State Lawmakers Question Extra-High-Voltage Transmission Project

[Elderberry]

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/

[Elderberry]

Texas Scorecard By Robert Montoya 5/8/2026

They are demanding Gov. Greg Abbott step in to stop this project.

Texans opposing the construction of extra-high-voltage transmission lines through or near their property organized Thursday evening to learn about the next step to complete by May 13. 

They came to specifically respond to the proposed Bell County East-Big Hill line, one of three 765-kV lines. These are part of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, which lawmakers originally authorized as a limited fix for the energy-rich Permian Basin. Critics argue that the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), ERCOT, and 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 this expansion sets a precedent for bureaucrats to pursue other large-scale projects with little accountability.

Roughly 50 people gathered at Andice Baptist Church in Florence on Thursday evening and shouted, “Governor Abbott, stop this line!”

Robert Noland and his daughter Christa were among the attendees. They’re concerned about how the proposed line will affect rare grasses and livestock on their family’s roughly 1,000 acres of land.

Their family has had strong ties to this land for almost 200 years. “My mother was born on the parcel that this line is proposed to be passing through … and she died on it,” Christa Noland said, adding that family members are buried on the land.

They’re not alone. Daniel and Kelly Berg, landowners with four kids and eight grandkids, are concerned about the proposed transmission line route that would run “right down the west side” of their own property.

“The pond won’t be there anymore when this comes through,” Daniel Berg said, noting that their livestock drink from it. Kelly Berg added that “all of our kids were coming back to build on our land, and now none of them can, because of this.” She said three out of her four kids are serving in the U.S. Military, and have expressed that they want the land to stay in the family.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/texans-organize-to-file-testimonies-against-extra-high-voltage-lines/