Texas Scorecard By Robert Montoya May 7, 2026
Prudent pause called for as lawmakers ask why new reliable energy generation isn’t being prioritized.Five lawmakers have asked to meet with the Public Utility Commission of Texas leadership to discuss the controversial construction of three new extra-high-voltage transmission lines. The lawmakers raised concerns about the project’s cost, whether it exceeds the intent of state law, overall electrical grid reliability, and private property rights.
Known as the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, lawmakers originally authorized it in House Bill 5066 as a limited fix for a specific region. Critics have said the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), grid operator ERCOT, and Oncor expanded it into a broader buildout of these 765-kV transmission lines with minimum public input.
Brent Bennett of the Texas Public Policy Foundation has estimated the project would cost $90 to $100 billion over its lifetime. Aside from Texans being burdened by increased costs, the expansion could lead to bureaucrats launching other large projects with little direct accountability.
These transmission lines would bring power from East Texas into the energy-rich Permian Basin. In their May 5 letter to PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson and the other four commissioners, State Reps. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), Drew Darby (R–San Angelo), Hillary Hickland (R–Belton), and Ellen Troxclair (R–Lakeway), as well as State Sen. Pete Flores (R–Pleasanton) wrote that, instead of building transmission lines, prioritizing “dispatchable energy generation within the Permian Basin … could provide greater long-term grid reliability.”
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/state-lawmakers-question-extra-high-voltage-transmission-project/
