Texas Scorecard by Robert Montoya May 14, 2026
Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin bought land that is along one of the proposed routes for a 765-kV transmission line.After revelations that one of the proposed routes for a new extra-high-voltage transmission line would come into proximity with land apparently still owned by a Chinese national with reported Chinese Communist Party connections, a state agency has requested that the Public Utility Commission of Texas consider a relevant security law.
The agency also requested that ratepayers’ potential losses from the new line and Texans excluded from the process be taken into consideration.
This is in reference to the Howard to Solstice line, one of three proposed 765-kV transmission lines to bring energy from East Texas to the energy-rich Permian Basin. This is a component of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, which lawmakers originally authorized as a limited fix for a specific region. Critics argue that the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), grid operator ERCOT, and electricity delivery company Oncor have expanded it into a much broader transmission buildout with minimal public input.
Brent Bennett of the Texas Public Policy Foundation estimates the project will cost $90–100 billion over its lifetime. Beyond higher costs, critics warn that this expansion sets a precedent for bureaucrats to pursue other large-scale projects with little accountability.
The Howard to Solstice line is among those being contested before administrative law judges at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SAOH), but PUCT commissioners will make the final decision.
The Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC) filed its statement with SOAH at 3:43 p.m. on May 13. That was mere hours after Texas Scorecard requested comment on the proposed route’s proximity to land owned by Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin.
In its statement, OPUC requested SOAH and PUCT Commissioners “evaluate [whether] the proposed transmission line project complies with the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act.” Gov. Greg Abbott signed that measure into law in 2021. State lawmakers drafted it in response to escalating concern about Guangxin, who had planned to build a wind farm 70 miles from Laughlin Air Force Base, and secure state infrastructure from hostile actors.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/agency-security-law-must-be-considered-with-extra-high-voltage-line/
