Utility companies building the transmission line projects have the right of eminent domain, which means they can legally gain the property rights needed for the CREZ projects.

Transmission Texas

The wind energy industry is playing a waiting game as turbines on wind farms throughout Texas will not have the ability to send the full capacity of their wind-power generation east for at least three years. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) explained that it is still in the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones process of approving certificates for proposed transmission lines. The CREZ transmission line network's earliest completion date is slated for 2013.

Transmission Texas

"Wind power is an open trough of government subsidies, tax credits and state mandates. Taken together, it's a massive corporate welfare effort that means big money for the wind power developers and big costs for the rest of us." Loren Steffy, the Houston Chronicle. ...competitively priced goods or services cease to be the primary concern of the producer. Courting government agencies and influencing laws becomes the chief goal.

Energy Policy Transmission Texas

Several landowners south of Junction have said they've been forgotten and abused in the transmission line routing that the Public Utility Commission approved on Jan. 20. The path of the transmission lines, being built by the Lower Colorado River Authority to carry wind-generated electricity from West Texas to the I-35 corridor, puts them through part of the townsite and through the land of Dean Martin, among others.

Transmission Texas

The route for a controversial set of electricity transmission lines through the Hill Country was approved Thursday by the Texas Public Utility Commission, according to a news release from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Transmission Texas

The Public Utility Commission unanimously approved a transmission line to bear West Texas wind power from just south of San Angelo to Kendall County, traveling along Interstate 10 from west of Junction to near the end of the line just east of Kerrville.From there, the wind power will mix in with the rest of the Texas grid.

Transmission Texas

A north-south battle line took shape Friday as residents and attorneys for large property owners gathered before a panel of judges that will hear testimony on the proposed Krum-Anna power line. Two judges with the State Office of Administrative Hearings laid the groundwork Friday for about 700 intervenors to participate in a trial for a new 345-kilovolt line that would cross Collin, Cooke, Denton and Grayson counties.

Transmission Texas

Oncor's biggest fight in getting green energy from West Texas to North Texas will play out in Austin next week. Oncor wants its new 345 kilovolt transmission lines from Krum to cut through Denton ..."It [the route] comes close to four or five of our educational facilities," said Dr. Curtis Ramsey, Denton ISD trustee.

Transmission Texas

Opposition to the construction of high-voltage transmission lines in Texas could result in a smaller-scale project than originally envisioned by state officials, State Sen. Kirk Watson told a crowd of local workforce leaders Wednesday at a conference on renewable energy and state politics. "Elected officials and regulators are working at scaling back and actually scrapping portions of the CREZ lines."

Energy Policy Transmission Texas

The Tennesseee Valley Authority favors a Houston company's effort to build an electrical connection between windmills in Oklahoma and Texas and power users in the Tennessee Valley. The proposed $3.5 billion project would use direct current rather than the alternating current.

Transmission Oklahoma Tennessee Texas

A judge's ruling has just kept the debate going over where to put wind energy transmission lines near Amarillo. The proposed transmission would connect new substations near White Deer and Hereford. The battle is between people trying to block routes from south of Palo Duro Canyon State Park to the Canadian River and especially in between.

Transmission Texas

In an effort to thwart a proposed electric transmission line that will skirt their town, the people of the tiny town of Clifton, northwest of Waco, sketched out a novel argument Wednesday to the Public Utility Commission: The line would hamper the town's ability to attract artists and inspire art.

Transmission Texas

To Hill Country landowners' undoubted relief, the Public Utility Commission will cancel plans to build one controversial wind-power transmission line, as well as a portion of a second. At a public meeting today, the three commissioners voted to go with a "lower-cost" alternative: upgrading substations and wires that already exist in the region.

Transmission Texas

The two CREZ lines that could be eliminated are the Gillespie (Fredericksburg area) to Newton (Lampasas County) and the Kendall (Comfort area) to Gillespie lines. These lines could impact Kendall, Kerr, Gillespie, Llano, Burnet, Lampasas and San Saba counties. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state, has concluded that there are much lower cost alternatives than the lines.

Transmission Texas

Some of the very lawmakers who authored that law, under pressure from constituents, since have asked whether some of the planned lines still are needed. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state grid, has reported back that two segments could be rejected in favor of beefing up existing lines.

Transmission Texas

A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the future of natural gas found that 80 years' worth of global natural gas consumption could be developed profitably with a gas price of $4 per 1,000 cubic feet or below. Plans for nuclear plants and wind farms were made under the assumption that gas prices would average $7 to $9.

General Transmission Texas

At stake is where large transmission towers carrying electricity from West Texas wind farms to urban areas in the eastern portion of the state will be located. Also at issue is whether existing private power lines might be improved and utilized.

Transmission Texas

Without the proposed McCamey D-to-Kendall-to-Gillespie line, roughly 1,834 gigawatt-hours per year of wind power would not reach the people who need it, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) report filed with the PUC Sept. 27.

Transmission Texas

Fambrough said there are many issues associated with construction of these lines that landowners may not consider when negotiating an easement, including the spread of tree diseases and the presence of firefighting crews during construction. ...Landowners should make it a point to protect as many property rights as possible when negotiating an easement.

Transmission Texas

Board members learned about alternative routes and the city of Denton's resolution opposing the preferred route. During a workshop discussion, Rod Reeves, the district's coordinator of facilities, told trustees that the existing utility towers are 60 feet high and that the proposed towers would exceed 150 feet.

Transmission Texas