Concerned about the effect an electric transmission line could have on Montague County, a group of citizens met with the commissioners court asking for their support in opposing the proposed routes. ...[Forestburg area resident Pat] Guedry said he was surprised at the lack of knowledge in the county on this project. The proposed transmission line would be 135 to 150 miles long, depending on the route approved by the Public Utilities Commission, and covers eight counties.

Young County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to oppose a proposed transmission power line near the city of Graham. Commissioners said they were not opposed to the line itself but did not want to see the line built near Graham, where the impact on current and potential residential property is greatest. "It looks to me like good common sense would take that line north of Graham lake," Precinct 2 Commissioner John C. Bullock said.

A ruling by an Austin judge will freeze work on high voltage power lines to take electricity from West Texas wind energy projects to other parts of the state. State District Judge Stephen Yelenosky reversed an order from the Public Utility Commission awarding billions of dollars in transmission projects, siding with arguments from the city of Garland that the PUC failed to properly consider low-cost public power entities like Garland for the projects.

In a big win for Texas ratepayers, state District Judge Stephen Yelenosky today has reversed an order of the PUC awarding billions of dollars of transmission projects. The City of Garland had alleged that the Public Utility Commission failed to properly consider the needs of electric customers when it awarded the wind-related projects last year and failed to realistically consider low-cost public power entities like Garland.

Sharyland Utilities, a unit of Hunt Consolidated, is one of the companies building a web of transmission lines to bring West Texas wind power to Dallas and other big cities. ...But Sharyland has proposed stringing one of the lines across the Palo Duro Canyon. ...Under three of five basic scenarios, the line would go from rim to rim of the second-largest canyon in the country. ...The Palo Duro Canyon power line is a dramatic example of the type of friction that accompanies the siting of many transmission lines. Other utilities building the wind lines face their own community concerns. PUC spokesman Terry Hadley said he expects most of the wind transmission lines to face opposition.

A petition asking the Texas Legislature to pass a law that would prohibit high-voltage power lines in the northern end of Palo Duro Canyon continues to grow with 522 signatures late Wednesday. The petition, posted online at www.protectcanyon.com on Sept. 16, is now the focus of a group called Protect North Palo Duro Canyon which is led by members of the Currie family, who own land along the route proposed by Sharyland Utilities.

Wind energy in the Panhandle has become the darling of developers who see a profitable future. But establishing wind farms and erecting turbines are just part of the answer. Capturing the wind is an initial step; it's another matter to transport that energy. ...Bev Dampf recently addressed Randall County commissioners on the subject. He expressed frustration with a lack of support from the city of Amarillo and the county for opposition to a line proposed to run roughly along Sundown Lane just south of the city.

Eleven possible routes for a new high-voltage power line proposed to link substations in Lampasas and Gillespie counties have been filed with the Public Utility Commission by LCRA Transmission Services Corporation. The 345 kilovolt line, slated to go into operation in 2012, will cover about 90 miles and could traverse Gillespie, Llano, San Saba, Burnet and Lampasas counties, said Gaylon Finklea Hecker of the LCRA.

106 San Saba citizens took a stand last Monday evening. Literally. The standing room only crowd assembled at 7:00 pm on October 19th to learn more about the proposed high-voltage transmission line proposed for San Saba County. The proposed line (known as the Brown-Newton Line) would bring energy from West Texas wind farms through Central Texas to population centers like Austin, San Antonio and Houston. ...No one spoke in favor of the proposal.

The company set to build wind energy transmission lines from Childress County to Gray County will meet with the public this week. Cross Texas Transmission plans high-voltage lines along a 90- to 120-mile route that would be in a right-of-way 200 feet wide, according to information from the company. The lines will run from east of Childress, near Kirkland, to southwest of Lefors.

Oncor, a Dallas-based energy company, has submitted plans to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas for the construction of wind energy transmission lines. The company's preferred and alternative routes have been submitted to PUC, and the state agency has 180 days to review the Oncor plan. The PUC has already approved as a priority the construction of the new transmission lines, which are designated primarily for renewable energy sources such as wind turbines.

About 40 minutes after the start of a public meeting Tuesday on proposed routes for wind energy power lines, about 50 people still stood outside the Region 16 Service Center, waiting to get in line with more than 100 people inside. Sharyland Utilities, which will build the 250- to 300-mile transmission line, and several consulting companies had representatives there to talk to landowners and others.

The County Commissioners of San Saba County, Texas approved Resolution #2009-07 concerning the appropriate transmission line route from Brown to Newton County. This action was taken at the behest of residents in the county who expressed concerned about the impacts of 345 KV line needed to deliver West Texas wind energy to points east. The Texas Public Utilities Commission has ordered the construction of transmission capacity to deliver generated power from the five designated Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ's) to electric customers residing in urban areas. San Saba County is one of many counties that will see massive towers and transmission lines crossing over portions of private land. The full resolution can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

Wind energy is renewable. The Texas Hill Country is not. The Lower Colorado River Authority's Transmission Services Corp., charged with building high-voltage transmission lines through the environmentally sensitive region, has heard that message loud and clear.