For the second time in two weeks, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a 370-mile electricity transmission line to the Permian Basin. The decision at a hearing Friday in Austin authorizes a line across 14 counties in south Texas, including Bexar, Kerr, Medina and Uvalde. The five PUC commissioners directed two transmission companies to work with landowners to make route modifications after residents said the lines would damage their properties.
Earlier at a hearing Aug. 28, according to Texas Tribune, PUC commissioners approved two 765-kilovolt transmission lines from Bosque County across at least 30 counties in north and west Texas, representing the first proposals in the Permian Basin Reliability Plan established by the Texas legislature in 2023 for the oil and gas industry.
Todd Staples, president of Texas Oil and Gas Association, told commissioners, “America’s most important energy security region is at risk. West Texas operators, homes, schools and businesses are all threatened today because it lacks access to dependable, reliable, affordable connection into the ERCOT grid.” Betsy Madru, lobbyist from Midland’s Diamondback Energy, added, “Not supporting the Permian Basin Reliability Plan is short-sighted.” She testified Diamondback generates 80 megawatts of its own power to supplement 330 megawatts it gets from the grid.
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