ENERGYWIRE | Texas is in the thick of figuring out where to lay power lines through a $33 billion transmission expansion, but changes in how lines are approved have landowners crying foul.
The debate is playing out at the state Public Utility Commission, which is weighing where to route more than 3,400 miles of extra-high-voltage power lines that will crisscross the state. Ranchers and homeowners now also have half the time to object.
Texas is among a growing list of places with vocal opposition to electricity projects across the country from Maryland to Maine. At issue are both the physical effects of huge towers and miles of power lines as well as questions about compensation and due process.
The one-two punch of the PUC’s 2025 approval of the mammoth transmission plan and a 2023 law that shortened the review process has been hard to take for Texas property owners, according to Dave Clark, a director with the Friends of the San Saba River nonprofit.
“OK, you’ve got to have them, I hear you,” Clark said of the transmission lines. “But let’s have a fair process that allows landowners to really follow along and a reasonable schedule to get through it.”
The impetus for the transmission overhaul in Texas, unlike other states, was not data centers but the state’s massive oil and gas industry — which has seen its need for power skyrocket after the fracking revolution of the 2010s. Texas has since become a hot spot for data centers, ratcheting up the pressure even further to get lines built.
A map of the planned transmission build-out shows three major lines heading from Central Texas to the Permian Basin, as well as two major projects in the central and eastern portions of the state. A number of electric companies are involved in the transmission expansion.
Residential and small business ratepayers will largely be on the hook for the $33 billion transmission tab under the state’s current rules. But PUC commissioners are required to look at changing those rules later this year to take more of the burden off residents and nonindustrial power users.
State lawmakers and regulators have gotten an earful from constituents frustrated by the transmission planning process, with Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick directing the Texas Senate to study whether the shortened regulatory timelines give landowners enough time to give input.
“Private property rights are a big deal in Texas, as is economic development,” said PUC Chair Thomas Gleeson, the state’s top power regulator, at a state Senate committee meeting last month. “We’re trying to thread that needle and strike the right balance.”
Gleeson did not respond to an interview request. In a statement, the PUC said its transmission planning process follows the letter of the law.
Texas could soon face more transmission battles.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the grid operator that handles about 90 percent of the state’s power needs, said electricity demand could increase to 367.8 gigawatts by 2032 thanks largely to data centers — up from an all-time record demand of 85.5 GW in 2023.
But the current oil-and-gas-led transmission build-out has highlighted issues with how the state approves infrastructure plans for large power users.
Read the rest of the article to understand why big energy users are turning to the grid for cheap energy.
Jaak