Letters to the Editor
I sent this message to Governor Abbott recently concerning the 765 kV power lines coming through Erath County and 43 other counties across the state, moving power from Central Texas to West Texas. Many have been upset by the potential land grab, others by the assault on our natural habitats, like Dinosaur Valley State Park, Comanche & Brownwood’s Indian Trails, from the unique Texas Hill Country to the San Saba River, to the pristine Devil’s River area in Southern Texas, the lines are going to West Texas to electrify the oil and gas industry and make it more “Reliable”. That was the Biden era mandate! Things have changed! Now power hunger datacenters are on the menu too.
Some have said that I am opposed to progress; I am not - but I am opposed to “progress without a good working plan”. This endeavor is not a good working plan for the people of Texas. We Pay! The life cycle cost will be $80 BILLION, with $3 Billion per year in maintenance. To you and me that will be about $200/year more on our bills.
Dear Governor Abbott, RE: Concerns Regarding Transmission Expansion, Affordability, Reliability and Public Trust I am writing to express my deep concern about the rapid expansion of large transmission projects across Texas and the serious implications for ratepayers.
While electricity rates per kilowatt-hour have remained relatively stable, the cost of transmission and delivery services has increased dramatically, resulting in significantly higher monthly bills. The proposed transmission build-outs under the Permian Basin Reliability Plan and the STEP program are projected to add approximately $200 per year to household electric bills. For many Texans, this is not a small increase.
It is widely reported that roughly one-third of Texas ratepayers already struggle to pay their electric bills each month. As a retired widow living on a fixed income, I am among those most at risk—along with many others across the state. This reality is difficult to reconcile in a state as prosperous as Texas, now the eighthlargest economy in the world. While local and state assistance programs exist, they do not address the fundamental issue of long-term affordability. That question remains unanswered and should be unacceptable to our state’s leadership.
Texas’s deregulated market, combined with pressure from Net Zero and ESG initiatives, has driven an economic rush to build generation that does not align with the grid’s actual needs. What Texas requires for reliability is dispatchable generation. When economic incentives outweigh public health, safety, and affordability, the balance between the market and the public interest is lost. The creation of the Texas Energy Fund attempts to patch these inequities by subsidizing dispatchable generation, but it is yet another taxpayer-funded measure and not a durable, systemic solution.
The long-term solution lies in reevaluating how the market itself functions. All generation types must compete on a level playing field, with the full costs of each resource included in reliability and planning decisions. Unreliable generation should not be prioritized, and political motivations should not dictate grid policy.
The true cost of wind and solar must be fully accounted for, including backup batteries, additional transmission infrastructure, and overbuilding needed to deliver energy from remote or congested regions. Much of the proposed transmission expansion is directly driven by the geographic dispersion and intermittency of wind and solar generation. The CREZ lines failed to provide reliability during Winter Storm Uri—there is no reason to believe this approach will perform differently during the next extreme weather event. It is not a question of if this will happen again, but when.
In addition to the major projects being discussed, there are numerous smaller transmission projects underway across the state, particularly in the Permian Basin and areas with high wind and solar penetration. Many of these projects cost hundreds of millions of dollars and are not included in the broader strategic discussion. These costs are fully socialized and further burden ratepayers.
Equally concerning is the human and environmental cost. Landowners across Texas face condemnation of property by transmission companies - some based out of state—that they neither trust nor welcome. Sensitive and treasured areas such as the Devil’s River, Dinosaur Valley State Park, the Hill Country, and countless private lands and waterways face permanent disruption. These projects threaten not only landscapes but also vulnerable environments and the financial futures of families whose land represents their most valuable asset. Few Texans would accept a 765 kV transmission line in their backyard, particularly when built by companies with little or no experience constructing such infrastructure.
Trust is difficult to earn and easy to lose. On this issue, landowners do not trust the process, especially given that many legislators were unaware of the full implications of HB 5066 and its estimated $33 billion price tag, enacted without final oversight. This legislation transferred significant authority to ERCOT and PUCT— institutions that many Texans no longer trust. If residents fully understood the cost and consequences of this transmission buildout, they would be outraged that their bills will rise while profits and economic value are handed to large corporations with little regard for public health, safety, reliability or affordability.
Plans for a national transmission build-out of this scale began in 2008 and failed. This current plan dates back to 2019 or earlier, yet the energy landscape has changed dramatically since then. Advances in technology, along with legislation such as SB 6 and the Texas Energy Fund, have already altered the grid’s trajectory. This massive transmission plan is outdated, cumbersome, and no longer aligned with the market or reliability needs it was designed to address.
Governor Abbott, I respectfully ask that you help restore public trust by slowing this process. Please bring agencies and legislators back to the table for a more rigorous, transparent reassessment of these projects. Texans need confidence that ERCOT and the PUCT are serving the people of this state—not outdated ideologies or the financial interests of a few corporations.
Respectfully, Joanna Friebele Erath County Resident