I wanted to give you an update about the three east/west 765kV transmission lines that are proposed to run from Central Texas to the Permian Basin. The transmission companies have submitted their applications for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) to the PUC for four of the five 765kV projects that comprise the three east/west 765kV transmission lines. The Oncor/LCRA TSC Bell County 765kV project is the remaining project that requires a CCN application.
The PUC and transmission companies have never reviewed, approved or constructed a 765kV transmission line in Texas. The PUC regulatory standards for routing approval were created for much lower voltage lines, so the regulatory process for 765kV transmission lines is no more rigorous than that for a 345kV transmission line. Texas House Committee Chairmen Drew Darby, Ken King, Charlie Geren, Brad Buckley and Stan Lambert submitted a joint letter to the PUC on November 5, 2025, that said '...the unprecedented scale and environmental footprint of 765-kV infrastructure demand a more deliberate, transparent, and locally informed process than is presently being followed.' Yet, the PUC has not made any changes to their process that is visible to the public.
Late Friday afternoon, March 6th, Oncor and LCRA TSC opened a new application docket on PUC Interchange, the PUC's web-based, public filing system. This means that Oncor and LCRA TSC are getting ready to file their application with the PUC for the Bell County East to Big Hill 765kV transmission line project. We believe the Bell County application will be filed in March or early April. Each CCN application is over 2000 pages. Once the Bell County CCN application is filed, the PUC will have over 10,000 pages of material to review and they are required to reach a decision on each CCN application 180 days after the date the application is filed.
FOSS (Friends of the San Saba) has joined with Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) in our efforts to educate the public about our concerns with the Bell County 765kV transmission line, and the PUC processes for review and approval of 765kV transmission lines. TSCRA published an article about FOSS's fight to protect the San Saba River from the Bell County East 765kV transmission line. The FOSS article is the cover story in the March 2026 issue of TSCRA's The Cattleman. You can find the article, 'Protecting the San Saba' on TSCRA's website: https://tscra.org/protecting-the-san-saba/.
TSCRA's next Cattle Raisers Convention & Expo is scheduled for March 27 to 29, 2026, at the Ft Worth Convention Center. We wanted to invite you to attend a session at the Convention on the 765kV transmission line regulatory framework scheduled from 9:00am to 10:00am on Friday March 27, 2026. The speaker is Jim Scott, who is the principal of EarthIQ, a landscape intelligence and spatial analysis consultancy. Jim served as the State of Texas Geographic Information Officer from 2005 to 2013. Jim is an expert in routing methodology with over 40 years experience in transmission corridor analysis, route optimization, and geographic information systems.
Thank you for your interest in 765kV transmission lines in Texas.