{"id":413957,"date":"2026-08-22T17:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/413957\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:04:10","slug":"property-owners-are-in-a-standoff-against-texas-power-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/413957\/","title":{"rendered":"Property owners are in a standoff against Texas power expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Speaking at the Texas State Capitol building on Wednesday, Romey Swanson sounded the alarm on an encroaching power grid that endangers one of southwest Texas\u2019 greatest natural treasures. Spanning nearly 200,000 acres in Val Verde County, the Devils River Conservancy boasts beauty on par with national parks \u2014 though most of it is privately owned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now, Swanson said the quest to protect the conservancy is under threat from an energy project that affects landowners across the state.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"QR<\/p>\n

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Hundreds of Texans converged on Austin for a hearing of the Texas House State Affairs Committee on data centers and new high-voltage transmission lines. As the hearing started, about 50 people formed a crowd in the shade below the south steps of the Capitol building. Many in the crowd donned yellow bandanas or carried color-coordinated signs printed with the words \u201cdon\u2019t ruin Texas\u201d and \u201cno 765kv transmission lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water is clear enough to see the limestone beneath your feet,\u201d said Swanson, executive director of the Devils River Conservancy, describing the river and springs that feed it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Swanson explained how starting in the 1990s, ranchers placed conservation easements on more than 25 properties, barring development opportunities that would have altered the landscape, to create a corridor for wildlife, recreation and uninterrupted views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Texas conservation at its best,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cPrivate property, voluntary action, incentives instead of mandates and individual decisions adding up to something much bigger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But now, a power grid expansion is encroaching on the region. That expansion is necessary to prevent West Texas from experiencing power shortages, according to industry groups and the state\u2019s power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). But property owners, who could be forced to give up some of their land to make a path for new high-voltage transmission lines, say the project is moving too fast.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: These ranchers heal the land. The power company drew a line through it<\/a><\/p>\n

The rally-goers called on Gov. Greg Abbott to come out against approval of the power lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is only one top state official we haven\u2019t heard from and he lives right over there in the Governor\u2019s Mansion,\u201d said Dave Clark, a retired accountant who has worked with the nonprofit Friends of the San Saba to help landowners intervene in the regulatory review process. \u201cGov. Abbott, please stand with landowners and private property rights in Texas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s being proposed?<\/p>\n

The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) is currently weighing applications for three 765-kilovolt transmission lines connecting Texas\u2019 central corridor along Interstate 35 to the oil and gas production hub of the Permian Basin. A state law passed in 2023 pushed for improved grid reliability in the Permian, as oil and gas production continues to expand, and the industry wants access to the grid rather than relying on remote diesel generators.<\/p>\n

AEP Texas, the state division of one of America\u2019s largest power companies, along with the city of San Antonio\u2019s local utility CPS Energy are planning to build the 370-mile Howard-Soltice transmission line from south of San Antonio to near Fort Stockton, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Dave Clark speaks against applications for new transmission lines across Texas at a rally in Austin on Aug. 19, 2026. (Keaton Peters\/Straight Arrow)<\/p>\n

Power company Oncor has applications before the PUCT to build two more transmission lines, each split into two sections. One power line is proposed to run about 400 miles from outside Fort Worth to deep within the Permian. And a third project developed by Oncor alongside the state-run Lower Colorado River Authority would connect a substation near Temple, Texas to another east of Pecos, Texas \u2014 a roughly 400-mile journey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To build the transmission lines, the power companies will need the right to go through thousands of private properties across Texas. The structures that carry electricity across long distances require a 200-foot wide path and will reach 140 to 200 feet high.<\/p>\n

If landowners are unwilling to part with their property willingly, power companies can use eminent domain to force sale of the right-of-way. That\u2019s been a sticking point in transmission line construction nationwide. Last year, the Trump administration withdrew federal funds for a transmission line in the midwest, and earlier this month, it canceled three projects<\/a> that had faced local pushback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the regulatory process?<\/p>\n

