Texas Scorecard By Robert Montoya April 17, 2026
Organizers encouraged more people to get involved as short deadline fast approaches.West Texans gathered in Fort McKavett’s volunteer fire station on April 16 to organize against the proposed extra-high-voltage transmission line that could run through their land.
“We want to send a message to Austin,” Kevin Kennedy, one of the speakers, told the packed hall. Looking into the camera livestreaming the event, the crowd shouted, “Governor Abbott, stop this line!”
Known as the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, lawmakers originally authorized it as a limited fix for a specific region. Critics have said the Public Utility Commission of Texas, grid operator ERCOT, and electricity delivery company Oncor expanded it into a broader build‑out of 765 kV transmission lines with minimum public input, which a nonprofit estimated would cost $90 to $100 billion over its lifetime. Aside from Texans being burdened by increased costs, the expansion could lead to other large projects being launched with little direct accountability.
The town hall was organized by the Edwards Plateau Alliance.
Kennedy, whose wife Lisa now calls him “Kilowatt Kevin,” lives near Mahomet and is one of the landowners affected by the proposed 765 kV Bell County East to Big Hill transmission line. He expressed concern about the line consuming several thousand acres of Texans’ land. “That’s your land; it’s my land; it’s your neighbor’s land that they want to put that scar through.”
The Bell County East to Big Hill transmission line would run through Bell, Burnet, Concho, Lampasas, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, San Saba, Schleicher, Tom Green, and Williamson counties.
This is one of seven proposed lines. Pro-property rights group American Stewards of Liberty stated that the Texas government is planning to take “4,000 linear miles” to build three of them.
In a statement, Brent Bennett of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) wrote that the lifetime cost for this project will be between $90-$100 billion, with an annual cost of more than $3 billion. TPPF estimates this could cost the typical Texas ratepayer from more than $100 to more than $200 per year.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/west-texans-protest-proposed-power-lines/
