the pilot program. She said the electric-reliability council should consider delaying full-blown deregulation1.

"We don't know what's going to happen, or if we will even be ready to open in January 2002. That's a big concern of mine," said Biedrzycki, who heads the Texas Ratepayers Organization to Save Money.

Noel said the errors met by technicians would not cause power outages but could lead to billing errors. He said he was confident the glitches will be corrected in time for the July 20 start-up date for the pilot program and the Jan. 1 start of full deregulation.

-- Anonymous, July 18, 2001