TEXAS TRIBUNE
By Carlos Nogueras Ramos
ODESSA — The Public Utility Commission of Texas will consider approving the buildout of three 765-kilovolt transmission lines spanning nearly 800 miles — roughly the size of Texas’ largest congressional district — to deliver electricity to the oil and gas industry and support the state’s booming industrial sector.
The hearing will take place Friday at 9:30 a.m. and can be watched online.
The Certificates of Convenience and Necessity, filed by Oncor, AEP Texas and CPS Energy, propose a massive construction endeavor in Central and South Texas, stretching west through at least 40 counties.
Just last week, the five commissioners presiding over the Utility Commission approved two first-of-their-kind transmission lines in North Texas after hours of impassioned testimony from landowners and the oil and gas industry.
Altogether, the five transmission line proposals, designed by power grid managers at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, are the state’s largest and most ambitious electricity infrastructure project.
The hearing comes as Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson on Wednesday recommended sending two of the proposals back to the agency’s administrative courts.
“At this time, I believe it is premature to address whether the recommendations in the PFD should be acted on,” Gleeson wrote in a letter to the other four commissioners, adding that the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which recommends the proposals commissioners vote on, issued an incomplete proposal for a decision. Gleeson wrote the court did not explain whether the proposals met federal reliability standards.
“The lack of a recommendation on this issue is puzzling,” he wrote.
The administrative court’s ruling is also missing how much consumers would save, should the commission approve the transmission lines.
The proposals have put the industrial sector at odds with landowners over whether the lines are needed, catching the attention of lawmakers — many of whom voted for the bill that called for a plan to serve the state’s energy needs — and who now say they didn’t expect the transmission line proposals to be the outcome of that mandate.
“I understand the proceedings are not just about infrastructure to you,” Commissioner Courtney Hjaltman told landowners at last Friday’s hearing, following the approval. “They’re about your land. They’re about something deeply personal. They’re about your heart … and we understand that. We appreciate your participation in the process. We recognize the importance of the decision before us, and we don’t take it lightly. We have to constitutionally weigh certain factors in making our decisions, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The lines have alarmed swaths of landowners across Texas who worry the construction could cause irreparable damage to their land. Hundreds have filed letters and challenges to the applications, hoping the Utility Commission will reject them.
Some said they did not get legally required advance notice of the proposals, an argument the transmission companies disputed. Landowners have also said the Utility Commission’s 180-day timeframe to process the applications is too short. Ultimately, commissioners sided with the transmission companies, saying the applicants followed the Utility Commission’s rules.
“I don’t feel the landowners have had the adequate time or the proper procedure to be able to deal with something of this magnitude,” said Jada Jo, president of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition, a landowner group opposing the transmission lines.
Trade groups representing the industrial sector and oil and gas industry have insisted the lines are necessary to support the state’s breakneck growth and that electricity needs have lagged for at least a decade. They’ve argued that there isn’t enough transmission infrastructure to support oil and gas production or the industrial manufacturing sector. Power generators that convert natural gas into electricity, meanwhile, argue that the transmission lines will spur the energy market to build more power plants and support the state’s energy grid, which Texas has historically struggled to do.
The fierce debate drew scrutiny in Austin, where the Texas Legislature has launched hours-long hearings on the issue. Over the summer, legislative committees in the House and Senate heard from landowners, several industries and the transmission companies.
After a 15-hour July hearing in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, the committee’s chair, called on the Utility Commission to reject every proposal so the Legislature could reform the application process. On X, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick echoed the calls.
“Everyone agrees Texas needs the transmission to meet the growing needs of the state,” Patrick wrote. “However, support for ERCOT’s 765kV transmission plan should not come at the expense of private property rights.”
State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, also asked the Utility Commission to reject the plan after presiding over an eight-hour hearing in the House State Affairs Committee.
Disclosure: CPS Energy and Oncor have been major financial supporters of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
