CREZ Update: Lines could impact 12 counties

A transmission line project proposed just this week for the Amarillo area is already stirring controversy, according to a news story in the Amarillo Globe-News. Writer Kevin Welch  reports in the newspaper's June 17th edition on the application by Sharyland Utilities to build lines from southern Carson County to southeast Deaf Smith County.  The utility has proposed the route shown above, although that route could change as more landowners express their views at the Texas Public Utility Commission.

"In all the cases we've been involved in, in none of them have the commissioners chosen the preferred route," Lloyd Gosselink attorney Georgia Crump told the newspaper. "They're trying to weigh all the criteria. It's not a science, it's an art." Among Crump's clients is a property owner with lines passing north of Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Sharyland's application was among three filed by utilities this week for major transmission projects. The lines included in the applications will transmit power from wind generators in West Texas and the Panhandle, and are associated with the state's Competitive Renewable Energy Zone program, or  "CREZ" for short.

The transmission lines proposed by Sharyland could impact property owners in Armstrong, Carson, Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter and Randall counties. Separately, Oncor filed an application for lines that could impact landowners in Tarrant, Wise and Parker Counties. A third company filed an application for a transmission project near Abilene, with lines that could impact Kent, Dickens and Scurry counties.

With the filings this week, a procedural clock begins at the PUC under which the agency has 180 days to conduct hearings, consider testimony and render decisions.

Power Line Dispute in the Hill Country

A massive transmission line proposed for Central Texas is causing big headaches for the mayor of Kerrville, who fears it could harm his community's economic development.

Speaking to KENS Channel 5 in San Antonio, Mayor David Wampler said his community could lose a half billion dollars because of the line.

“The City of Kerrville has spent about $14 million in infrastructure improvements to bring utilities and roads to areas that would be affected by this line,” he said.

State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran also expressed concern. In letters written to the Public Utility Commission and the Lower Colorado River Authority, Hilderbran called for a change in the proposed route. “We want that line to move away from the Kerrville corridor,” he said.

The PUC already has given the green-light to several transmission projects associated with so-called "Competitive Renewable Energy Zones." The CREZ lines will criss-cross West Texas, the Panhandle and Central Texas -- and potentially harm scenic views and lower property values along the way.

It's possible for affected landowners to block individual routes, but only if they intervene in a complicated legal process at the Public Utility Commission. More information about CREZ and the proposed transmission lines can be found at the PUC website.

District judge sides with electricity consumers

The Texas Public Utility Commission failed to explicitly consider costs to electric consumers when it awarded billions of dollars in transmission construction projects last year, a state district judge has determined.

The finding, part of a case that could impact how much Texans end up paying as a result of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone process, was included in a recent letter from state District judge Stephen Yelenosky to lawyers for the City of Garland and the Texas Attorney General’s office.

Garland has claimed in a lawsuit that the PUC failed to consider the potential benefits to electric consumers when it rejected the city’s utility proposal to build some of the CREZ lines. Judge Yelenosky, in a Dec. 21 letter, signaled that he tends to agree. The judge (that's a picture of him at the left) is expected to issue an order in the case on Jan. 15.

Because it is municipally owned, the Garland utility does not pay various taxes common to commercial ventures and can borrow money at a lower cost. Garland has argued that such advantages would lead to lower costs for consumers had it been selected to participate in the transmission projects.

But in its decision to award the projects to Oncor, Sharyland and other transmission developers, the PUC appears not to have explicitly considered what’s most cost-effective for electric customers, Yelenosky stated in his letter.

Attorneys representing the PUC suggested that “customers” be read as the “people of Texas,” wrote the judge. But state law clearly requires the PUC to consider what’s most beneficial and cost-effective to “electric customers” and that “neither the PUC, nor this court, can ignore statutory language or choose to give it a definition it does not have,” he wrote.

Yelenosky also noted that the PUC overstepped its statutory authority in other ways. “The PUC relied upon factors that are not relevant to providing transmission capacity in a manner most beneficial and cost-effective to electric customers and based its decision on underlying findings that lack substantial evidence,” he stated.

The city of Garland, through its municipally-owned utility, already operates more than 130 miles of transmission lines, which serve not only their own customers but also residents in Dallas. Garland is one of 13 transmission operators certified to operate in ERCOT.

The PUC came under similar criticism that it was failing to look out for consumers in its CREZ deliberations when commissioners signaled to transmission developers last year that they should not seek economic stimulus assistance from the Obama Administration. Such assistance could have shaved tens of millions of dollars from the cost of CREZ construction, according to some estimates.

Current estimates put the CREZ price tag at about $4 per month for residential customers. The lines are expected to be up and running by 2013.

Chicken Problems for the Texas Wind Industry?

In case you missed it, the Associated Press has an interesting story this week about a small bird that’s leading to big headaches for the wind industry. Known as the “lesser prairie chicken,” the bird is apparently very close to being listed as threatened or endangered by the federal government.

The result? According to Heather Whitlaw, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist: “Anybody who puts anything on our landscape would be evaluated in one form or another.”

The AP reports that federal recommendations from 2004 discouraging the construction of turbines within five miles of prairie chicken breeding grounds have gone largely unheeded by the industry. Instead a wind energy trade group has asked for the scientific basis of the five-mile limit, according to the AP.

The Texas Public Utility Commission last year authorized the construction of billions of dollars of new transmission lines to serve wind generators throughout Texas. Some of these lines will connect to the Panhandle, which the AP identifies as lesser prairie chicken territory. No word on how a federal designation for the tiny bird will impact the state’s expensive transmission line initiative.

CREZ, Community and Rights of Way

The preservation of community values, recreational areas, and the environment are just three of the factors that the Texas Public Utility Commission must consider as it adopts routing plans for the hundreds of miles of new transmission lines going up in West Texas and the Panhandle.

The lines themselves will be massive: they're the 345 KV variety with poles that stand over 115 feet tall and right of way that can extend 150-180 feet. The lines could end up cutting through ranch land, residential subdivisions and city property. They're contemplated for numerous areas around West Texas, Central Texas and North Texas -- including areas around Killeen, Kempner, Holliday, Sweetwater, Roscoe and Snyder.

It's all part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone process that calls for $5-6 billion in new transmission investment to encourage wind energy development. When complete, the CREZ lines will substantially increase transmission connections to parts of the state where the wind blows the heaviest.

But the process is complicated and it's important to know your rights. First the Commission must decide on specific routes, including the designation of priority projects. Transmission service providers like Oncor must also conduct routing studies and conduct public meetings in affected areas. Local residents concerned about the new lines can inquire about the public meetings and can also intervene at the Public Utility Commission.

According to PUC rules, "the line shall be routed to the extent reasonable to moderate the impact on the affected community and landowners unless grid reliability and security dictate otherwise." The PUC must consider historical and aesthetic values, environmental integrity and whether the routes parallel existing compatible rights-of-way.

Some information can be found at the PUC website, under Docket No. 36801. A word of warning: this stuff can be complicated.


-- Lambeth Townsend