Photo: Bloomberg Creative Photos
Texas is in need of thousands of miles of new power lines.
According to a new report from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), to address an aging power grid and keep up with the demand for more electricity, the state needs 3,000 miles of new long-distance power lines. That's longer than a drive across the country.
Energy Fellow at the University of Houston Ed Hirs told KTRH that regardless of how many thousands of miles of new lines are actually needed, there's a growing demand for energy from Texans.
"Whether 3,000 miles is the right number or not I don't know, we just know that we're going to build a lot more transmission lines to get that electricity to the consumers," Hirs said.
ERCOT said in April of 2024 that Texas could need nearly 80% more electricity during times of peak usage by 2030. Transmission lines will have to be run from new power plants built away from urban areas where the consumers are.
Hirs said there's a great deal of new capacity coming into the Texas grid from wind and solar farms. Such a project will end up having to be paid for by the consumer, not the government.
"We will pay for these power lines through our electricity bills," said Hirs. "These power lines are built by companies that own and operate them."
According to Hirs, the price of implementing new lines includes a multitude of factors including the cost of the land on which they will be located and the resiliency of the lines. Some estimates say the total price tag of new power lines in Texas could cost around $30 billion.
"We know that we don't have enough supply capacity on the ERCOT grid to serve Texas and as we add this capacity we're going to need to make sure we can connect it to the consumer," Hirs added.
If new transmission lines are implemented, ERCOT’s plan would be the largest build-out of transmission lines since 2013 when Texas completed the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone initiative. It was considered one of the largest infrastructure project’s in the state’s history.
It takes approximately three to six years to build new transmission lines.