765-kv Transmission Lines

To accommodate a growing state, power lines such as these are unquestionably beneficial; however, the legislature must ensure that property owners are treated fairly.

TCCRI Testimony - Managing the Impacts of 765-kv Transmission Lines on Private Property Ri.

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Senate Committee on Business & Commerce

Texas is a rapidly growing state.  According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), all-time peak demand in the state was 85,508 MW in August of 2023. Demand in the ERCOT region is expected to reach 367,790 MW by 2032. While the free market is encouraging the generation necessary to support this increased load, transmission infrastructure must be upgraded in order to keep pace with this projected fourfold increase in generation capacity.

Indeed, according to the ERCOT’s 2022 study, Long-Term West Texas Export Study, Texas’s existing power transmission infrastructure may not be capable of meeting the state’s growing needs unless it expands. Specifically, long-distance transmission from West Texas to current energy demand centers falters when generation from renewable energy sources is too high. This has resulted in the utilization of generation curtailment to “maintain stability and a reliable transfer level on the existing system.” In other words, the state’s generation capacity is already outpacing its transmission capacity.

For these reasons, in 2023, the 88^th Legislature recognized the need for expanded transmission infrastructure and passed House Bill 5066 (Geren), which directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and ERCOT to create a reliability plan for both regions with rapid electrical load growth and the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin received its own reliability plan to support the growing industry and electrical load growth in the region. This plan required three things:

1.     address extending transmission service to areas where mineral resources have been found;

2.     address increasing available capacity to meet forecasted load; and

3.     provide available infrastructure to reduce interconnection times in areas without access to transmission service.

The result of HB 5066 is the Permian Basin Reliability Plan (PBRP), which was developed by ERCOT and approved by the PUCT in September of 2024. According to the PUCT, the PBRP yielded two types of transmission projects, known as local projects and import paths. The local projects included the construction of “138 and 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines and other upgrades to improve power flow at the community level,” while the import paths project consists of “three extra high voltage (EHV) 765 kV transmission lines to transport large amounts of power across the state." The plans for these import paths were initially outlined in ERCOT’s Permian Basin Reliability Plan Study, which was published on June 28, 2024.

In presenting these options to the PUCT, ERCOT specifically recommended that “the Commission give serious consideration to an EHV solution—particularly a 765 kV solution—to meeting the forecasted transmission needs.”

Read the full testimony in the link above.