Eight legislators from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex sent a letter to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Monday urging the Commission to opt for aggressive expansion of electricity transmission capacity from West Texas to reign in soaring electric bills and prevent further pollution of local air.

"This week, Texas has a historic opportunity to establish itself as a global leader in renewable energy," said State Representative Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth). "We can say ‘yes' to new technologies offering clean, cheap and limitless power for decades to come, or we can continue to pay exorbitant prices and breathe dirty air from fuel sources of the past."

According to ERCOT, an annual investment of $1 billion to build and maintain transmission lines from West Texas will be more than offset by the $3 billion in savings from cheaper fuel sources.

Weatherford Rep. Phil King, chairman of the regulated industries committee of the Texas Legislature, also supports the plan to bring more wind generated electricity to North Texas.

"We need to build more transmission lines in Texas to get wind power-generated electricity to the Metroplex," he said. "West Texas is not just a great place to generate electricity from wind power, it's the best place in the world."

King suggested a plan to the PUC in 2005 legislation using between $3 and $6 billion in private investment dollars to upgrade the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid.

Replacing heavy polluting coal and natural gas-fired plants with clean wind and solar generation could yield up to a 13 percent reduction in NOx emissions and a 16 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions around the state.

Rising electric bills for customers of Weatherford's municipal electric department have been blamed on transmission logistics from coal-fired plants in West Texas.

City officials report growing wind farm production has jammed ERCOT's grid, forcing the city to move to a geographically closer plant which burns more expensive natural gas.

"Texans want access to clean, affordable energy," said State Representative Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas). "In the face of rising energy costs and increasing concern over climate change, we need greater access to wind in the state. Now is the time for bold action. We can't afford to make short-sighted decisions on this issue any longer."

The letter calls on the PUC to adopt Scenario 3 when it meets Thursday to continue its discussions regarding which scenario will offer the greatest benefits to Texans for moving electricity from the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in West Texas and the Panhandle.

Signing the letter to the PUC were Democrats Anchia, Lon Burnham of Fort Worth, Allen Vaught of Dallas, Dan Barrett of Fort Worth, Marc Veasey of Fort Worth and Paula Pierson of Arlington, along with Republicans Jim Pitts of Waxahachie and Brian McCall of Plano.