Landowners affected by the transmission projects say the process favors the utility companies through a shortened timeline. The 2023 Texas law, House Bill 5066, cut the application review from one year to 180 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to submitting paperwork, the power companies hold meetings in towns across the transmission line route. The companies create numerous route options, and once the application is filed with the PUCT, landowners whose property the line could cross are notified.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two of the route options for the Howard-Soltice transmission line cross properties that have conservation easements within the Devils River Conservancy, Swanson told Straight Arrow. And a third route option comes to the edge of properties with a conservation easement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cApplicants arrive on day one after months, possibly years, of engineering, legal work, routing studies, consultants and preparation,\u201d Swanson said to the crowd in Austin. But landowners start that 180-day period with \u201can envelope in the mailbox,\u201d full of regulatory jargon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If they want to challenge a route, private property owners have 30 days to intervene in the legal proceeding that\u2019s overseen by a panel of administrative law judges at the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings. The judges will review testimony and documents from landowners, the power companies and expert witnesses before issuing a recommendation on whether the project should move forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How data centers became America\u2019s favorite new villain \u2014 online and IRL<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Texans attend a rally against new transmission lines at the state capitol in Austin on Aug. 19, 2026. (Keaton Peters\/Straight Arrow)<\/p>\n

Two of the three transmission lines have received a positive recommendation from the judges. But on Thursday, the judges forcefully recommended against approval on part of the Oncor and LCRA transmission line.<\/p>\n

The judges\u2019 decision states that 1,400 landowners were not properly notified and that it\u2019s not clear whether enough power will be available to send to the Permian Basin through the line to justify its construction. They also concluded that there was \u201ccredible evidence of an alternative analysis \u2014 new and planned gas generation in the Permian Basin \u2014 that could reduce or eliminate the need\u201d for the transmission line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The judges\u2019 recommendation is submitted to the PUCT, where commissioners make a final decision. A PUCT hearing was held Friday for the Howard-Soltice line, though a final decision was not made. Hearings for the other two power lines are expected in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is the energy industry saying?<\/p>\n

From the utilities that build transmission lines to the oil and gas companies operating in the Permian Basin, the energy industry used the Wednesday hearing as an opportunity to warn against stopping or delaying the 765-kilovolt lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransmission planning is not a game of Jenga,\u201d Jaren Taylor, a lawyer representing Oncor, told lawmakers. If one piece is pulled out, the entire plan can fall apart, Taylor said, because, \u201cthese transmission lines become base assumptions and then we build on them one after another.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

ERCOT has warned of possible rolling blackouts in West Texas \u201cduring low wind conditions at night, especially during transmission and thermal resource outages,\u201d according to a letter from ERCOT chief operating officer Woody Rickerson. \u201cThis risk is expected to increase as additional loads are interconnected in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is a pause on the clock only stops the solution. It doesn\u2019t stop the clock on the problem,\u201d Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples said at Wednesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

Industry groups also said they may struggle to procure construction material if the projects are delayed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opposition grows<\/p>\n

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and key members of the Texas Senate have already come out against approval of the power lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Yellow bandanas are worn to signal opposition to the transmission line proposals that have angered landowners across Texas. (Keaton Peters\/Straight Arrow)<\/p>\n

Following the hearing, 30 members of the Texas House of Representatives issued a statement asking the PUCT to deny the applications and allow the Texas legislature to reform the review process when it meets in 2027. The statement cited \u201cmultiple failures of due process owed citizens,\u201d and said the 2023 law was never intended to fast-track \u201cprojects running transmission lines all across the state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even Grammy-winning singer Tanya Tucker and Amy Nelson, the daughter of Willie Nelson, voiced their opposition to transmission lines. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more time to process all of this that\u2019s happening to us,\u201d Tucker said at the hearing. Her property lies on one of the proposed routes. \u201cIt\u2019s a harsh reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swanson lives in Austin but travels to the Devils River region twice a month visiting with landowners that make up the conservation area. He told Straight Arrow that allowing power lines on their properties would \u201crun completely afoul of that original intent and that investment that they made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Round out your reading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Speaking at the Texas State Capitol building on Wednesday, Romey Swanson sounded the alarm on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-413957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}