Dear Editor:
I am writing to express deep concern about ERCOT's proposed $33+ billion transmission buildout, the Permian Basin Reliability Plan. Though labeled a 'reliability' project, these costs will ultimately fall on ratepayers. My question is simple: when passing HB 5066 in 2023, did legislators realize they were granting the PUCT authority to approve ERCOT's plan with no chance for review once the study was complete?
From my review, this law gave ERCOT and transmission service providers—Oncor, AEP, LCRA, TNMP—near-total control. Now they present this massive project as inevitable. But at $33 billion, it deserves far more scrutiny.
Key concerns: • Original purpose: The plan began as a way to move power west to the Permian Basin, not to improve service for populated regions.
• Outdated policy drivers: The push stemmed from a Biden-era initiative to electrify the Permian, which is no longer relevant.
• Local solutions: West Texas could use localized generation and microgrids rather than massive long-distance lines.
• Lessons from CREZ: We spent $12 billion on CREZ lines, bringing wind from west Texas and yet they failed to prevent the 2021 blackouts.
• Datacenter demands: These facilities require gas or nuclear, not intermittent wind, solar, or short-duration batteries. They should build their own generation rather than shift costs to Texans.
• Security gaps: The plan appears to ignore EMP and geomagnetic protection that should be added at buildout.
• No local benefit: Local rural counties lose land and are having to pay legal fees to protect their land from eminent domain while power flows mainly for data centers.
Even ERCOT's testimony raises doubts. On April 9, 2025, President Pablo Vegas confirmed there is no population growth, and a little oil and gas demand— mostly industrial and datacenter demand.
This plan will not create a stable, reliable, affordable grid. Texans deserve transparency and policies that prioritize local, reliable generation over costly transmission that benefits special interests.
I urge readers to discuss this with their legislators to re-examine ERCOT's assumptions and HB 5066's grant of unchecked authority and the necessity of this project and how it will affect us and our electric bills.
Joanna Friebele Dublin, Texas