Texas lawmakers are urging the state’s electric grid managers and utility regulators to stop a project to build transmission lines that would cut through several thousand acres of private property to deliver electricity to oil companies in the West Texas oil fields.
Concerns Over Private Property Rights
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said that the Public Utility Commission of Texas should reject the applications to build the infrastructure. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also expressed concerns, stating that the current process being utilized by the PUC for proposing and approving transmission lines is broken and must be reformed.
The proposal, known as the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, was approved by lawmakers during the 2023 legislative session. However, many residents have expressed concerns about the damage construction of these lines would cause along some of the routes, including swaths of Central Texas, where many rivers cut through Hill Country.
Cost and Impact
The estimated cost of the project is around $33 billion, which would be paid by ratepayers. The transmission lines would be the biggest in Texas and would satisfy the growing electricity demands of the state’s oil and gas industry.
Many called for regulators to reject the proposal, citing concerns about the damage to private property and the lack of sufficient notice from utilities or the administrative process surrounding the proposal.
The utility commission did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication. Mark Bell, president of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, said the group supports further review of the proposed routes for the transmission lines.
Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
