Texas gas plant proposal rejected from state financing program

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas energy regulators have denied public funding requests for a proposed power plant days after naming the project as a finalist for a new state program aimed at building out natural gas-fired electricity generation, state documents show.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUTC) rejected the application for state-backed funding late on Wednesday for a 1.3 gigawatt natural gas plant proposed by Aegle Power. The commission said the application "failed to meet due diligence requirements."

Aegle Power could not immediately be reached for comment.

The application described the project as a joint effort between Aegle Power and NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc.. The PUTC announced last week that the plant was selected among a small group of projects that would advance toward securing government-backed funding as part of the recently established Texas Energy Fund (TEF).

A NextEra official, however, wrote to the PUTC on Monday saying that NextEra did not know about or consent to being listed as an applicant with Aegle on the project.

"NextEra is not seeking funding as part of the TEF Program, is not participating in the project for which NextEra was named, and hereby requests that NextEra be immediately removed from PUCT records as a sponsor for the Aegle Power project," NextEra's letter said.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Mark Porter)