TEXAS – Landowners and environmental advocates are expressing concern over a proposed high-voltage transmission line cutting through the Hill Country.
Opponents said the proposed 765-kilovolt power line, approved during the 2023 legislative session, could cause irreparable damage to spring-fed rivers, aquifer recharge zones and untouched ranch land.
Supporters argued the project is needed to help electrify oil and gas fields in the Permian Basin, as well as fuel data centers.
If built as planned, the power lines would stretch from the Howard Road Switching Station in southwest San Antonio, through the Hill Country, to the Solstice Station in West Texas.
The proposed line would run near several spring-fed rivers and through areas known for karst topography — where underground caves, aquifer veins and springs are closely connected.
“These systems run underneath like cave networks,” said Jada Jo Smith, a founder of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition. “If we puncture those, we really don’t know what the damage can be.”
Smith said once the land is disturbed, there’s no undoing it.
“Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the project would require a utility easement roughly 200 feet wide, cutting through rural land, farms and wildlife habitat.
The massive transmission towers would require deep underground footings to stabilize them.
“These towers are so massive that they have to build footings underneath the earth to secure them,” Smith said.
Power lines of this magnitude don’t exist in Texas, though there are some that exist on the West and East coasts.
Not stopping the project — just changing the route
CPS Energy and American Electric Power are jointly overseeing the project, and have identified more than 200 possible routes through the region.
Smith said the coalition, which represents roughly 48,000 people, isn’t trying to stop the project altogether.
Instead, they want the transmission line routed along existing highways and utility corridors rather than cutting through untouched land.
“There are ways to do this by building along existing highways and corridors,” Smith said, “and not plowing through rural land, farms, ranches, wildlife habitat and rivers.”
The utility companies plan to submit a formal application to the Public Utility Commission of Texas by March. Once submitted, Texans will have 30 days to submit public comment.
Smith said public participation in this discussion is critical.
“If they don’t hear from the public, they think the public is okay and complacent with it,” she said.
Smith encouraged people to contact lawmakers or join the Hill Country Preservation Coalition to make their voices heard.
“We all run on water, and we can’t live without it,” Smith said.
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