{"id":421813,"date":"2026-08-31T13:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421813\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T13:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:14:22","slug":"despite-protest-regulators-clear-path-for-bigger-transmission-lines-across-texas-houston-public-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/421813\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite protest, regulators clear path for bigger transmission lines across Texas \u2013 Houston Public Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"ElectricElectric grid operators say installing larger 765kV transmission lines means the state won\u2019t need to install many separate lines of a lower voltage. (Gabriel C. P\u00e9rez | KUT News)<\/p>\n

Electric power lines bigger than any now standing in Texas are one step closer to being built, after the Public Utility Commission of Texas unanimously approved a key permit for one such project on Friday.<\/p>\n

The approval of the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity for the North Texas transmission project came despite impassioned opposition from rural landowners along the proposed route.<\/p>\n

It will run approximately 400 miles, depending on local routing, from Glen Rose, Texas, about 50 miles northwest of Fort Worth, to Reeves County in West Texas, about 50 miles south of Carlsbad, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

The Public Utility Commission\u2019s approval means that the transmission utility, Oncor, can begin obtaining land easements, surveying land, and constructing the line.<\/p>\n

The project is one of four 765kV (kilovolt) transmission line proposals that make up the state\u2019s Permian Basin Reliability Plan.<\/p>\n

The plan, for three east-west electricity superhighways, was approved by state lawmakers in the 2023 legislative session to fast-track transmission to the electricity-hungry West Texas oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

At the hearing on Friday, Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said the plans was necessary to ensure national energy security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are six gigawatts of unmet, unconnected [electric] load demand in West Texas now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not thinking about data centers in the future. These are immediate needs. It\u2019s today, not tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Gov. Greg Abbott pauses new data centers until ERCOT, PUCT audit energy, water usage<\/a><\/p>\n

Since details of the plan went public, rural landowners have decried the prospect of the 765kV towers, which can reach 160 feet, running through local landscapes. At hearing after hearing they have raised concerns about environmental impacts and infringement of property rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony is we\u2019re beneficiaries of the oil and gas industry,\u201d said Emily Martin Howle, whose property is along the path of the northern line. \u201cWe know that they\u2019re capable of doing the things to take care of their own industry. Why do they have to bring all the rest of us into it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas politicians and opponents of renewable energy, which the lines would help move across the state, have also forcefully opposed the project.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined dozens of other state lawmakers in calling for a pause in transmission planning <\/a>until the Legislature could weigh in next year.<\/p>\n

But Friday\u2019s decision shows the Public Utility Commission, composed of commissioners appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, is willing to move forward on the plan despite the controversy.<\/p>\n

It also raised the likelihood that the other lines that make up the larger Permian Basin Plan also will be approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith legislators coming up and really stepping up for the people \u2026 we thought we were being heard,\u201d Jada Jo Smith said.<\/p>\n

Smith is president of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition, a group opposed to the southernmost transmission projects that would run from the Hill Country outside San Antonio to West Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere this group of four \u2014 panel of commissioners \u2014 can\u2019t even recognize how the community has spoken,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At a state Senate hearing late last month, regulators and grid officials told state lawmakers that improved transmission was needed to ensure electric reliability in Texas after years of under-investment.<\/p>\n

Woody Rickerson, chief operating officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said rolling blackouts could begin affecting West Texas as early as next year because of an overloaded transmission system.<\/p>\n

The 765kV lines are bigger than the 365kV transmission lines that are a common sight in Texas. They reach a height of 160 feet and occupy a right of way 200 feet wide.<\/p>\n

Grid managers decided to recommend the larger lines, which are found in other parts of the country, because fewer of them are needed to move large loads of electricity, reducing the total footprint of transmission.<\/p>\n

In approving the northern east-west project, PUC Chair Thomas Gleeson directed transmission utility Oncor to work with landowners to find the least disruptive local paths for the project.<\/p>\n

But opponents of the lines say their fight will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got power to do what they want, but we got power to take them out of office, you know what I mean?\u201d said Lance Trinque, who lives in Erath County. \u201cAnd they\u2019re gonna feel it. They\u2019re going to feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Electric grid operators say installing larger 765kV transmission lines means the state won\u2019t need to install many separate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27850,10292,8239,6782,3413,66,223,91268,66676,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-421813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-blackouts","tag-electric-grid","tag-electricity","tag-energy-environment","tag-ercot","tag-local","tag-news","tag-power-lines","tag-puct","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421813","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=421813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}